Humor is something relatively unique to us as image-bearers of God in creation. Animals tend not to have a sense of humor. As Terry Lindvall writes, “Animals lack that sense of incongruous. Woodpeckers don’t do knock-knock jokes. Monkeys don’t human around. No chicken laughs when another asks him why the human crossed the road. And other chickens don’t crack up when one chicken steps in chicken … stuff.”[3] Our sense of humor comes from being made in the image of God who laughs.
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Learning To Laugh
[1] Humor is a funny thing. It is altogether familiar yet also mysterious. What makes us laugh? Why do we find things funny? There are academic fields of study dedicated to discovering what makes things humorous. These academicians even have a journal entitled International Journal of Humor Research. No joke. Just thinking of a room full of academicians studying jokes and such to discover what makes them funny is … well … hilarious. Analyzing jokes and explaining punchlines kills the joke. In the off-Broadway play, Freud’s Last Session, Freud quotes American humorist E. B. White’s classic aphorism about humor: “Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the purely scientific mind.”[2] Hopefully, exploring a bit of what it takes to have a sense of humor won’t kill it.
Paths To Glory
“Now pride is a great vice, and the first of vices, the beginning, origin and cause of all sins.”[1] Many theologians throughout church history echo Augustine’s understanding of pride as the fountainhead of all sin. While Solomon doesn’t ascribe this capital position to pride, he does make it clear that pride is far from a peccadillo. Pride portrayed as “exalted eyes” in Proverbs 6.17 is on the list of the seven things God considers an abomination, those things that attack and distort creation so as to disorder it that it brings desolation. Wisdom hates pride (8.13) and the heart from which it springs (16.5). Everything that guides the proud heart and everything that the proud heart produces, even providing for a family, is sin (21.4). Pride seeks to overturn God’s order at the most fundamental levels. Solomon, training the king-in-waiting, warns him of pride because it is his responsibility to set the world right, beginning with himself. Where there is pride, this can’t be done.
Pride can be quite obvious at times, but it is also slippery. As with all other sins, pride is not an ex nihilo creation. Pride finds a righteous host, attaches itself to it, distorts it, and sucks all the life out of it until it is a corpse. The good creation from which pride leeches is glory.
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Discretion
Shock jocks abound in our culture. These are the men and women who are always violating the bounds of propriety to get attention for themselves, their cause, or, most likely, both. There was a time when they were limited by television and radio stations that would take a chance on them. Howard Stern was in a small minority when he gained popularity in the 80s with his risqué schticks. With the advent and growth of social media and the market being flooded with personalities, people resort to all sorts of indiscreet words and behaviors to get a share of the attention market. It is difficult to stand out, so the lines of propriety must keep being violated. Once people grow accustomed to this impropriety so that it becomes ordinary, the next frontier of shock must be explored.
This phenomenon is not limited to the non-Christian world. Christians throw out verbal hand grenades in the midst of their brothers and sisters, not because a hand grenade is needed, but because they merely want to be provocateurs. There are times that these explosive devices are needed in the family. Some social and theological conventions not only need to be injured but put in the morgue. Knowing when to throw these hand grenades and when to keep them on your belt is the art of discretion.
Read more: DiscretionBeing discreet is becoming more and more a lost art. That is not sad in the sense of the American muscle car with its loud internal combustion engine being replaced with the electric vehicle (though that is quite sad). It is sad because it reveals that we have become a society of fools. Discretion is not a superficial social grace that is expendable. Without discretion, good judgments that recognize the bounds of propriety, good, healthy, productive order in a society is lost. The community descends into chaos.
Discretion is not always about obeying black-and-white rules. Very little judgment is needed to see the rule and follow it. Mature discretion is understanding people and situations and knowing what to do in those situations to create and maintain a joyful peace. Discretion is having social skills that help you blend in and work with people in given situations so that you don’t draw needless attention to yourself.
Cultures large and small have customs that are not a part of their penal codes but are vital to their overall health. In good cultures, these are those practices that apply biblical principles that show respect for one another. Whether it is saying “sir” and “ma’am,” “Mr.” or “Mrs.,” dressing to fit an occasion, or using good table manners, these customs are the dance steps of the culture that they use to work together in peace and respect. Those who dance with them are discreet and, thus, wise. They know when to speak and when not to speak, how to speak when they speak, and, generally what is appropriate for their actions on occasions. Within those boundaries, they can help move the culture forward without being immodest.
Social graces and modesty in words and actions are not mere niceties. The aim is to create a peaceful, productive, and joyful community, and that is part and parcel of the mission God has given us in the world. This can’t be done with people always wanting to be different and refusing to “blend in.” If working within the bounds of propriety in social graces is a cultural waltz, the lack of social graces is a mosh pit with everyone looking as if he has been pepper-sprayed; something is being done together, but it looks pretty ugly and potentially violent. Not going along with social conventions and practicing social graces may be a display of arrogance that violates Paul’s exhortation to “let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself” (Phil 2.3).
Don’t push yourself forward, always trying to stand out and provoking others. There are times it is needed, but if it is over-used or used in the wrong ways or at the wrong times, you simply come across as a shrill toddler seeking attention whom the wisest people will ignore or laugh at. For the most part, you probably need to simply plod along quietly blending in.
Shrewd
Remember when life was much simpler when you were a child? Looking back, you had very few decisions to make, and the decisions you made had mild consequences whether good or bad. Of course, when you were a child, all of your decisions, their consequences, and the work you had to do seemed huge. But looking back now as an adult you realize that life was much simpler because the responsibilities were fewer, lighter, and consequences weren’t as immediately severe.
As we grow into our teenage and young adult years, all of this changes. Life becomes more complex. Responsibilities become heavier, and the consequences of our decisions have much more serious ramifications for the rest of our lives. The complexities grow with us as we age and add more to our lives.
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Contentment
Puritan Jeremiah Burroughs characterized contentment as a “rare jewel.” It is precious and scarce. Unlike commodities, contentment is not precious because of its scarcity; scarcity doesn’t give contentment value. If we were to commodify contentment, we might say that there is plenty of it out there; or, at least, there is great potential “to grow” plenty of it. Contentment is only scarce because we haven’t taken the time and discipline to cultivate it in our hearts. Growing contentment is difficult, and it remains rare because of sloth. However, the discipline of contentment is vital to accomplishing our mission.
Every now and again Solomon exhorts his son in Proverbs not to covet or be envious of the wicked. Rather he is to be content. The specific exhortations pop up here and there, but contentment is the undercurrent for all the commands to walk the path of wisdom and avoid the path of folly.
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Listen
“A fool takes no pleasure in understanding but only in uncovering his heart.”
~Proverbs 18.2
You hear or read a few trigger words and phrases. You are on high alert concerning the issue du jour, prepared for war, and ready to meme people into submission. These triggers are all you need, and off you go, splashing your characterizations of a man’s statement and his character on social media. You are a keyboard warrior, living most of the time before a computer screen with limited face-to-face interaction. You have read books, and your opinions have been validated within the digital echo chamber of your social media friends hundreds of times. “Attaboys,” likes, and shares abound. You are moving the needle; you may even go down in history right there with Martin Luther … or Mao.
There is one problem. You didn’t listen to what the man said and have learned nothing of his character. Your opinions were like an aggressive, vicious dog on a weak leash, which at the first sign of any movement went on the attack. You don’t care about sincerely understanding another person and his position. You only care that people know that you are the smartest, edgiest, wittiest guy on the internet. The fact that you are engaged in character assassination is a small price to pay for your five minutes of fame.
This is the activity of a fool.
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5 Books to Understand Today
Here are 5 books I recommend to understand Today.
That Hideous Strength, C.S. Lewis
Read this to understand our times. Read it several times. Lewis lays out all the players on both sides of the war: tech gurus, a liberal pastor, lesbian police, shrewd politicians, mindless mystics, patient leaders, faithful professors, a band of rag tag friends, a friendly bear, and a young married couple.
Lewis reveals the spiritual dimension to the current battle. This is not just a battle of flesh and blood but also of principalities and powers. This deeper reality is something that 1984 and Brave New World completely ignore. Lewis also offers a path to victory in the battle: the faithful work of small, mundane tasks and waiting and praying.
Lewis lays out clearly the temptations for both men and women: men are afraid of being left out of the inner circle and women are afraid to submit. But the solution to both is Christian marriage. This book is the story of our time. And it rightly recognizes that a wedding is how it will all end.
Christianity and Liberalism, J. Gresham Machen
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Conquering Anxiety
“Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.”
~ Proverbs 12.25
You have lost any control that you thought you had. You can’t get a handle on the situation either emotionally or physically. The doctor’s report hasn’t come back, so you don’t know why your health is declining. Financial markets are unstable. Your business is threatening to downsize, so you might be taking a severe financial hit. Your grown children are at odds with one another, and you can’t get them to reconcile. That person you love is flirting with apostasy, and you feel helpless.
This situation and the threat of loss are all you can think about. You are hyper-focused, and your mind is spiraling quickly through the scenarios, none of which have good endings. In fact, the more you think about it, the greater your fear of loss. And there is nothing you can do about it. Your heart feels as if it is being compressed in a vice. It is heavy. Your countenance is tight. When you are with other people, you are emotionally distant, focused on this situation.
You’re anxious.
Anxiety is an expression of fear. This fear originates in legitimate care that has now run amok. Care for ourselves and others is good. Excessive care that manifests as this great fear of loss as if we will lose everything if we lose this one thing is a good disposition that has turned into a sinful attitude.
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How To Talk To A Fool
It is difficult to watch. You want to say something, to do something, something that will change the situation. You know that if things continue as they are going, the end will be disaster. But he won’t listen. She’s got this. So they think. They are taking the path of a fool. What do you say to them?
Solomon was aware that in a world of sin in which we are called to bring order that one of our greatest challenges would be dealing with fools. A fool is not merely a superficial, immature buffoon. He may be a cultural icon, a respected businessman, or a leader in society. The Proverbial fool is the man whose heart and life are disordered according to the standard of God’s created purpose. He is in rebellion against God. Fools come in all shapes and sizes, falling on a spectrum of foolishness. He may be the child whose foolishness is present but still has the opportunity to be cut off through discipline (Pr 22.15), or he may be the belligerent, hardened fool whose foolishness has matured to the point that he holds God and everything that is wise in contempt. The wise must learn to identify and deal with all types of fools.
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Lip Restraint
All of his spirit goes out of a fool, but the wise stills it.
~Proverbs 29.11
No one likes a fake. When people come across as disingenuous, it is off-putting. Consequently, in our broader society and church, high value is placed on authenticity that is expressed in transparency. There is, of course, a need for authenticity. The Scriptures speak of this as faithfulness. But, as one of my seminary professors used to quip, “The devil’s favorite trick is to take a good thing too far.”
Authenticity and transparency have come to mean self-expression in any way you deem fit. If you are truly authentic, you will say all that you are thinking or feeling to the guy standing in front of you or to thousands, potentially millions, of people on social media. You should be able to speak with words, clothing (or lack thereof), hairstyles, piercings, or in any other way to tell everyone of your psychological brokenness, your rebellion against the oppressive powers that be, the goings on of what used to be called a private life, or any number of improprieties. Restraint is inauthentic. It is a lie of the highest order because psychological nudity is the highest good. Restraint from self-exposure is the great sin. “I’m just being real.”
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