Lessons in Laughing

Have you ever laughed at yourself?  There are plenty of times in my life where I have laughed at the decisions I made or the things I said.  It is through those times that lessons can be learned through laughter. 

Recently, my wife and I were trying to decide on a movie to watch on a Friday night.  Our kids were in bed and watching a movie in our quiet house is a little piece of heaven for us.  We searched through several movie titles, but nothing caught our attention until we came across a movie called Believe Me.  The synopsis sounded interesting to us and we thought we would give it a try.  The basic plot is about a college student about to graduate who recruits his friends to help him pay off some unforeseen debt.  The debt would keep him from graduating, delaying his plans to attend law school in the fall.  He goes to church because he is invited by someone and hears a girl talk about the church's upcoming mission trip to Hawaii (real tough, I know).  Sam, the college student, asks the girl after the service about the trip, specifically how much money they had raised so far.  The group had to raise $20,000 and they had already raised $14,000 in a week.  And, this is where the light bulb goes off in Sam's head. 

The rest of the movie is about Sam and his friends creating a fake charity to raise the money Sam needs to pay off his tuition bill.  Along the way, the group learns the ins and outs of Christianity even though they don't believe themselves.  What's entertaining about this movie is that it takes an honest look at some of the things we do as Christians and encourages us to laugh at ourselves so that maybe we can learn some lessons along the way.  Sam and his group take us on a journey into Christianity through the eyes of the unbeliever and what it does is helps us see the things we do in an honest way, challenging us to rethink some of the things we do. 

This movie was an honest Christian movie.  The one thing I loved about it was that the Jesus moment (if you've seen a Christian movie, you know what I'm talking about) felt real and not forced.  Most Christian movies I have seen have a Gospel presentation that seems out of place and forced.  In Believe Me, it was quite the opposite.  Sam has a real encounter with Jesus and he was not given a Gospel presentation with an invitation to accept Jesus into his heart.  He encountered Jesus in a real way, realizing that paying off his school bill was not the ultimate goal in life.  He realized that law school was not what life was all about.  He realized that Jesus was life.

People need a real encounter with Jesus and if we, his followers, continue to do things that don't make sense to people, the greater the distance between people and the church will be.  We need to laugh at ourselves and admit that maybe some of the things we do are a little silly.  Being humble enough to be honest with ourselves is the first step in the right direction.  The Church in this country needs a new direction.  People today want to change the world and the Church was designed to be an agent of change.  We don't need more pastors who ask for a new jet or churches who are exclusive social clubs.  We need to stop focusing on our numbers and start focusing on people.  We need to laugh at ourselves, learn from our mistakes, and let the Holy Spirit teach us and use us to reach new generations for the kingdom of God.

Larger than Life

If you know anything about comic book people, you know that we don't like change very much.  Anytime there are changes to the heroes we love, we freak out.  There is an uproar about the new Fantastic Four movie released this summer.  Photos are starting to be released of the actors in their superhero suits (you can view the pictures here: http://geektyrant.com/news/four-more-photos-from-fantastic-four-to-fuel-fan-outrage). The problem is that the costumes are not the classic costumes of these heroes.  In fact, no one has even seen a 4 anywhere on these costumes.  So, as you can imagine, comic fans are not too impressed with these changes.  And this is not the only time changes like this have occurred. 
Superman has been the hero for me since I was little.  But, today, was heartbreaking for me.  DC Comics released an image of Superman's new suit and you can see that here: 
I understand what they are trying to do: they are trying to make Superman so we can relate to him easier.  Putting him jeans and a t-shirt makes him look like an average Joe who happens to have powers.  But, I don't want that from my heroes.  I want my heroes to be larger than life.

So, this got me thinking today.  I got to thinking, "In my walk with Christ, is Jesus larger than life?"  Is Jesus larger than life in your walk?  Is Jesus larger than life in our churches?

The younger generations are leaving the church or not even thinking about church and one of the reasons is that we have watered down Jesus.  Our God is no longer the transcendent God who created the universe nor the one that the Psalms speak of.  God is our homeboy and our buddy.  God is our sugar daddy that we can ask anything of to satisfy our spoiled cravings and He will give it to us because He wants us to be happy. 

We wear the t-shirts that say Jesus is our Superhero then go to church on Sunday, sing funeral dirges, barely keep our eyes open, and anxiously look at our watches to see how much longer the service is. Is it any wonder people don't want to go to church?

I have worn the shirts, barely kept my eyes open, and anxiously wondered when we will sing the last verse of Just As I Am.  I still struggle with this attitude at times as well.  So, why is God so boring?

I think the reason God appears so boring is because we have portrayed him that way through our actions and attitudes.  We dumb down God in order for him to be relevant.  We water Him down so that people can relate to him more.  But, I don't want to relate to God.  I want to be saved by God.

We don't need to dumb down God and people don't want us to either.  People want someone that is larger than life.  A god who is less than larger than life is incapable of saving us.  When we water down God, we make him into our image.  And, when we make him into our image, he is powerless to save us because we are more powerful than he is.  People are looking for a god who is real and tangible, but at the same time impossible to grasp or fully comprehend.  That is kind of God that is mighty to save. 

We need to stop putting God in our boxes and surrendering to His majesty.  When we surrender to that God, then the thought that He would draw near to us through the person of Jesus Christ becomes almost overwhelming.  We can say along with David, "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him" (Psalm 8:3-4)? 

I don't want my Superman wearing a t-shirt and jeans and I certainly don't want my God to be anything less than the all-powerful, all-knowing, everlasting, gracious and merciful God of the Scriptures; we don't need anything less than that.