by Richard Baxter
All of the following factors are necessary to render an amusement, sport or recreation lawful, and the lack of any one of them will prove it to be unlawful.
1. Thegenuine purpose or intention behind your indulging in it, must be to fit you for your service to God. It must help you to function better either in your work, or in His worship, or for some work of obedience in which you may please and glorify Him. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatever you do — do all to the glory of God."A lawful recreation must be a means fitly chosen and used to this end. If it has no ability to improve us for God's service in our ordinary callings and duty — then it cannot be to us a lawful recreation (though it may be lawful to another person to whom it is a real help).
2. All recreations are unlawful, which are for their own sakes preferred before our callings.
3. All recreations are unlawful, which are used only to delight a carnal imagination, and have no higher end than to please the sickly mind that loves them.
4. All recreations are unlawful, which hinder and spoil our fittedness for the duties of our callings, and for the service of God; or, which, putting the benefit and hurt together, hinder us as much or more than they help us.
5. All recreations are unlawful, which take up any part of the time which we should spend in greater works.
6. All recreations that take up more time than is reasonable for a recreation, are equally unlawful.
7. If an activity is profane, such as making sport of holy things, it is a mocking of God. It is wickedness demanding God's heaviest punishment, and cannot be lawful.
8. All recreations which wrong other people are unlawful. (This includes the activities of stage players and comedians who ridicule others to their injury.)
9. It is also sinful to make fun of the sinful ways of others, or to act them ourselves, which is common with comedians and other profane wits.
10. Immoral, obscene stage plays and recreations are unlawful, in which filthiness is represented without due expression of its odiousness, or with obscene words or actions. To Christians, Ephesians 5:3-4 applies: "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place."
11. Those amusements are unlawful, which involve the multiplying of worthless words, engaging the participants in foolish, needless, unprofitable chattering.
12. Those amusements are sinful, which tend to excite lust in ourselves or others, swearing, cursing and railing, and fighting and squabbling.
13. Those amusements and recreations are sinful, which involve covetousness, to win money from others; or that tend to stir up covetousness in those you play with.
14. Cruel recreations also are unlawful: such as taking pleasure in watching duellers, fighters, or any that abuse each other; or any animals that are made to needlessly torment each other.
15. A recreation is unlawful if it is too costly, for we are God's stewards, and must be accountable to Him for all we have. It is sinful to spend needlessly on amusement.
16. Lastly, if you have the choice of various recreations before you, you must choose the fittest. If you choose one that is less fit and profitable, when a fitter might be chosen, it is sin; even though that which you chose would have been lawful, if you had no other.By all this it is easy, for example, to judge the lawfulness of our common stage plays.
All of the following factors are necessary to render an amusement, sport or recreation lawful, and the lack of any one of them will prove it to be unlawful.
1. Thegenuine purpose or intention behind your indulging in it, must be to fit you for your service to God. It must help you to function better either in your work, or in His worship, or for some work of obedience in which you may please and glorify Him. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatever you do — do all to the glory of God."A lawful recreation must be a means fitly chosen and used to this end. If it has no ability to improve us for God's service in our ordinary callings and duty — then it cannot be to us a lawful recreation (though it may be lawful to another person to whom it is a real help).
2. All recreations are unlawful, which are for their own sakes preferred before our callings.
3. All recreations are unlawful, which are used only to delight a carnal imagination, and have no higher end than to please the sickly mind that loves them.
4. All recreations are unlawful, which hinder and spoil our fittedness for the duties of our callings, and for the service of God; or, which, putting the benefit and hurt together, hinder us as much or more than they help us.
5. All recreations are unlawful, which take up any part of the time which we should spend in greater works.
6. All recreations that take up more time than is reasonable for a recreation, are equally unlawful.
7. If an activity is profane, such as making sport of holy things, it is a mocking of God. It is wickedness demanding God's heaviest punishment, and cannot be lawful.
8. All recreations which wrong other people are unlawful. (This includes the activities of stage players and comedians who ridicule others to their injury.)
9. It is also sinful to make fun of the sinful ways of others, or to act them ourselves, which is common with comedians and other profane wits.
10. Immoral, obscene stage plays and recreations are unlawful, in which filthiness is represented without due expression of its odiousness, or with obscene words or actions. To Christians, Ephesians 5:3-4 applies: "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place."
11. Those amusements are unlawful, which involve the multiplying of worthless words, engaging the participants in foolish, needless, unprofitable chattering.
12. Those amusements are sinful, which tend to excite lust in ourselves or others, swearing, cursing and railing, and fighting and squabbling.
13. Those amusements and recreations are sinful, which involve covetousness, to win money from others; or that tend to stir up covetousness in those you play with.
14. Cruel recreations also are unlawful: such as taking pleasure in watching duellers, fighters, or any that abuse each other; or any animals that are made to needlessly torment each other.
15. A recreation is unlawful if it is too costly, for we are God's stewards, and must be accountable to Him for all we have. It is sinful to spend needlessly on amusement.
16. Lastly, if you have the choice of various recreations before you, you must choose the fittest. If you choose one that is less fit and profitable, when a fitter might be chosen, it is sin; even though that which you chose would have been lawful, if you had no other.By all this it is easy, for example, to judge the lawfulness of our common stage plays.