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What the Bible says about Laughter
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Does the fact that people laugh and diligently seek laughter indicate they are experiencing joy? The book of Proverbs notes that laughter and pleasure often hide grief and sorrow (Proverbs 14:13). Indeed Proverbs frequently pictures fools laughing on the road to destruction (Proverbs 10:23; 26:19; 29:9). Wisdom also laughs (1:26).

Proverbs shows that the difference between the fool and the wise is the timing of laughter, its cause, and its object. There is a time for laughter (Ecclesiastes 3:4), but Solomon's record shows that just because a person laughs does not mean he is experiencing biblical joy. Many other scriptures echo Solomon's conclusion.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Fruit of the Spirit: Joy

Related Topics: Laughter


 

Webster's New World Dictionary defines joy as synonymous with "happy," "glad," and "cheerful." A thesaurus relates it to "exultation," "rapture," "satisfaction," and "pleasure." Webster's specifically defines it as "a very glad feeling; happiness; great pleasure; delight." It also refers to the source or cause of delight.

These definitions only define the expression of the wonderful emotion. They fail to consider the causes of joy, the circumstances in which it is expressed, or its longevity. In these areas, the Bible presents a much more complex virtue than these definitions indicate.

Recently, the state of Texas executed a woman for murder. An item the murderess mentioned while giving her testimony pertains to this subject. She stated that in her drug-induced state of mind while killing two people with a pick-ax, she experienced a sexual thrill each time she drove the pick-ax into the bodies of her victims. She actually felt a pleasurable satisfaction in murder!

This gruesomely establishes that the cause of joy—or perhaps any other emotion—must be an important consideration in understanding biblical joy. Our minds can become so perverted and twisted in its response to stimuli that what we feel or what another sees on the outside cannot be blindly trusted as the righteous response of a righteous cause. The cause may be the very reason the joy is neither enduring nor satisfying.

Thus, the Bible takes a dim view of mirth or laughter, showing much laughter as having its roots in scorn or folly. Many in this world find enjoyment in other people's discomfort, stupidity, or even embarrassment, laughing uproariously at its exposure. God admonishes in Proverbs 24:17-18:

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; lest the LORD see it, and it displease Him, and He turn away His wrath from him.

Because it is natural to do so, many do precisely what God warns not to do! God implies that He will turn His wrath from the enemy to us. Barnes' Notes comments that rejoicing like this could be suicidal.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Fruit of the Spirit: Joy

Related Topics: Joy | Laughter


 

Ecclesiastes 7:2-4

Solomon is in no way saying that feasting and laughter are to be avoided, but rather he is comparing their relative value to life. Feasting does not contain an inherent power to motivate positive change in the way one is living. Instead, it motivates one to remain as he is, feeling a sense of temporary well-being. Contrariwise, sorrow—especially when pain or death is part of the picture (Psalm 90:12)—has an intrinsic power to draw a person to consider the direction of his path and institute changes that will enhance his life.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Beatitudes, Part Three: Mourning

James 3:14-16

I like to tell stories, and my family has told me more than once that I sometimes exaggerate things. I always justified it as good humor and in fun. I have come to learn, however, the exaggerations, boasts, or little white lies that "spice up" stories or humor can often hurt and damage others. Sometimes someone hearing the story remembers the situation, and it was not as funny or, from his perspective, happened some other way.

Boasting is usually successful only when another is put down, and though everyone may laugh, the victim may be recoiling from what feels like jabs and insults. Sarcasm and teasing often produce the same results. James refers to boasting and lying as assaults against the truth. One may not realize how true this is until he feels the sting of sarcasm directed toward him. I love to tease and be teased, but I am realizing increasingly that people can become carried away in their words, violate the truth, and do severe damage.

An old saying runs, "Everyone loves a clown but no one wants to be his best friend." Laughter helps people to relax and bond more closely together in shared experiences, but it is good to learn to look around to see if someone is no longer laughing. Many years ago, a dinner party with several good friends also included a minister and his wife who had just been transferred to our city. It was our first occasion to dine with them, and it was a very pleasant evening. Most of us, knowing each other well, had a long evening teasing, joking, laughing, and putting each other down. We never noticed anything amiss with the new guests.

The next week at church, however, we heard a sermon about the damages of put-down humor and how it has absolutely no place in a Christian's lifestyle. The new minister talked about how even the most subtle humor can tear relationships down and cause doubts about another's affection or respect. Such humor includes referring to one's wife as "the old ball and chain" or "the biscuit-burner." Such names and teasing—as "good fun" as they may seem—diminish our friends and family, do not express the kind affection we really feel for them, are not true, and thus are lies. A Christian should never lie, not even in fun. All of us were shame-faced and sorry we had left such a negative impression, and we apologized to him, his wife and to each other.

Test: Are we teasing and boasting to another's pleasure or his discomfort? Is it true and factual? If it is not, it is a lie, and no matter how funny it is, it is sin. Sarcasm belongs in the same category: If it is not true, it is a lie. Even if it is true, how are we expressing it? Does sarcasm express love, gentleness, peace, and mercy? Can we tease one another righteously? I would like to think so, but I am still working on learning how. Without God's Spirit guiding our words, our tongues remain subtle, merciless, and destructive weapons.

James concludes by telling us directly that these forms of speaking are not godly wisdom, but "earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing will be there" (verses 15-16). The fallout from communication based on our human, selfish motivations is evident about us. The state of the world and the way it functions are often actions and reactions of crushing blows of words. Governments, businesses, sports teams, even schools, churches, and neighborhoods communicate with each other in wars of words. Our world—this "Information Age"—is practically devoid of godly, righteous speech, relying on the sensual, material, selfish pursuits that drive Satan himself. How much does it affect us and our communications with one another?

Staff
Are You Sharp-Tongued? (Part Two)


Find more Bible verses about Laughter:
Laughter {Nave's}
 




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