Monday, March 27, 2017
One character trait all true children of God should have is a good sense of humor. In fact, I believe that for a minster it is an absolute essential. Laughter is like the release valve in a pressure cooker; if it does not function properly, the pot will explode. Through the years I’ve known many God loving folks whose “release valve” does not function properly. They let some situation in their life fill them with anger, resentment, bitterness, anxiety, worry, sadness, or fear. And because they linger in those seasons much longer than they should, that, in turn, robs them of the joy Christ wants them to have. We should all take the things of God seriously, but never ourselves. Paul wrote: “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” (Romans 12:3) I confess that, early in my ministry, I went through a stretch where I thought that, as a servant of God, it was my duty to try to appear to others as always being serious, spiritual, and godly. It didn’t take me long to realize that I was being hypocritical, pretending to be somebody I was not. Once I better understood the grace of God, I decided to be myself. I felt confident that the Lord could use me in spite of my silliness or goofiness. And since He has, that reinforces my personal belief that God Himself has a sense of humor.
And because I don’t take myself too seriously, it often manifests itself in my messages and bible studies. On one occasion, a lady member came after our Sunday morning service to scold me for poking fun at myself during my sermon. Her position was that since I was a dignified servant of the most high God, I should conduct myself accordingly. To be honest, I initially felt flattered that she thought of me in that fashion. That changed when I later found out that she had started a secret movement among our members to have me “impeached.” I never knew pastors could be impeached but that was the word she used. This happened about twenty years ago, so I’m thankful that our membership never took her seriously, even though she definitely took herself seriously.
Laughter produces a merry heart and according to Proverbs 17:22, “A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.” Nothing that is in the word of God is there by accident or coincidence. Therefore, let’s take it’s advice and make laughter a big part of our lives. It may be just the medicine our soul needs right now. Before I go, did you hear about the little Mexican boy that was born with a rubber toe? His parents named him Roberto.
God’s word for today: (Psalm 146:5) “Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.”
