I don't know what's up with me, I don't know what's up with me Jeremy Buolo, welcome back to For the Gospel. Glad to be back, Kosti. Thanks for having me. I'm excited. This is episode five of this little mini-series we've done.
We've covered some great ground on this last episode with you. I want to kind of share my heart briefly for about a minute, and then set you up to go where I honestly am saying this, not hyperbole, where no man has gone before, into holiness. But the holiness of fun, that fun, having fun as a Christian is actually tied to worship.
A theology of fun is what we're going to talk about, that we should be enjoying life as Christians and the amazing gifts God gives us. Let me just share my heart for a minute and then it's all you. Coming out of the prosperity gospel, I generally was not aware of how sensitive I needed to be about certain things. I got into sort of the Bible church world.
And granted, I had left behind the $25,000 a night hotels, the Gulfstream jets, and kind of the high life as the pursuit. I would say that greed in general and the lust for it and really just the normalcy of greed was gone. But I didn't know all the rules. I could wear a normal pair of shoes that were expensive still or have a nice watch.
It wasn't like, oh, you can't have anything. And I got into our sort of, I don't know what you want to call it, the reformed-ish, basically we are a people who are a little suspect of fun and joy and enjoyment. And I learned kind of new rules. And in a way, they felt like old Pentecostal legalistic rules that I know some of my friends who grew up in hardline Pentecostalism were in, you know, makeup, long skirts, all that.
It wasn't that extreme, but there were these rules. And the rules were like, you can't. Drive it, you can't wear it, you can't live in it.
Like you, God forbid, we end up with a nice house or especially in ministry. I think that was more so even what I'm saying. Like if you're in ministry, you've got to just suffer. And that's like true Christianity. So I go through this little bit of a detox from the prosperity gospel.
And I think I end up in sort of a mindset. And it's my own fault. I didn't study. I didn't think. I had a healthier view of money from like Randy Alcorn, treasure principle.
Ron Blue, Mask Your Money, obviously listened to tons of Pastor John MacArthur talk about these things. I had a biblical view of things, but I thought also like I needed to drive the cheapest car there ever was. I needed to live in the worst apartment. At one point we were on food stamps, and we kind of wore it like a badge of honor. And it was like, we're the real missionaries.
You know, I'm a real pastor. I'm not this fancy, you know, whatever. We moved to Arizona, and the housing market is low there at the time. Now it's different, but we end up buying a house. I was like, this is crazy.
For first and last month's rent in California, where I was, you can actually purchase a home. And for the first six months of owning a home, when people would say, oh, we're so excited. You guys got a home. It's so wonderful in our church.
I would say, yeah, well, I mean, it's great. Like it's nice, but you know, we didn't come to Arizona for cheap housing. You know, we're here to do ministry. We're here.
I was very... I was out to show and tell everyone to make sure, like, just because I have a mortgage, you know, I haven't gone back to the prosperity gospel. It's like not even an expensive house. Sure. But to me, it's a beautiful thing.
It's our home. Right. I was not very fun.
I was not allowed to do those things. Over the years, there's been some freeing moments, which you're going to talk about. It's potentially liberating for other people who have shared maybe my background or think, you know, we're not allowed to have stuff.
And I think there's a lot you'll say that will help people, but I want to preface it with that. It's not just the prosperity gospel burnouts and exiles. I think a lot of people think the real spiritual people, they don't have anything.
And if they do, you know, it's just... They... it's a secret or they just drudge through life.
What in the world is a theology of fun? Yeah, well, what is fun? The spontaneous act of enjoyment, right? That's non-utilitarian in nature, which is not a very fun definition of fun.
Fun, everybody knows what fun is and we love to have it. We just spontaneously do activities that don't necessarily have an end goal. or aren't accomplishing anything in terms of work or, you know, utility in your life, but you just enjoy it and you like doing it.
And we all know how to have fun, but for Christians, that tension that you're describing is real. Because there are times where we can say, man, is there something I should be doing that's better than this, more productive? Is this really me glorifying God with my time, opportunity, and resources by just Enjoying a round of golf or taking my family out to a movie that we're actually spending money on and then I'm buying overpriced popcorn. Like we could at home have that same popcorn for 50 cents and we just spent eight dollars. Am I allowed to have a nice lawn?
Yeah, can I have a nice lawn and care about it? I mean souls are perishing. How do you reconcile the tension of the the gospel call on your life to preach the gospel and proclaim the gospel? and then to enjoy aspects of life, whether it's art, beauty, entertainment, sports, possessions that might not be absolutely necessary. So how do you wrestle with that?
And it really is a wrestling. It is a tension for Christians. And I've seen that tension through the years. And so it really got me thinking, what does the Bible say about fun?
And then a few years ago at church, we did a series on work, play, and rest. That's good. and I got assigned with play.
And I can't imagine why. And so here I am going, I got to preach in a week on a theology of play. What does the Bible say about play?
And I discovered it actually has quite a lot to say about it. And it really begins in the creation of mankind and the Imago Dei. And so man is made in the image of God. So who is God?
And when you look at who God is and how he reveals himself in his action, you see God bursting onto the scene of human history, creating human history, and how does he do it? It's not a concrete slab. Eden was not a concrete slab where it was, there's food there, there's a resting point there, name the animals tomorrow. It was a garden that was bursting forth with Color and creativity. Imagine seeing magenta for the first time ever and Adam's mind just being blown and Eve seeing you know purple streaks across the sunset and just going what is this paradise and who is this artist.
It's funny I lived in Finland for a year and played soccer and Finland is a very utilitarian country. They only do what's necessary to do and harsh climate so it's you know. shape these people.
And I remember my friend from Italy, Gianni, once told me, why are there two power plants downtown Oulu? Because I lived in Oulu, Finland. And he was tongue in cheek making a reference to these two buildings downtown in the center of the city. And they were concrete slabs, rectangular, one on each side. One was the theater and the next was the library.
Oh my goodness. But they were very utilitarian. We need space, so we will build concrete.
buildings or space for the library. And you say, man, there's something so counter creativity there because it should be the center of art and creativity and beauty should reflect that in its architecture. Well, God didn't make Eden with concrete blocks. He burst forth with flavor and color and creativity.
I mean, whose idea was it to make a giraffe, right? Or a rhinoceros? Have you ever seen a platypus? Like, what's going on here? Well, this is all coming from the mind of God.
He's a God who enjoys beauty and He makes us in His image. Now, when you really study what it means to be made in His image, yes, that means we reflect His attributes to a degree, the communicable attributes of He loves and so we love. He's a God of community and in the Trinity, so we enjoy community and want community.
Yes. But really the Imago Dei means that we have been tasked with the responsibility to be a reflection of God in this world. So we are to be a reflection of the glory of God in creation.
That's why we're called to subdue the earth, to take it into captivity, and to reproduce and spread Imago Dei throughout the world. We are his vice regents. God says, I've put you on this earth, now you rule and keep it.
It's my kingdom, but I'm giving you a task here. What a high calling. We are to reflect God in his character and in his action, in his work.
So part of that is labor. Work was instituted before the fall. We're called to work and work hard. Well, also reflected in that is the love of play and fun and beauty and creativity.
We're made in God's image and he has a playful aspect to his character. And if that makes you cringe, then you just need to look around this world and ask yourself what's utilitarian in nature and what's non-utilitarian. So there's this fascinating psalm where the psalmist actually walks through the days of creation and it's a psalm of praise where he begins, bless the Lord, oh my soul, you are very great, oh God, and he ends with a call to worship, praise the Lord. It's just like this. Expression of exuberant praise.
And what does he do? He walks through the days of creation and shows this playfulness and this creativity of God in creation. And look at some things he says.
Verse 14, You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man. Why does he give wine? Just to make you happy. That's why he made it.
Or you look at Oh, this is fascinating. Verse 25, here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures, innumerable, living things, both small and great. There go the ships and Leviathan, which you formed.
Why did God form the Leviathan? To sport in it. To sport in it or to play in it. Some, now I'm not going to die on this hill, but some Hebrew translators actually say that it's a better translation to say, which you formed to play with it. in it, which would be fascinating.
God formed the Leviathan to play with in the ocean. Like God has a pet. Right, exactly. And so you see God has created why some things just for our enjoyment, some things just to play. And it doesn't have this input output.
Okay, I made this, so work, work, work, work, work, get this output. It's just for enjoyment. So if you actually study the character of God, you see this God who enjoys joy, enjoys creativity and art, and we are called to be a reflection of Him. So if we're gonna be faithful reflections of God, we need to reflect Him as holistically as possible. Which means, yes we reflect God in His justice, in His righteous indignation, in His mercy, in His grace.
But why have we chosen to categorically deny the playfulness of this God who is creative and expressive in his creation? Now I think the reason why is there's the human tendency to destroy play. We obsess over it and we're living in a culture, one author calls it the empire of desire, where we've We've made our cultural heroes are no longer men and women of virtue, but men and women of pleasure. And you see this in our society.
Instead of hailing as virtues, virtuous and heroes those who've sacrificed their lives for our country, we hail as virtuous and heroic the person who comes out and identifies themselves as their true identity, even to the abandonment of their family, to the rejection of their children, and we go how brave and heroic. Because we've treated virtuous man for pleasure-seeking man. Because we're a society that obsesses over entertainment and play. And so one author says, even those of us who are ideologically opposed to this empire of desire can't help but be affected by it. And so we destroy play when we make it all about the gifts and reject the giver.
So I just want to have fun, but we don't use it as a means of worshiping like the psalmist in Psalm 104. Say, wow, look how great this God is. Let me praise him and obey him and love him because of how creative he is. No, now we take his creativity, we take the pleasure he gives us and we reject him and it ends up destroying us, which is what we see historically and what's happening today.
But there's another way we destroy play, which is by rejecting it altogether. So we look at that obsession and we go, throw those video games out, forget. Just be about the work.
And so that's often what you'll see more in our circles of preachers who are like, grow up, get a job, be serious. So how do we correct that? There's an antidote which for me when I was studying wasn't exactly what I expected it to be, but it was to anticipate the coming kingdom of play.
The Bible is this book that begins in paradise and ends in paradise. It starts with a garden, ends with the garden. First two chapters, paradise. The last two chapters, paradise.
In between is chasing paradise, chasing Sabbath. chasing the rest we had at creation but now sin's destroyed. And so the promise of the gospel in redemption is, oh, he's going to make it all right. He's going to turn back sin and its effects, and he's bringing us back into his kingdom that sin is banished and we will function how we were made to. And how is that kingdom described?
So in Zechariah 8, Zechariah is describing the coming kingdom, and listen to how he describes it. This is Yahweh of hosts, his words through Zechariah. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, Old men and women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age, and the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. So you want a restored paradise? What does it sound like?
It sounds like laughter. What does it look like? It looks like enjoyment and play. And then notice what he says, commentary, verse 6, thus says Yahweh of hosts, if it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares Yahweh of hosts. He looks at this and goes, this is so good.
Every tear has been banished. Everything broken has been corrected. People are free to play, to enjoy creation as it was designed. Now, Our present struggle is we're not there yet. We're anticipating it, but we're not there yet.
And so my word of advice for people who are trying to get a grip on how do I enjoy play and work through this tension now is first understand that play is a gift. It is a gift, and it comes from the heart and character of God. So there's a time for it. That means there's a time to weep over the brokenness of this world. And there's a time to fight against the forces of evil in this world.
And there's a time to be on your knees vigilantly in prayer and to be bringing the gospel to the nations. This is our mission. We are here to expand the name of Christ and the gospel of Christ, but that does not mean there's not a time to enjoy the creation God has given us as a gift. And so further, we need to Hold play in its proper place. Not obsess over it, neither reject it.
Neither honors God. But to hold it as a gift and to allow that time of entertainment and enjoyment and non-utilitarian activity to lead us like the psalmist in Psalm 104 to go, this is a great God. He's so awesome.
Let's worship him. Let's praise him. So hopeful.
And then ultimately looking forward to, hey, there's coming a kingdom of joy and play. we'll enjoy Him for eternity. So helpful. As you're talking, I'm thinking about adding in another topic I'd love to hear you dive into as we kind of start our descent. Vacations.
I know a lot of people that struggle with it. I know. I used to. I don't anymore. I have too many kids to ever feel guilty about vacations.
I've also been liberated by good theology about rest, and it's good to do these things and enjoy life and creation. But I'm not sure. For the person that wrestles with vacations and taking the time off, they can, they ought to, they should, and they don't.
Some of this, I mean, this all wraps up into everything we've talked about. It wraps up into enjoying the home God's given you and enjoying the gifts that He gives and enjoying your life and enjoying the world and all of the wonderful things that we do. And in that... Some people don't vacation very well. Yeah.
Are we supposed to? So I would go right to the life of Christ to answer that question. Okay.
Jesus had a very limited time on this earth. Three years of public ministry, 30 preparing for that. And you think of the... Jesus would go to a town and heal everybody. So literally the whole town.
Demons cast out, everyone who was sick healed. He would proclaim and preach to thousands. And they pursued him and pursued him.
How many times would Jesus have to get into a boat to back up? I mean, this is like George Whitefield on steroids, right? People are coming, crowding, and he's preaching and proclaiming. He's busy. He's about his father's work.
And there are points where Jesus, instead of going to the next town, like in Mark chapter 6, he says to his disciples, come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while. And even then he's overtaken, doesn't even have the time to eat. But Jesus recognized there's a time for rest and reprieve. And you could easily charge Jesus and say, Jesus, you could have been evangelizing.
You'll rest when you're dead. Let's go, man. It's time to act.
And he goes, hey, John, Peter, come on. We're going to go rest. It's interesting.
Jesus in his ministry, I said before, was never called a legalist. He was always found, he was found at the wedding, he was found sitting with sinners, he was found as a delightful person that was, people were drawn to him, little children were drawn to him, he was a delightful person. Jesus had life in balance.
And so I'd say is that you need a balance. If you're living for vacation, if you're living for the weekend, something's broken. But if you're refusing the weekend, and you're refusing Sabbath, and you're refusing vacation, something's broken.
So everything in its right place is what my advice would be. So helpful, man. Well, this is liberating for a lot of people. If you were to say something to encourage, maybe back to what we opened up with, where people are, they feel guilty.
The Lord's blessed them. Sure. And they... either have a lot of material wealth or they've been enjoying life.
How would you encourage somebody in that to maybe be mindful of God's purpose and calling in that? No doubt. We are on this earth to bring God glory in that sense.
At the same time, they're allowed to enjoy life. I think I see you going to 1 Timothy 6. The instructions to the rich there, I think there's some helpful wisdom, but what would you say to that person to encourage them? Yeah, I would say prioritize the kingdom of God in your life and recognize that, hey, He's the one who's given you these good gifts. And so you can enjoy them in their proper place.
And like Paul says to Timothy, to the rich, I charge them to be generous and not to trust in their riches. And so I'd say you don't want to become proud because what do you have that you haven't received? But then you don't want that to become the basis of your hope and be willing to give it away.
You know, it's interesting when Jesus says to the one who begs of you or asks of you, give. I don't think Jesus was giving us a theology of, well, what are the ethics of giving to a homeless person? I think what he was challenging was what are we willing to give away or what are we holding on to? If someone asks you for your physical, are you holding it with white knuckles or are you willing to open that palm?
And so for the believer who's been blessed, awesome, you have more resources to love God and serve others. Praise God. And part of that is enjoying it. If I give my daughter a gift on her birthday next week and she goes, oh dad, that's not necessary and gives it away, that would hurt me. Because I'd say, baby, I...
Wanted you to enjoy it. I wanted you, I thought about that, I went to the store, I bought that, I wanted you to enjoy that. And it's the same with the Lord. So not trusting in that, not obsessing over it, but using it as it's been given in its proper place. So good, man.
A preview of the kingdom, an imperfect one, but a preview of the kingdom to come. Brother, this has been phenomenal. It's been edifying. I've been personally enjoying it sort of as a, you have to be a fly on the wall and also enjoy the conversations with you.
But thanks for having me. This is awesome. I love what you're doing with For the Gospel and privileged or honored to be a part of it. Grateful for you, man. Where can people, they've enjoyed this and they say, I would like to hear this guy preach a little more or share the gospel or talk about the Bible.
Where can people get some resources from you? Yeah, gracechurch.org. I've got some sermons up there.
Or you can follow me along on my personal social media at Jeremy underscore Volo, I think is the one. Let's go. Right on. Putting some resources out there. Let's do it.
Thankful for you, man. You too.