Dear Editor,
On page 23 of May’s en, Mr M. Davis of Oswestry has written about something that has concerned me for a long time.
If you watch adverts for food for children, they are often described as ‘fun’. It seems that everything has to be fun nowadays. This word is now also dominating the adult horizon.
While it is important to make all we do as Christian churches exciting, relevant and certainly not dull, I would hardly describe Christianity and Discipleship as fun. In fact it is often the opposite.
Some years ago I heard a Christian in her late teens talking about applying to be a missionary. She said: ‘If it is fun and I like it, I will stay.’ With that way of thinking there would be no missionary work done.
In the past, one local church in my area had a notice outside announcing their Christmas Day Service as ‘Come and see the vicar and the curate make a fool of themselves.’ The same church, not too long ago, announced their weekly prayer meeting as ‘Great fun for all the family’.
On the other side of the coin, I believe when doing pre-evangelism, there is a place in low-key outreach that may include face painting, etc. However I agree that to trivialise Good Friday and the cross, and dilute the gospel to make everything fun, is something we should avoid.
Yours warmly in Christ,
