Friday 5 August 2011

Can Christians be ‘Too Serious’?

Can Christians be too serious, sometimes too much for their own good?  Surely God wants us to take Him seriously; no problem there?  But does He want us to be serious; all the time?

When we were kids, we were probably used to getting up to some mischief or other, knock and run,  poking fun at our friends as they poked fun at us, and generally quite naturally not taking life too seriously; we were kids after all.

Now, we see through a glass darkly; we lose some of that childish magic we had as kids, and the ability to laugh for its own sake.  I have a great sense of humour, I’m quite witty and I love to belly-laugh, you know, when your ribs ache and you are, in a very nice way, out of control.  Laughter is a gift from God I believe, and one that we exercise too rarely.  I can be too serious, sometimes.

Also spontaneity is a gift from God too; breaking the monotonous routine can be good for us, and can recharge our batteries.  So these gifts are God-given, and we should use them from time to time.  We don’t have to be sombre or puritanical as Christians; Jesus Himself said: (and I quote) "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."  This doesn’t sound like a killjoy to me, but someone who wants the very best for us.  Abundant living could cover a whole lot of things, material and spiritual blessings, and also things that may seem inconsequential in the great scheme of things, like laughing and being content, but which may be more important than we think.

Be spontaneous!  Do something nice you haven’t done before, or something nice you like to do.  Go to a restaurant; buy a few comedy DVDs and have a good laugh; have a few glasses of wine or a few beers; pay your TV licence fee!  Seriously; have some fun!  And try to live life, and take each day, as it comes.  It makes life so much easier.

So, God’s message certainly is that He wants the very best for us, and laughing and spontaneity might be a part of His plan for us.

11 comments:

  1. A lovely piece. I couldn't agree more. I love to laugh and laugh a lot.

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  2. Thank you Joan. A good laugh now and again I think is good for both body and soul; I do believe laughter is a very special gift from God! Feel free to comment on anything on my blog; at any rate, I hope you enjoy my blog as I enjoy yours.

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  3. I read this in Malachi 4 yesterday: "But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall" (NIV). If that isn't a joyous image, I don't know what is!

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    1. Hi Rebecca. Thank you for the comment, it's very much appreciated and keeps the blog 'alive'! Oh, and thanks very much for joining my blog too, that is also very much appreciated!

      I think that God wants us to be serious about faith, and He certainly wants us to take Him seriously, but at the same time, I believe He wants us to have many moments of lightness, moments of mirth, moments of fun and to be light-hearted within ourselves; what is a sense of humour if it's not a gift from God after all? Who doesn't like to laugh now and again? I love to laugh, it's part of who I am. I love Python, tons of British humour and tons of American humour too; where would we be without a little laugh now and then?!

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  4. I use to be a class clown back in school, always goofing around and joking, other kids always saying grow up, I use to say, I'm 15 so I will behave like a 15 year old, you guys are in a rush to grow up, too bad, I'm not. Now I'm serious probably 90% of the time, the other 10% I'm only less serious. The more relaxed laid back version of me is dust in the wind pretty much, or so I thought. When I saw this post I was like this is about me. I'm going to try and loosen up a bit, I'm 26 and my peers say I'm like a old lady.

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  5. Your comment rings a bell with me; I have always loved to laugh, belly laugh often in fact, but as I've got older it seems to have gone the way of all things. We must make time for silliness, get some DVD's of comedy we like and just have a laugh with our mates (friends) now and again! I believe laughter is a gift from God.

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  6. Okay, so in light of all that what would be considered as too much fun or the wrong kind of fun? I have this guy friend who is uber serious about everything, he doesn't joke around and when I have tried to be playful then he just sits there and doesn't respond to the playfulness but rather in a very deep level of seriousness. He said that he wasn't always that serious, but that God took him through some rites of passage that made him so. I on the other hand am a "free spirit". I can be serious when it comes to bible studies and deep conversation, but for the most part I am as light hearted as the best of them. I love to have fun, goof off and enjoy life without thinking about it too much, other then a thanks to God for making beautiful things and such. Any thoughts?

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    1. I had depression in the past as a young adult, and it stole my fun and my humour and for a long time I became serious and morbid even. As a kid I was always laughing, always joking, and didn't have one care in the world. I am now more like you, I don't want to be a serious person all the time, although I take God completely seriously. I like to belly laugh all the time and like to be happy too. What is happiness, and what is laughter anyway? It's a gift from God.

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    2. Well, I definitely got more serious after becoming a Christian because now the Holy Spirit allows believers to now see things the way God does. And now I see how perverted the world is and before it didn't bother me, now it sickens me. For instance, you said get some comedy DVD' s. What comedy DVD' s? Comedy nowadays is usually full of cursing, talking about sex in an ungodly way and just nasty. Same with most comedy movies: overtly sexual and constantly glorifying getting wasted. Everybody is having sex outside marriage in the movies now very casually, celebrating homosexuality, getting drunk, the F word every other word, etc. I used to be worse than that but God delivered me from cursing, drinking and I'm glad of it. I love to laugh, be funny, etc but we have to watch what we are laughing at. Since God's main purpose for our lives and the last command Jesus gave is to share the gospel and make disciples of men because God wants people to be saved and people are dying everyday and going to he'll, it's hard sometimes not to be serious.

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    3. Well, I definitely got more serious after becoming a Christian because now the Holy Spirit allows believers to now see things the way God does. And now I see how perverted the world is and before it didn't bother me, now it sickens me. For instance, you said get some comedy DVD' s. What comedy DVD' s? Comedy nowadays is usually full of cursing, talking about sex in an ungodly way and just nasty. Same with most comedy movies: overtly sexual and constantly glorifying getting wasted. Everybody is having sex outside marriage in the movies now very casually, celebrating homosexuality, getting drunk, the F word every other word, etc. I used to be worse than that but God delivered me from cursing, drinking and I'm glad of it. I love to laugh, be funny, etc but we have to watch what we are laughing at. Since God's main purpose for our lives and the last command Jesus gave is to share the gospel and make disciples of men because God wants people to be saved and people are dying everyday and going to he'll, it's hard sometimes not to be serious.

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    4. DR S24. I'm with you.
      Tho I've always been up for an easy laugh, I have never known how to be silly, goofy. When told to strike a pose of silliness, I look scared to death and like I don't know what that means. Sadly a rough raising is where that comes from...plus maybe the way I'm wired.
      Now I know God created laughter for good reason but at the same time I don't see Jesus joking much or being lighthearted. So I pray God has used my hardship for His good even though I'm not so silly.

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