I conducted a clinical, scientific experiment in my church service last Sunday. I had a theory, and as all my atheist friends who read this blog keep reminding me, you need to test your hypothesis with a controlled experiment. So I grabbed a typical beach ball (selected randomly at the Dollar store), took it to my pulpit and hit it into the air above the heads of my congregation. As you can imagine, they looked up in surprise as it sailed above their heads and began its descent...
Then, to my delight, someone got up and took a good, hard whack at it, sending it backup into the air. Then another, and another, until it finally came to rest only due to a lack of mobility, not a lack of a sense of fun.
You may wonder what kind of goofy church I am running, and you would not be the first person to ask. However, I think that before you join any church, the beach ball experiment is the litmus test you should use. Because if the congregation stands back with arms folded and watches the beach ball hit the floor, they have failed the all important "fun test". You see, in addition to believing the Bible and many other good non-negotiables, a church without a serious attitude toward fun is not a church in which you want to spend an hour or more of your life. That's a wasted hour each week you'll never get back...
As a pastor, I have a rather odd role-model as to how I want to be perceived. if i could choose one person I would remind people of - other than Jesus - it would be Willy Wonka, without a doubt. And that playful spirit I try to exude has gotten me dubbed "Pastor Willy" by our congregation. I was offended at first, because I thought they meant "Free Willy" the whale. I'm glad it's the other guy with the chocolate factory instead!
I think one of the big things that many Christians miss about their faith is the importance of a fun-loving attitude. Honestly, there are some Christians who are so serious, so curmudgeonly, so disapproving of anything that smacks of fun that I'd rather spend my time with non-believers. Funny thing - I believe Jesus felt the same way!
One of the main criticism lobbed at Jesus from the religious crowd was that he ate with the "publicans and sinners" (Mark 2:16). This was the party crowd of His day. And while I don't believe He ever did anything to compromise His holiness, He had to be a pretty fun-loving person for those kinds of people to enjoy having Him around. You can be sure He wasn't like many professing believers, shooting disapproving glances at every joke they heard.
One of the things we have lost in the translation of the Scriptures into English is some of the fun-loving repartee Jesus had with people in His teaching. Theologian Elton Trueblood points out in his book The Humor of Christ that there are even verbal puns in the spoken teaching of Christ that are completely lost in translation. So it is very possible that along with the enlightenment His teaching inspired, He may have even inspired a few groans from the crowd at the "punny" way He taught. And many of His responses to the self-righteous religious leaders of His time were laced with sarcasm, going so far as to refer to them as "sons of snakes" and "white-washed tombs".
But evidently not all religious people agree. I remember a quote from the late (and not so great) Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran. When asked about joy and fun within his faith, he responded, "Allah did not create man so that he could have fun. The aim of creation was for mankind to be put to the test through hardship and prayer. An Islamic regime must be serious in every field. There are no jokes in Islam. There is no humor in Islam. There is no fun in Islam. There can be no fun and joy in whatever is serious."
While I'm sure many Muslims would disagree with his statements, it's sad how well his words reflect the views of some believers. But please understand, if you call yourself a Christian, your Lord was not a "stick in the mud"! He was a loving, joyful person who exuded so much life that people followed him out into the wilderness for days at a time just to hear him speak. In fact, the whole "feeding of the 5000" was because people came to hear him with no regard for what they would eat. Can you think of anyone you'd listen to all day, without worrying about food? That's how exciting, how captivating a person he was...and is!
I personally didn't go to high school with the Ayatollah, but I can guarantee you that with an attitude like his, he didn't get invited to many parties. Maybe that's why he seemed so grumpy the rest of his life - teenage angst. But that's not true of Jesus, because even those who didn't follow Him could not deny the love and life that flowed from Him.
So as a pastor, and a Christian, I will proudly wear the title of "Pastor Willy Wonka". That's the playful spirit of fun I want people to see in me, because that's what I believe Jesus was like.
And if you get time, feel free to drop by the "Chocolate Factory"...I mean, the church. Who knows what might happen when the room is filled with the fun-loving spirit of Jesus? We might even throw in an Oompa Loompa or two!
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Comments » 8
NedLand writes:
One of my favorite Jesus puns is when he was speaking about Peter (originally "Simon" but called the equivalent of "Rocky", ie., "Peter") when Jesus said, "And upon this rock I will build my church."
I do have a problem with the joke - it was taken much too literally and subsequently may have been used by power brokers to concentrate power in one leader and diminish the other leaders. Welcome to life on Earth.
If Jesus said that at all, I think Jesus may have meant that uopn rocks LIKE this kind of rock, I will build my ... wait ... there were no CHURCHES there at that point, were there? Was there only a temple? How could Jesus say that at all, as funny as it may have been?
Hmmmm.
woods311 writes:
Hey brother Dave, I would love to read your piece, but I can't get that wonderful picture to go away.
I like the way you speak, your enthusiasm, and I believe your intent, is helping your fellow man.
As a side note, I believe the definition of Christian is Christ like. Am I wrong?
To me, the message "What I am, you can be also", means, it is better to live a life as Christ taught,than to count on prayer to save one from the punishment of a loving god, for eternity.
There are hundreds of religions in the world describing the indescribable God.
Perhaps you might consider a different view as found in the works of Neal Donald Walsh starting with conversations with god, book 1.
There is really no conflict between gods.
Just consider it an update to your spiritual God connection software.
Another quick read is "What God Wants".
Find out in the middle of the book in three pages, exactly "What God Wants" from his/her/its creation.
I would be happy to provide these books if you like.
Blessed be.
DaveGipson writes:
Dear woods311,
Sorry about the bombastic picture. I've replaced it with a less bombastic one of me in full Willy Wonka mode. Hope that is better, although it suffers from my lovely wife not being in it!
As far as the books, I always appreciate a good read. I am however very committed to Biblical theology, and do see major differences between Christianity and most other world religions and philosophies. So they might be falling on deaf ears, so to speak.
Thanks again for reading, and I appreciate your comments,
Dave
DaveGipson writes:
Dear Nedland,
My interpretation of that passage is that Jesus is saying upon the foundation of Peter's confession (that Jesus was not just a good teacher, but was in fact the Son of God), Christ would be building His church. This is the church that kicks in at Acts 2 as the Holy Spirit fills believers and empowers them to preach the Gospel.
I understand my Catholic friends believe Jesus was installing Peter as the first pope, but I don't believe you'd come to that conclusion without prior prompting.
So that's my personal take on it.
God bless,
Dave
keekee writes:
I think your fun loving parishioners may have attended a rock concert or two before. I remember being at a Jimmy Buffett concert and that beach ball stayed in the air for the whole concert. I kept waiting for it to reach us, but the concert was all over before I got my chance to smack it up in the air.
ZZ Top concert had about 20 beach balls in the air! Not to mention a keen pungent aroma. Oh but I digress.
Yes, I believe you are so right about incorporating fun into the trials and tribulations of life and especially within Christianity. Good blog, thanks.
DaveGipson writes:
Dear keekee,
They are a fun loving bunch, and I'm very proud of them! We have a good time together, and God is good.
Thanks for reading,
Dave
NedLand writes:
Please reread my post. You missed the point.
Your statement, "... I don't believe you'd come to that conclusion without prior prompting." infers that you erroneously have concluded that I was indoctrinated to take as truth that Jesus conferred leadership of the SECT he was leading, upon Peter and his successors, and that I somehow therefore support that concept or that system. No way do I interpret those words in that manner.
That may well be the interpretation that Catholic Church puts on the matter to justify their bureaucracy and hegemony, but, as I point out, since the word, "church" was NOT used at the time by Jesus or anyone else (POSSIBLY the Greeks), it is highly unlikely that Jesus used the word "church" to confer or establish rank and superiority to any particular sect, person or to their elected successors. Whatever word Jesus was supposed to have said, “church” was not it. It therefore casts doubt upon the veracity of the entire passage, rendering it moot … EXCEPT for the pun “Peter” and “Rocky” which I still find funny. And HUMOR was what we were discussing.
I have a particular hard time with bureaucracy, since the duty of any bureaucracy is to itself first - as a means of its survival.
Another bit of Jesus’ humor, IMHO, is when He was reported to have been in a group and his disciples were shooing the children away, Jesus is reported to have said, “Suffer the little children to come unto me.” My take on that is that it was a bit of self-deprecating humor by Jesus saying, “Let them come here to me, not if I can stand them but IF they can stand ME!” I know you might take umbrage at my opinion, but to me this is an endearing example of humility and gives vast insight into a fascinating trait. I think he rather liked scolding the apostles when He could, too.
DaveGipson writes:
Dear Nedland,
Sorry, I meant my "you'd" in that statement not specifically referring to you personally, but that "people" in general would not come to that conclusion without prompting,
I don't really have much experience with Catholicism, other than knowing a few Catholics and studying church history and theology.
Actually, the rendering "suffer the little children" is just a King James way of saying "Allow the little children..." Nothing more interesting than just that. But there are many interesting things in the original language that give insight into Jesus' playful side.
God bless,
Dave
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