What Makes You Laugh
A friend of mine once told the story of the first overseas mission trip he ever took. It was to the Caribbean island of Trinidad. The team’s objective was to establish a church in the mountains outside the capital city, Port of Spain. One afternoon he and his companions took a break and went to a movie, an old Randolph Scott western. However, they found themselves spending more time watching the people instead of the movie. What struck them the most about that experience was that everyone laughed at the wrong things! They roared with laughter when the “good guy” got shot! In one scene a woman was slapped and the crowd erupted with laughter, clapping, whistling and cheers! As good, Christian, southerly gentlemen, you can imagine this was a very strange scenario indeed.
What you laugh at is very revealing! It speaks to what your heart truly feels and what your deepest convictions are. The things that make you laugh will tell those around you something about your true inner self. Perhaps you have never taken the time to ponder this, but I promise you it is true. And there are consequences which come along with our laughter.
For one, you cannot rebuke or condemn something you have laughed at. Outwardly expressing amusement at an action or statement is going to be equated as approval in the eyes of those who witnessed your laughter. Romans 1:32 reminds us, “Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” One does not have to practice or perform a sinful activity to bear a measure of guilt associated with it. Giving hearty approval of (being entertained by) that sin is just as wrong.
Note also that laughing at the wrong things inflicts pain upon our Lord. Solomon wrote inProverbs 17:5, “Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker; he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.” It does matter to God what entertains us.
As men and women seeking to live pure, holy lives before our Maker and Savior, let us make sure that joy and humor are not found in the improper things which displease His.