It’s More Fun...

2 Chronicles 15:15

All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side.

Identity crisis. Theorist Erickson described it as the struggle between feelings of identity versus role confusion. Meaning, the battle between who you are and what you want against the what you oughts. I can vividly remember mine some twenty years ago. The college dormitory walls witnessed it all. Someone impatiently told me to grow up and act my age. She was referring to my baby talks, LOLs and unladylike running to and fro. All the while I thought it was cute and charming. It was the happy me. But that day, I bitterly said goodbye to it.  I moved to isolation, insecurity and invisibility. I even ate my meals an hour past everyone’s. It took me quite sometime to recover from that extreme. Actually I still edit my moves if I’m not around good friends.  I wish my days are all fun, but I also know I need to take it seriously (a.k.a. be taken seriously).

After the victorious battle against the Cushites, Asa found no time allotted for afterparties and the like. Azariah came to meet him for some serious talk. The long and short of it was to be strong and to continue the good work of leading God’s people to seek the Lord.  On cue, he took courage and started the serious work: removed idols from the whole land, repaired the Lord’s altar, assembled all Judah in Jerusalem, sacrificed hundreds and thousands animals from the plunder, entered into a covenant and took an oath to seek the Lord, deposed his grandmother of her position as queen mother, and, brought the silver and gold into the temple of the Lord. It was an overhaul of everything. A first-things-first, no-nonsense response to God’s call for faithful living. But what legalism didn’t expect coming was that ‘they took the oath WITH loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns, and all Judah rejoiced about the oath..'.  You’d get raised eyebrows from senior Pharisees for that.  The disciples might hush some kids too. T’was kinda out of place for a solemn assembly. But we’re they rebuked by God? The cheerful demonstration was born out of the sincerity of their glad hearts. It did not in any way made their commitments half baked. It was still an appropriate response to God’s immeasurable grace.

Our church multimedia manager lately got fond of adapting the ‘It’s More Fun’ bandwagon and applied it to almost all our ministry activities. There’s that ten jump-shots to the beach for the baptism tag. Then last week were seven ‘sleeping in class’ after the Brigada Eskwela drive. It may look like we’re taking things lightly, but ey, shouldn’t Christianity be also fun? It was His idea that man will walk alongside Him in the garden, and enjoy it. Yes, it does involves reverence in worship, in-depth study of the word, prayers for repentance and grief, but it is also true that every encounter with Him, even the most painful ones, will never leave His children void of that gladness of heart. It’s the unexplainable joy of being in the presence of God.   So let’s not give that impression to our children that the things of God are all too formal and stiff and strict rules. He orchestrated a time for that. That means, the other half is also His ordained time for laughter, enjoyment and fun. For why else would author that if it isn't for His glory?