These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full (John 15:11).
The word fun is never mentioned in the Bible, and entertain is used only in reference to being hospitable. Such activities as reveling and playing receive nothing except condemnation in the Scriptures (with the exception of little children at play).
Yet there is growing emphasis today in many churches and para-church organizations on providing entertainment and fun times for their membersespecially for teenagers and young adults. This is the way to reach them and keep them for the Lord, so they say. Perhaps so, but one wonders why neither the Lord nor the apostles nor the prophets ever told us so. Is this a program kept in reserve by the Lord just for the young people of this generation?
Actually, Christians can have something far better, more effective, and more lasting than fun and entertainment. In Christ, they can have heavenly joy! A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, the Bible says (Proverbs 17:22), where the word for merry is more commonly translated as joyful or rejoicing.
While the Bible never mentions fun, it has many references to joy and rejoicing. Here are just a few. Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts (Jeremiah 15:16). Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory (I Peter 1:8). For the joy of the Lord is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10).
We must remind ourselves continually that the Lord Jesus daily, through His words, shares His joy with us, that (our) joy might be full. HMM