Laughter's Medecine

Discussing last week's blog about consumerism with people I've got some further thoughts about it. When we've applied insights on consumerism to the area of Christian teaching we've got into some hot water, offended some people, confused others, and possibly misunderstood by both. So my thoughts centre around the mechanism of consumerism: the addiction we have to consuming things, that others have produced for our own benefit and convenience. No sooner do we have something than we're tempted to want more of it or a better version of it. The experience becomes addictive. So, imagine the new Christian, who gets into the rhythm of going to a church service every Sunday and experiences brilliant teaching. the sermon is fantastic and God speaks so clearly, so profoundly, that Christian has an incredible time in God's presence. This becomes the pinnacle of her/his week. Consumerism works within that person to say, "you need that again, and again ...and again". And if the preaching continues to be good, the addiction is sealed in a never ending repetitive cycle.

Whilst the Bible is clear about the importance of good teaching (the disciples were devoted to the apostles teaching -Acts 2), I believe Jesus modelled something different to us than just endlessly receiving teaching: 'freely you have received, freely give' (Matt 10:8). So rather than getting on the treadmill of receiving great teaching, we change our mindset to one of living out what we've been taught before we try to get more teaching; giving freely what we've received. I'm not criticising anyone, just trying to point out our slavish addiction to consumerism and how the ways of Jesus rub up against that, compelling us to live counter culturally, in a rhythm of giving and receiving that is anathema to western thinking (of course there are many wonderful people who listen to a great sermon on Sunday and that fuels their life, I'm simply pointing out the opposite ideology and how  we can be blind to our culture). This is, I believe, one of the reasons why many Christians today simply cannot comprehend living without a service / sermon every Sunday. Once again, I'm not saying services and sermons are wrong every week - goodness me I've spent the last 17 years of my life preaching most weeks in a church service. I just want to be fully aware of the forces at work in our culture, to be free to do something different like having freely received we can freely give back to others, and to have some honest mature reflection and debate about the rampant consumerism around us and how it might affect our faith. Cool.

So onto this week's thoughts.

laughter, boy do we need it. We need it anyway don't we, but also in Jan and Feb, the hardest months for mental illness in the UK, we need it even more; AND  when we've had storm after storm, and rain belt after rain belt all winter, well i think we should book ourselves in for a whole weekend of comedians!

Did Jesus laugh? You bet he did. It's quite important that we get a right view of Jesus. Was he sombre, dour, serious, even grumpy, most of the time, as some churches might portray? No way. Laughter is very healing and mentally beneficial. I've just read some research about it having a positive effect on the immune system, and that we need it daily. When was the last time your ribs ached from laughing so much? So let's have more fun in our lives. Do fun things together too. This week in my house we've ended up laughing because of a  broken finger, and physical exhaustion! The Bible speaks about having life to the full, and the joy of the Lord being our strength. Sure;y that includes laughter. Next week I'll write about the cost and challenges of being a Christian today, and hope that we can see the tough side of life through the lens of God's love, and hold laughter and tough challenges in the same hand.