Don't Make Me Laugh

This was written when I was still a Protestant. I would not change much of it today.

True Christianity is a fugitive in America. Scarcely to be found is the discipline of service passed on to us by The Servant of servants. Running from church to church are men and women who claim to bring the "new wine" of an ecstatic experience to the church of Jesus Christ. It is generally felt that this wine is poured out by a God who desires to confirm His presence with signs, wonders and "mighty miracles." Laughing, roaring and barking are among the gifts that God, in His mercy, is bringing to the church as a cure for malaise. Every week, Christians flock to churches to be filled with this new wine and be assured that God is real. Revival is sought through outward manifestations; the interior life of steady obedience to Christ is no longer enough. Few in the church seem to be asking a crucial question right now: Is there anything for us to laugh about?

Polls show very little difference between the morality within the church and the unsaved "heathen" world. The divorce rate inside the church nearly matches that of the rest of the world. Ditto for the abortion rate and the incidence of adultery. The city set on a hill has had its light dimmed greatly as selfishness has pervaded the church. The power of the church to preserve the values of a just society has diminished in direct proportion to the lack of spiritual and moral discipline of its members. Looking about, we see the chaos of a world in decline, a world in the spasms of an overdose of "Me, Me!" Sadly the church is mirroring the culture and is also holding out its hand and saying, "Give me more!"

What more can God give to us? He has given us the very best He has, His own Son. But instead of using His son's precious name in awe, we use it as a spiritual credit card. "More, more, more." screams the evangelist. "Fill, fill, fill." The simple fact is that we have reduced church to a spiritual Disney World, with manifestations serving as the rides that thrill. If we have an experience at our church, it was worth the trip there. If enough people have enough experiences, a revival must be in progress. We no longer come to church to worship God, we come to worship self. Experience has become the barometer of the presence of God. What dangerous ground we have set foot on; what a blasphemous journey. Like the rebellious Israelites in the wilderness, we are making demands of the very God who created us, who set us free.

Never have a people been more greatly blessed than we American Christians. We drive magnificently reliable vehicles, have every creature comfort known to man; in truth the poorest of us is materially wealthy. Yet, we go to Toronto or to Florida and hold out our hands and say, "Give me more!" We do this because we are spiritually as empty as the world that we criticize. But it is not God's fault. We have not built our lives on the first things of God. Few of us have the patience to live the Beatitudes. In 1 Kings 18 the prophet Elijah went face to face with the prophets of Baal and challenged them to persuade their god to perform a sign which could match what Jehovah God could do. Of course, they failed to do so. Tragically we have turned this event upside down. Because of the challenge of a mocking world, we have asked our God to perform the parlor tricks that the god of this age excels at. "If you are God, entertain us like the world does. Make us laugh, make us drunk, make us ooh and ahh. Give us a sign!" [4/26/00 "Fill our mouths and pockets with gold!"]

It's as if we have a private audience with a concert pianist and ask him to play Chopsticks. Of course he can play Chopsticks, but he really desires to share a masterpiece with us; he would like to give us a greater gift than a child's song. He would like to share his love and his passion! It is the same with our God. Can He make us laugh? Yes! Can He make us howl or shake or bark? Of course He can, but He has so much more to give us! He has a relationship of quiet dignity that He would like to share, the same type of relationship He shares with His son. We are not merely animals and should not seek to act like them.

There is no short route to a meaningful relationship, either heavenly or earthly. To grow in Love you must spend time with someone. No one can lay hands on your head and instill in you a complete Love of God. No amount of shouting, or jumping up and down can make God love you more. You may feel closer, but feelings are really a frightening measure of God's closeness.

Is God only close when we have achieved a state of altered consciousness? Isn't He always present to the believer? What of Jesus' promise to be with us whenever two or more are gathered in His name? Isn't that promise valid anymore? Is this experiential measure of God's presence to become the norm for our worship services? Is there something wrong with a person who does not have enough "faith" to enter into this worship experience? God's love is complete. I know that to be true, not because I always feel it, but because He has said so.

The Reformation took place over four hundred years ago, yet it continues to this present day. The current reformation in Christian doctrine will finally throw off even the pretence of basing church practice on Biblical precedent. Those who are currently alive have a good chance of witnessing the flowering of an unrestrained, extra-Biblical church. The question that this church will use as a benchmark will not be a new one. It will be a question that man learned all too well in the Garden, "Did God really say…?" Rather than questioning our lives in the light of Scripture, we will question Scripture in relationship to our experiences.

As this church emerges, it will leave in its wake shattered lives and rootless Christians. These poor souls will not have their lives built upon a rock; they will not even have the dubious comfort of a foundation of sand. Their chief cornerstone will be just the thing that they were to die to; themselves. Experience is a poor substitute for a Savior. Historically and Scripturally the call to Christian service has always been a sacrificial one. Both Catholic and Protestant martyrs have undoubtedly relied on more than a superficial relationship with the Lord to endure their trials.

Many of the people who make the pilgrimage to Toronto are looking for the right thing in the wrong way. Revival follows repentance. It would be interesting to know how many of these "pilgrims" have spent more time traveling to Toronto, than in fasting and prayer? My guess would be many. I wonder how God looks at our slothful spiritual state? Surely He misses the intimacy of the prayer closet; the private seeking of His will for our lives. The welfare state has carried over into the church of Jesus Christ. I don't believe that we have a spiritual work ethic any longer. Because of this, we are in trouble both as a Nation and as a church.

© Copyright Mark Connell, 1995