I remember years ago a reporter from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution asked me a most thought-provoking question: “You must have heard your husband’s jokes hundreds of times. I watched you during his speech. You laughed as if you were hearing those jokes for the first time. Are you programmed to laugh or are they really funny to you?”
In my mind’s eye I was married to the master storyteller. Yes, I still thought they were funny. I still can muster a chuckle when I let my thoughts go down that road. I recall them all with deep love and appreciation.
I believe laughter can be a sacred thing. Why is it that so many people, even Christians, march around as though having a stern look and frowning at all times is a sign of piety? The Pharisees believed that and Jesus rebuked them many times.
I read once that Charles Haddon Spurgeon was criticized for bordering on frivolity in the Tabernacle pulpit. He was thought by many pastors not to be holy because of the humor in his sermons. He once replied, “If only you knew how much I hold back, you would commend me. … This preacher thinks it less a crime to cause a momentary laughter than a half-hour of profound slumber.”
The ability to bring joy and pleasure to people is a God-given talent. I know of two men who do just that. Let me tell you about the first one.
His name is Randy Overstreet, the senior associate pastor at First Baptist Church, Birmingham. Randy has served there for six years. I happened to be in a group recently where he spoke. There were no dry eyes among the 200-plus people in the audience. Demands, deadlines, pressures, problems were all forgotten. Randy was the most carefree, relaxed, entertaining humorist I have heard in a long time. He kept the happy crowd in stitches and before we knew it, he pounded home his point about how God moves in a person’s life.
Then there is Jim Mitchell. Jim is a free-lance writer, speaker and lecturer who lives in Auburn. Having retired from Auburn University, he went into public speaking some years ago. He is a master of Bible teaching. His roots in Scripture are deep. There are seven books to his credit, and banquets are his specialty. Like Randy, Jim does not think it is a sin to laugh and will keep his audiences awake with his motivation to enjoy life to its fullest. He is a humble man who relates his beliefs to listening ears in a unique way.
So why all the to-do about laughter? Because I believe it is good for the soul, and I believe that Satan would love for each one of us to resign ourselves to being depressed and never looking on the bright side of life. Our adversary has a friend when we look like we ate thorns for breakfast. What a sad witness that we never look excited about what God has done, is doing and will do in our lives.
Most of us did not learn to laugh at church. I only remember one pastor who touched my life as a child. His laughter was so loud that we could hear him a mile away. He loved all of us. His grin from ear to ear always brought into focus what he was trying to say. At school we called him “the happy preacher.”
I pray daily for God to give me the gift of encouragement. I think that can begin with a smile on my face that attracts rather than repels. God may never use some of us to speak to hundreds like he does with Randy and Jim, but we meet people daily who we can witness to with a laugh.
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