Tell me where the punchline is

Have you ever noticed how so much of church life seems to be dominated by the need for everyone involved to laugh? Or to have fun? Rarely does a sermon start these days in the modern church without a few jokes from the pastor to 'warm' the congregation up. Or how the selection of a speaker for a cell group, conference or camp is determined by whether he can make the audience laugh and feel good.

I sense in this a dangerous precedent. One in which the carnal desire of gratification is satisfied through the intense need to joke and laugh about things. In other words, too much seriousness is not a good thing. Let's keep it light.

It has been described that this is now the way of the world. This is a generation that has never known any wars, hunger, poverty or great upheavals. It's a generation that has been remarkably prosperous like no other time before in history and one which has ample resources and time to spend on leisure activities, consumer goods and programs to satisfy one's own's desires. Sadly, this is reminiscent of the period in history known as the fall of the Roman empire, which occurred at a time when the empire was relatively peaceful and wealthy, which then led to the society becoming weaker over time as they forgot how they got there and concentrated more on satisfying their wants through gluttony, displays of barbarism and cruelty in the circuses and debauched acts.

All this is another word for superficiality and a slide down the slope away from the gospel. This is not to say that there is no joy in the Gospel. Far from it, the Gospel is a picture of the greatest joy possible - that of God redeeming you from eternal condemnation. If that doesn't fill your heart with joy, I don't know what will.

However, the joy that is seen these days in the current church is a far cry from that. It is a fleshly distraction from the Gospel and to satisfy the need for ears to be tickled. What happens then when you hear a sermon on sin? Or the fact that those who continue sinning and never repent are going to Hell? Is this a laughing matter?

The more we veer towards inappropriate hilarity at the wrong time and place, we steer away from talking about those issues. And the Devil will have made a gain there. There is a time and a place for humour, and it can even emanate from the pulpit; but the underlying principle is that it cannot detract one ounce of attention away from Jesus Christ and the Gospel

So the moment I become Pastor standup comedian, I forego my responsibilities as a steward of the Bride of Christ. As soon as I bow to sulky and bored faces during Bible study and inject a round of conversational topics that gets everyone laughing gayily, I have won the hearts of men (and women) to myself but not Jesus Christ and the Gospel

We decry the lack of awe and reverence during Holy Communion. There is ranting about the lack of respect and passion in the youth in their commitment to Christlike discipleship. Then we look at how we approach worship, the message, Bible study and prayer - is it any wonder why what we get is something of our own doing and not to be blamed on anyone else?

If you are not getting any yucks from the sermon - too bad. When Bible study seems boring to you, suck it up and do some study before the study. Life isn't a never ending laugh track and the church isn't here to make you happy or entertain you. Learn to live life with more discernment, soberness and judgement. And above all, bear in mind the God who gave his Son up as a perfect sacrifice to die painfully and horribly on a Cross for your sins.

See if you can laugh about that.