Should a Christian have hobbies?

Many estimable Christians, both young and old, are sadly lacking in freshness and spring. They are like a plum with the bloom rubbed off, and this is frequently traceable not to the allowance of positive sin or worldliness, but to their taking up with some pursuit or hobby that occupies much valuable time and thought, that could be far better employed. Some have a pipe for their hobby, others novels, and others again, dress, motoring, recreation in its many forms, or something more scientific, such as the radio. Do not misunderstand me. I plead for nothing legal or straight-laced. If we merely make you affect a spurious piety and wear a sanctimonious expression, we have got you "out of the frying-pan and into the fire" indeed. No! Of course you must have exercise and recreation especially if you are young, otherwise your health will suffer; only, mind — this is the point — keep them in a quite secondary place, subservient to Christ and His interests. Don't let them become hobbies; if you do they will become weights.

This is commonly the case where young persons of opposite sexes mingle much together. There is no reason why Christian young men and women should not meet and enjoy one another’s company in a pure and holy way. But often it is otherwise. If you feel there is a snare in such commingling, then be honest with your own souls and avoid what might dishonor Christ and hinder spiritual growth. Timothy was exhorted to treat elder brethren with the reverence due to fathers, “younger men as brethren; the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity” (1 Timothy 5:1,2). The last three words are important, and if overlooked, will lead to many a snare. Young people need recreation; older ones, too, for that matter. It is a mistake to suppose that body and mind must always be keyed up to serious pursuits. “Bodily exercise profiteth [a] little” (1 Timothy 4:8)—not a great deal, but a “little.” Therefore beware of giving it an undue place, but do not neglect it. And in all your recreation see that there is nothing that hinders godliness, for godliness is of profit both in this life and the next.

Anyone in reading the epistles can observe that in Paul’s many references to athletics, there is no suggestion that he in any way disapproves of the exercise in itself. The dangers are two: first, associations; second, excess. Be temperate in all things (1 Corinthians 9:25), and be as careful of your companionships in your recreation as in the other affairs of life.

There are, however, many games and amusements of an entirely innocent character which we may freely enjoy without joining with the world. I am not too old to heartily enter into and thoroughly enjoy recreation with young people. Our homes should be bright, happy and attractive.

We can make no rule about entertainment. The buoyancy of youth demands a certain amount of liberty which, if kept under godly limits and controlled by godly principles, is all right. For my own part, I have no desire to visit exhibitions and other shows, not on the ground that these amusements are sinful, but simply because I am satisfied without them. Christ and His interests are enough. Besides, souls are perishing and eternity is nearing, and I have neither time nor inclination to mingle with the world in admiring its toys and sharing in its pleasures.

Recreation and exercise are recognized by the Word as profitable for a little (1 Tim.4:7; JND Trans.), meaning, we believe, for a short time (that is, this life); but these can be taken and enjoyed without joining clubs. No doubt there is not the same scope or the same advantages that there would be, humanly speaking, where larger groups are brought together. Whether this is true or not, the child of God must here take his stand and, deliberately counting the cost, be prepared to suffer all inconveniences that may arise from his being true to Christ.

An old Christian may not think it much for a young man to refuse one club after another, that is pressed upon him, for he, if not too devoted a Christian, is at any rate too old to care for such things. But Christ knows, and Christ will not forget, what it costs at such a time to refuse resolutely for His sake, and His smile and approval is surely well worth the inconveniences that may follow. As the Christian grows in years, however, he begins to feel that to spend hours in mere recreation and amusement is no longer necessary; and he finds that he can combine some variety of work for the Lord with his recreation, so as not absolutely to spend all the time on himself. Long walks can often be combined with profitable visits, and change of scene and air with looking up the scattered saints of God, that seldom get a help; in many ways the believer who seeks to redeem the time, and who feels that “the Lord is at hand,” can and will seek to turn even his hours of recreation to good account.

Mr. P.: A Christian, who spends all his spare time in his garden cultivating flowers, is certainly not doing God's will. For whether we desire it or no we are Christ's bond-slaves (1 Cor. 7:22); and in this hobby he is pleasing himself and not serving Christ. What would you think of a servant who sits down in the middle of her work, reading novels, and when her mistress asks her why the floor is not swept and the dishes washed, she says she has had no time; she has been busy reading, which she likes best. Her mistress would scarcely recommend her as the best of servants. Yet many Christians are fonder of serving themselves than of serving God. They give all their time to their hobbies and none to the service of Christ.

Oh, my dear ones, take heed to self-indulgence! It is so easy to slip into it, and we find it so much more pleasant than enduring hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ; soldiers on duty, not off duty. We will hear more of the bitter fruits of self-indulgence as we continue to meditate on the parents of Scripture: but meanwhile let us remember that "Temperate in all things", no matter whether chocolates, a book, or a hobby — as well as that in which Noah failed — is a good motto for every one of us parents.

"A Young Believer." We can see nothing wrong in your employing your leisure hours in endeavouring to improve yourself in writing, arithmetic, and bookkeeping, with a view to your greater efficiency in your calling, provided always that it does not interfere with your study of the Bible and private prayer. Were you to study these things from mere ambition, it would be clearly wrong; but we are of opinion that the apostle Paul would not have objected to read a treatise on tent-making, if he could improve himself in his calling by so doing. However, one must be very much guided in such things by the moral effect on one's own spirit. We are deeply interested in your case; and we pray the Lord to guide and bless you, and make you a blessing. Nothing could afford us greater pleasure than to be used in any way to help a young believer.

We speak separately of those who have more leisure on the Lord's Day. Perhaps these have only a morning Sunday-school, which, with the meeting, and the gospel at night, is all of their public activity, with possibly a visit or two sometime during the afternoon. These might very profitably spend an hour in the afternoon in some general reading which bears particularly upon their study during the week, and in the review which we have above indicated. Sometimes one who has held quite rigidly to the fifteen minutes of the daily study will rejoice to devote an hour or two in the afternoon to more careful and prolonged work than he has been able to give during the week. So we feel that for all, the Lord's Day, so far from interfering with the regular routine of work, will serve to impress its results upon our memory and interest, and thus in liberty and joy we can take up on the following day what is never a burden, but a delight.

There are a number of holidays, too, during the year — single days such as New Year and others, and the longer holiday during the summer which many enjoy. We would suggest that the Lord's interests be not left out in the increasing leisure that we have. In the day of Israel's joy, and at the time of their feasts, there was ever to be remembered the Lord's share in the way of tithes and the care for His poor. Conscience will be kept clear, and the recreation sweetened, if the Lord is thus given His place in it all.

Then how do we spend our leisure? It was once remarked: "Tell me how you spend your holiday, and I'll tell you the kind of Christian you are." Is our vacation time a season when we devote more time to things eternal than is possible in the ordinary rush of life, or is it instead a season when we neglect more than usually prayer and meditation upon the Word, and the privileges of Christian fellowship? Is it a season when we put the flesh and its desires altogether in the forefront of our arrangements? Let us consider these suggestions; they may help us to see why our progress in the things of God is so feeble.