Number 4 Summer Thoughts: "Have Fun!" A Sad Western Expression

A dear friend from Russia once told me that she did not understand the expressions, "Have fun!" This seemed to be the expression always thrown at her when she left homes in America. She asked me, "Why does everyone say, 'Have fun'" as you go to leave?" Though I tried to explain it was "just an expression", she demanded to know why Americans thought the only thing you were going to do in life would be to have "fun".

• "Gowing up as a Russian, I have always had a sense of duty, of meaningful life experiences, and service to the Lord. My life is not determined by what is "fun", but rather by my love of God and what He wants me to do. No, really!”, she would exclaim as I smiled at her.


Have we as Ameicans bought into a lifestyle that is detrimental to our spiritual growth? Have our lives too often been defined by what is "fun" instead of what is eternally meaningful? Perhaps only in recent decades has "fun" become as important to us as it had become to those notoriously decadent Romans.


I have just finished reading the Book, "Alexander the Corrector" (by Julia Keay) about the life of Alexander Cruden. His famous work, Cruden's Concordance of over 200,000 entries of both Greek and Hebrew words has been a life-long favorite tool of mine for studying God's Word. This book was written while Alexander was in his twenties, in the early 1700's obviously without a computer. His book took him over 10 years to compile with over 1/2 million pieces of paper which he organized by hand in a room as small as some of our American closets.


Most historians and biographers cannot figure out how he actually accomplished the task. He not only wrote definitions for each of the terms but he gave every Scripture where that word was found. If he found the word in a new location, he would have to sort through 40 stacks of 5,000 pieces of paper to add that Scripture to his notes. He not only identified all the Greek and Hebrew words in the Bible, he gave their definitions and where they could be found in both New and Old Testament. He then learned type setting so that he could personally type set, printed, and published the work himself.


He was a true believer and lover of God's Word. He cherished his work on his concordance. He worked fulltime as an editor (corrector) in publishing houses and then worked on his concordance late at night. If you have never seen his published work, I recommend that you find one, not the condensed version, but a full-blown Cruden's Concordance. It has more words in it that the Thompson English Dictionary had in 1700 which took teams of writers, editors, and printers to publish.


Is this type of dedication and accomplishment for God's people and the world a thing of the past? Are we raising a generation of young people who will serve the Lord in favorable and extremely unfavorable circumstances? Learning to serve and humbling ourselves to all kinds of trials, is one way a Christian finds true joy.


Alexander was considered a religious "enthusiast" which in His day resulted in people thinking he was out of his mind. Enthusiasm for religion was discouraged and often resulted in being placed in a madhouse. Alexander was placed into such horrible institutions many times during his life. Once by his family, once by a competing suitor for a lady's hand, once by his sister, once by a hypocritical minister, and other times which he refused to write about.


The conditions of the madhouses in the early 1700's were dark, dirty, crowded, repulsive, abusive, and the treatment was even worse. Madhouse doctors did not know what to do for the "insane" so they gave them tonics to make them throw up and lose control of all bodily functions, strapped them in straight jackets, and chained them to their beds. You did not need a court order to send someone to the madhouse. Cruden was kidnapped on several occasions and taken to be locked up. As long as the kidnapper paid, the inmate was kept in the madhouse.



Through all his struggles, he never wavered in his faith to God. He never wavered from his work on the concordance, and he never retaliated or took revenge on his persecutors. He never made very much money from his book, even though after his death it was declared the most astounding publication for the next 300 years. Only recently, since the computer, has anyone attempted such a task.


Alexander died a poor man, but an "enthusiast" for the spiritual life. He loved God with all his heart, mind, and soul. I don't think "fun" was in Alexander's vocabulary, but faith, service, steadfastness, and spiritual maturity reigned in his heart.


This story is not told in opposition to having "fun", even Christ attended a wedding feast. But our lives need not revolve around empty activities nor should our salutations and expressions adopt the triteness of our culture.


Since it is vacation time for many, this is just a note to remind us that we need to not vacation away from spiritual regeneration, prayer, service, and praise. As a child, my dad would always carry the Lord's Supper emblems, hymnals, and Bibles with us on our vacations. We never missed giving Christ our first fruits of praise and worship for any reason. I thought it was a bit over-the-top as a child...but as I grow older, I see what my dad was sharing with his 5 children --the "enthusiasm" for always serving the One who Reigns.


Let us teach children to serve Christ in all environments so they can gain spiritual identity through a meaningful relationship with Him. Help them to learn not to chase the "dog's tail" of mere fun which can never quench the craving for more. The shallow expression, "Have fun!" could easily be replaced by a more meaningful expression, "Go with God!"