Don't Take Yourself Too Seriously - No One Else Does"

Here is another great blog article by Michael Patton I want to share with you. For those who know me, they know that I am a very light-hearted person. I am passionate about the things of God, but I don't take myself too seriously on lesser things. This has caused people to often tell me, "I can't believe you are a pastor." Which is just their way of saying that I don't fit the stereotypical mindset of what a pastor is seen as. And I'm glad. Some of my worse experiences in terms of fellowship have been with pastors who take themselves, their church, their expertise, their interpretation of the bible, too seriously. But this is not true of every case for me. Recently, I got together with a group of four other pastors and we laughed our heads off -- joking, poking fun of things, laughing at ourselves, our spouses, and, yes -- even things that pertain to the ministry.

I also get together with others and we laugh at -- oh, oh, here goes -- The Obama administration and some of the things they are trying to do. We laugh not because we merely think its all just a joke, we laugh so we can relieve tension, pave the way to think more seriously, and acknowledge that despite the fact that we are all sinful human begins, God is good and in full control of our future lives. Enjoy the read!

A Theology of Not Taking Ourselves Too Seriously or “Strategic Comic Relief in Theology” by C Michael Patton, Reclaiming The Mind Ministries

I remember many years ago talking with a friend of mine about another friend. There was something about this guy that we did not like, but we could not put our finger on it. We knew this: He made us uncomfortable. He made things stuffy. You really did not know what to say when he was around. Time with him was always awkward. We would have to walk on egg shells in fear of saying the wrong thing. The wrong thing would always cause the conversation to go in a totally unexpected way.

Finally, we figured it out. He took himself too seriously. Since last week I have been in a conversation with a guy that thinks differently than I on many theological issues. From a distance, I would think that we would not get along at all. But such is not the case. Though we differ in many ways—passionately differ—we are having the best time in this long-distance fellowship. Why? Because this guy knows how to lighten things up in order for conversation to take place. He is very wise. He intentionally does not take himself too seriously at pivotal points. He lightens the conversation when it begins to become burdensome. He recognizes it is not about him or what I think of him.

Chuck Swindoll used to say (you know I have a quote from him!), “Don’t take yourself too seriously…after all, no one else does!”

Sometimes we get caught in a trap of taking ourselves too seriously about everything. We take ourselves so seriously that our relationships suffer. We take ourselves so seriously that no one wants to be around us. We take ourselves so seriously that we lose all our influence. We take ourselves so seriously that the very thought of being around us becomes burdensome. Some of us just need to lighten up . . . a lot!

Some characteristics of those who take themselves too seriously:

Can’t look bad in front of others

Are always concerned about their image as they think others see it

If someone thinks badly about them they respond in anger, sometimes even violence

Disgruntled attitude

Always have to get in the last word (or they might look bad)

Always must respond (book length) to what others say bad about them

Always trying to prove themselves to everyone else

They are the martyr in every circumstance

Can’t take it when people make light-hearted jokes about them

They are always right

They see themselves as the example of truth, stability, and excellence in humanity

Never can be the butt of a joke

Most certainly, they will never be found making fun of themselves

Oh, and here are some adjectives that go along with it: annoyed, testy, bellyaching, crabby, cranky, always disappointed, peeved, put out, discontent, discontented, griping, always irritated about some thing, malcontent, malcontented, and sulky.

It is not as though we hope for people who are always joking, jesting, light-hearted, never taking themselves or anyone else seriously (we have all been around this type as well), but many of us need some intentional and strategic comic relief for the sake of others and for the sake of ourselves.

As tragic as this is when people take themselves too seriously in life, it is much more so in theology. Of course, like with life in general, we need to take it seriously—very seriously. But we should be careful not to let our passions be a cause for being unnecessarily burdensome and heavy in our personality. Many of us need to take ten and laugh a bit.

Many of us need to learn to laugh at ourselves. And we need to let others laugh with us and at us!

What are we? Theological narcissists? Evangelicals, we need to laugh at ourselves every once in awhile and let others laugh with us. Catholics, the same. Baptists, Presbyterians, Orthodox, and Arminians as well. In fact, this goes for everyone. Lighten up! Lighten up so that we can listen.

Calvinists: come on! There are plenty of ways we need to lighten the loads. Some Calvinists, we need to take 20 30!

Premillennialists: can’t we talk about our charts all day and get some laughs?

This was the death of the emerging movement. No one wanted to be around them. They took themselves way too seriously. I know: I tried. I understood. I agreed on many things. I just could not be around them. It was always the someone-has-done-me-wrong-and-I-am-mad-about-everything mentality.

It is really a sign of maturity when you can lighten things up. With teens, everything is the end of the world. They don’t have the ability to step away from themselves and see how their personal intensity is rather comical. Everything is too serious.

“But wait! If we don’t take ourselves seriously, others won’t either.”

This is simply not true. If you said, “If we don’t ever take ourselves seriously, others won’t either,” this would be true. I am simply saying that we need to lighten up every once in awhile. The fact is that when we lighten things up, people will take us more seriously when it matters. As well, people won’t feel so burdened to be around us.

Let’s take a cue from marriage conferences. They know how to make couples laugh. They poke fun at the idiosyncrasies in both husbands and wives. I often go to Family Life Conferences just to laugh at myself. They know they have to provide some comic relief precisely because the subject is so intense and needs to be taken seriously.

The evangelical blog world out there has become so intense that I don’t want to keep up. The intensity causes us to lose our perspective. Polemics can be wearying.

My point is simple. Theological discourse needs to have a time-out for comic relief.

Tomas Oden gets this: “Because of piety’s penchant for taking itself too seriously, theology–more than literary, humanistic, and scientific studies–does well to nurture a modest, unguarded sense of comedy. Some comic sensibility is required to keep in due proportion the pompous pretensions of the study of divinity. I invite the kind of laughter that wells up not from cynicism about reflection on God but from the ironic contradictions accompanying such reflections. Theology is intrinsically funny. This comes from glimpsing the incongruity of humans thinking about God. I have often laughed at myself as these sentences went through their tortuous stages of formation. I invite you to look for the comic dimension of divinity that stalks every page. It is not blasphemy to grasp the human contradiction for what it is. The most enjoyable of all subjects has to be God, because God is the source of all joy.”

Michael J. G. Pahls gets it too, “Never attempt the task of theology without a smirk on your face and never trust a theologian who lacks one.”

Let’s try to lighten up every once in a while. Let’s let go of the burden here and there. Let’s not give people any more excuses than they already have for not wanting to be around us. The Gospel is an offense enough. We need to quit adding to it by our theological narcissism.