Christians and Hobbies

 

This is a blog I’m especially excited to write because I love hobbies. Reading, writing, hiking, camping, fishing, golfing, pickleball, this blog: I’ve got a lot of hobbies and have a lot of interests. Most times I am thankful for all my interests, because they keep me busy and occupied in my downtime (which is becoming less and less time as my family grows), but there are times when I wonder if my hobbies are taking up too much of my time and energy, distracting me from more important things. As a pastor, I especially think about how they impact my faith and my ministry. I don’t know if you think about that too, but I want to hopefully help you process what it means to be a Christian and have hobbies and share what I’ve found as I’ve explored the topic.

Let me start by saying that God created you with the specific interests you have. Sports, outdoors, art, music, games, the list could go on endlessly. Whatever you are naturally interested in was placed in you when God created you. It was meant to bring you joy and inspire you. The issue, from a Christian standpoint, is that often we tend to make our hobbies more important than they are supposed to be. Instead of just bringing us joy, we make them our whole identity. I love golf, but if I make golf my identity and I rely on it to give me purpose and meaning, I’m playing with fire and I’m destined to be let down. 

For Christians, hobbies aren’t where we should look for identity, purpose, or meaning. Those things are found only in Christ. Anything less than Jesus will disappoint us and let us down. Golf will always be a passion of mine, but I won’t always play well. I won’t always have time to play, or I may get sick or injured and be unable to play. If my whole identity and meaning are wrapped up in golf, I’ll get seriously off track and feel lost when things start going badly or if it’s taken away from me. But, if I remember that my identity is in Christ and he gives me purpose and meaning in my life, then if golf is taken away from me, I won’t be devastated or crushed.

The other thing to remember is that since God has put your interests into your heart, your hobbies need to be something that you use to glorify God. Whatever your hobby or interest, as a Christian, we should leverage that for Jesus and for the furthering of God’s kingdom and His glory! This will look a million different ways since every person is different, but the goal is the same. Make the name of Jesus known and shine His light through whatever you say and do! That can, and should, extend to your hobbies as well as every part of your life.

Having hobbies, in my opinion, is a Godly thing because God has created us with interests as a way of joyfully expressing ourselves and bringing Him glory. So, I encourage you to lean into your hobbies and heartily enjoy them. But I also encourage you to find a way to leverage your hobby for Christ so that people can see Jesus in every area of your life!