Hobbies: Some ferry important questions...

It’s five o’clock in the morning and I am 300 miles from my home town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. I find myself wandering through a Welsh port, in pitch black, joined by a man I met ten minutes ago.

As we walk, with my wheeled suitcase trying its best to wake up the entire street, Paddy begins to open up to me about his onward travel plans and his exceedingly long wait at Pembroke Dock train station. In that half an hour he tells me about his recent cancer diagnosis, and I share with him my faith in Jesus and say that I will pray for him.

What leads a man from Newcastle to this port on the coast of Wales? The answer: public transport!

I am afflicted with a bug shared by many men (because it is usually men!); an obsession with anything metal that moves. For most this obsession is with trains, mine is a little more niche: ferries! I developed this interest as a young boy going on family holidays to western Scotland, and have been infatuated ever since. I love the way that these moving pieces of metal link remote communities to wider civilisation.

But having read all this, perhaps you are asking yourself the question: Why is this article in Evangelicals Now?! My answer is this: how should we as Christians think about our hobbies (even those as unusual as ferry spotting)?

I wonder if you have a hobby or a pastime? It might be sport (playing or watching). Or perhaps it’s crochet (shout out to my home-group members who say they concentrate better by doing this throughout our Bible studies). Whatever it is, I wonder if you have ever considered if it was a good “use” of your time? Is it wrong for Christians to spend time and money on things that do not seem to build God’s kingdom? Surely instead of getting an easel out, meticulously laying out our watercolours and looking at the beautiful mountain in front of us, and spending hours seeking to recreate it on canvas, we should be investing time with our non-Christian neighbours, friends, family, colleagues? Praying for ways and opportunities to share the gospel with them.

In my reflections on this question I have turned to the teaching of Paul the apostle who tells the church in Colossae to “be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity” (Col. 4v5); and in particular I have found Ephesians 5v16 (and its wider context) extremely instructive, as Paul says that we should be “making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (Eph.5v16). It is how this injunction fits within the wider context of the surrounding verses which I have found particularly helpful: “Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is” (Eph.5v15-17).

What is clear from this (and the Colossians passage) is that wisdom is key. We are to take seriously what we do and how we spend our time and to seek the Lord for His wisdom. Sometimes, of course, it will be obvious that what we are doing and how we are spending our time is sinful. In those cases, it is not a case of seeking wisdom about whether to continue but instead to seek the Lord for His help in moving towards Him and away from those things.

But where there is no sin, wisdom is needed so as to not lead ourselves into foolishness and wasting the days He has graciously given us.

As I have reflected on my own hobby, and the need to seek the Lord for wisdom with it, I have begun to ask myself some questions, and share these with you to encourage you to also reflect and help reframe your pastimes within the wider scope of the gospel:

1. Am I spending too much time doing this hobby?
2. Am I spending too much money doing this hobby?
3. Am I thinking about this hobby more than I do the things of God?
4. How can a wise Christian better use this hobby for the glory of God?

The Westminster Shorter Catechism famously declares in its very first question: “What is the chief end of man? Answer. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever.”

How do our hobbies contribute to God’s glorification in His world? We are creatures who alone bear His image. As creatures we too are given a measure of creativity, to make things, to tend, to cultivate, and enjoy His creation (as well as the creativity of other humans). In so doing we may also enjoy Him as the Creator who sustains all this creativity!

If you’ll allow me to go back to ferries, I find that when I ask myself the questions above I do find myself convicted, most of all when I reflect on how this hobby has taken my heart and mind to be more captivated by the things created than the Creator Himself.

I see my need to be careful about how much time I spend on ferry “discussion forums” (and yes, that is a thing!); or learning the size and capacity of the MV Isle of Islay. Being careful if those things preoccupy me in ways which lead me away from contemplating Him and serving Him.

However, hobbies do allow us to take part in enjoying His creation and if we actively remember Him as we do so, we may in fact bring glory to Him, and pursue our chief end.

When I enjoy being out on the sea, being battered by the wind, rain and waves, it is an opportunity to look at how this points me to the God who created the mighty oceans, of realising my infinite smallness compared to Him; how great He is and yet how loved I am; for the God who created all of this – the seas, oceans, islands and weather patterns – stepped into His wonderful creation to die for my sin so that I could enjoy Him forever. For me, I count also the way that my hobby gave me the opportunity to meet Paddy and get to hear his story on that dark morning in Wales. And to share with him my story of Jesus, and offer to pray for him. Hobbies are great opportunities to make those precious connections and witness to the gospel.

There is much more that could be said on this, and it requires each of us to seek the Lord’s wisdom. But using the questions above and framing them all under our chief end – to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever, would be a good start in thinking how we might use our time, talents, and hobbies in ways which bring glory to God as we enjoy what He has made and how He has made us!