There are many games, such as chess, ball games, and horse-riding, which can be considered proper activities, even though they contain the element of winning and losing. The element of winning and losing is related to skill. It is all right for children to engage in table-tennis, basketball, volleyball, riding, or chess. All these are proper activities and do not involve any sin. Parents should be generous toward these matters and should guide their children to the proper recreation. Elderly ones may not have time for strenuous sports, but they should not forbid the young ones from them. We want our children to set aside their time for the Lord, but we also need to take care of their need for diversion. We should allow them some recreation.
We have mentioned four kinds of recreation: rest, a change in work, hobbies, and games. A Christian can engage in these four kinds of recreation, but he should not be under the power of any of them. It is wrong to be bound by any of them. The younger a believer is in the Lord, the more he has to be careful not to be bound. This matter may not be a problem to us today. It may not make any difference to us whether or not we play the piano, but it makes a great difference to a new believer. His conscience will bother him every time he engages in these activities. At the beginning of the Christian life, the more one is involved in a recreation, the more he is bound by it. As soon as he experiences bondage in any activity, he should stop immediately.
Third, we must ask why we need recreation. The purpose of recreation is to enhance our work. Recreation has a purpose; it is not recreation for the sake of recreation. I do not engage in a ball game because I love ball games. I play because I want to work better. I do not sleep because I love to sleep but because I can work better after I sleep. I plant flowers not for the sake of planting flowers but so that I can work better after my gardening diversion. All of these things are for the purpose of enhancing our work. They must help us to serve God better. Some people break down mentally or physically after doing the same thing day and night for two or three weeks. Such brothers and sisters should be allowed some kind of diversion. They can change their work. They can play the piano or engage in some ball games. They should do these things only for the purpose of recovering from fatigue. It is altogether for the purpose of increasing one’s efficiency. After they are done with their recreation, they can work better and serve the Lord in a stronger way.
Sometimes a person may take a respite in a rural place, as the Lord Jesus did, or travel and tour a little. This is also good. He may play games with his children at home as well. These activities are not entanglements; they are for the purpose of helping a person in his work. If an activity results in the lowering of one’s performance, it is in the wrong principle. A recreation must always enhance a person’s work. It is easy to become tired after doing the same thing over and over again day and night. This is why one should jog, garden, or play for a while. We do not promote these things, but we acquiesce in them. The basic principle is that these activities must enhance our performance rather than frustrate it.
Having a holiday after working for two or three months is right. But having a holiday every day is laziness, not vacationing. A Christian must learn to work on earth and not be lazy. We allow people to have recreation for the purpose of increasing their work efficiency, but we must not give others any ground for criticism. We do not want to be extreme, and we do not want to bring shame to God’s name.