It Isn’t So Funny to be a Christian Anymore?

 

Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. (James 4:6-10)

Christian comedy was a big thing a few years back. That was before Covid-19. It is still a thing, but not nearly so much as it used to be. Tim Hawkins is still out there doing his concerts, but it just doesn’t have the same general appeal.

That’s because being a Christian isn’t so funny anymore.

It is a deadly serious thing to be a Christian in this world. The enemy is attacking from without, and corruption is growing from within. Corruption has always been there, but corruption doesn’t seem so important when you don’t have to put your job, livelihood, children, your homes, and more on the line for your faith.

Last week the Washington Elementary School district voted to ban students from Arizona Christian University from serving as student teachers. They cited the school’s position that defines marriage as between a man and a woman as justification. They might get away with it. It is a clear violation of religious liberty and freedom of speech. I have to wonder if the school district has considered then that it also would have to ban Catholic and Mormon students as well.

Arizona Christian University has vowed to challenge this ruling in court. After all, Washington School District is a public school district. It cannot discriminate based on religious convictions. However, the bigger issue is that this step was even taken.

In our present hostile-to-Christianity-and-Christian-values culture, it no longer seems funny to joke about the foibles of Christians. Christians these days sometimes surrender to a fatalistic sarcasm in a Babylon Bee sort of style, but not the jovial humor that had characterized the last decade.

Covid 19 destroyed many churches—especially the ones populated by primarily elderly congregants. Other churches that kept their doors shut for months, were never able to open them again. The rise of the woke culture and the LGBTQ culture is also taking its toll. Some churches have capitulated to the culture while others have taken heat because of it.

The last three years have been a wake-up call to churches—or, in some cases, a mercy killing.

Can we now call for an end to frivolous Christianity?

Can we call an end to the flamboyant, entertainment-based Laodicean version (Revelation 3:14-22) of our faith that has plagued platforms and airwaves for decades? Our present times necessitate a serious Christianity. One that sees the vulnerability and helplessness of its present anemic spiritual condition and falls on its face before its Lord.

We need joy, not frivolity. There is a difference. But we also need deep, genuine mourning over our weakened spiritual state. We need to have hearts and lives that are pleasing to God, not pleasing to the world around us. We need to spend time on our knees, not in the entertainment venues. We need God to change us into His image and protect us from the ravages of a sin-cursed world. This is a desperate moment.

It’s not funny anymore. It never was. We know that now.