The latest edition of the Tennessee Baptist and Reflector features a guest column by Scott Brown, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Waverly. In his column, which amazingly made it past the paper’s editor and into print, Brown laments what he percieves as the overly serious culture of Baptist churches. Ignoring for a moment the fact that I’ve never known a Baptist preacher who didn’t tell jokes, I would like to draw attention to a specifc assertion that Brown made in his coulmn:
There is nothing more hilarious than the gospel of Jesus Christ so let’s laugh together and then let’s go tell somebody the story of God’s great love.
To put Brown’s statment in context, I have provided below a clip from The Passion of the Christ, a movie which famously depicts events in the life of Jesus.
https://youtu.be/nkQmX__8NBY
Did you laugh? While the Roman Soliders portrayed certainly found the event humorous enough to laugh, I myself was unable to find the hilarity in the brutal death of my Lord. I saw this movie in the theater some years ago. While I don’t recall anyone laughing, I do remember that more than a few people shed tears.
Baptists papers and Baptist pastors would do well not to be flippant about the most serious event in world history. I lament Scott Brown’s decision to describe the gospel the way he did…in Tennessee’s state Baptist paper.
*Please note that the preceding is my personal opinion. It is not necessarily the opinion of any entity by which I am employed, any church at which I am a member, any church which I attend, or the educational institution at which I am enrolled. Any copyrighted material displayed or referenced is done under the doctrine of fair use.
