Happy Saturday after Thanksgiving. Is anyone tired of leftover turkey yet? Can you believe this is the end of November? In less than a month we celebrate Christmas. After that, 2020 is over! Can I get an amen to that? Let’s hope and pray that 2021 doesn’t have as many surprises as this year did.
Speaking of surprises, it is always a bit amazing to me what people are willing to try. There are countless video clips of people trying dangerous and or outright stupid things….and failing. For whatever reason, they often seem surprised when they fall down, crash, drop something expensive, or fail in some way. Many of these video are labeled, “fail,” “epic failures,” “people having a bad day,” etc. I think a better title might be, “what were they thinking?” or “really, how did you think that would turn out?” One thing I am surprised is that there aren’t more deaths in the world. Seriously, there are so many people out there doing dumb things that it should be labeled a stupidity crisis. We should see images on the nighty news of people lined up in giant parking lots awaiting their ID10T test. The video clips that we see give us the all the evidence we need that they passed for sure.
As long as there has been comedy routines, there have be people falling down steps, spilling drinks on themselves, and other things to get a laugh. Many of us enjoyed America’s Funniest Home Videos when that first came out. The concept was simple – send in a video clip of yourself or someone in your family doing something funny and you could when some money. Most of the time, the funniest ones involved people failing at something. Back then, the videos were fairly mild. However, the ones today can be extreme. No longer is it someone’s dentures falling out while blowing out birthday candles. Now, it is someone’s teeth getting knock out when they crash face-first into a light pole or jump from the second story onto a set of concrete steps.
One thing that I am curious about is why we (yes, that includes me) like to watch other people do dumb things and fail. I wonder if in some strange way it makes us feel better about ourselves? Having done my fair share of dumb things, I am always glad when it happens to someone else instead of me. Things like falling down on the ice are not funny…unless you see someone else do it. Sadly, this is not just limited to watching videos of strangers tripping, falling or breaking things. There are many times that people are fascinated when someone fails publicly. Recently, Jerry Falwell, Jr. and his wife were all over the news. And then, the worship leader at Hillsong East Coast. Of course the secular media loved reporting on that. Any time they can find a glaring example of hypocrisy they are going to showcase it. But I guess that is understandable since they aren’t always for the promotion of Christianity. Unfortunately, some who call themselves Christians also enjoy hearing about and talking about the failures of others. It could be a matter of self-righteousness or a way to deal with their own, personal sins. Whatever the case, it is not how Christians are supposed to respond. Rather, we are to hurt when others hurt, we are to pray for those that are struggling, we are to seek to restore people in their relationship with Christ. Let’s stick to laughing a people that post video clips of themselves wrecking their bikes and not about those whose lives become wrecked due to sin.
Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. (Galatians 6:1)
19 My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
(James 5:19-20)
The following seems really appropriate in the times in which we live, especially with the divisions we have in our country right now.
17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice,
18 or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from them. (Proverbs 24:17-18)
Hope to see you Sunday…in person or on Facebook.
Love God. Love others. Impact our community. Change the world.
Pastor Larry
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