Hearty Male Laughter
November 30, 2006
C.S. Lewis once said that his favorite sound was hearty male laughter. I’ve been thinking about that since last Sunday night when I drove to Birmingham to meet with four pastors:
Buddy Gray of Hunter Street Baptist Church in Birmingham.
Ryan Whitley of CrossPoint Church in Trussville.
John Thweatt of the First Baptist Church of Pell City.
Ron Ethridge of Woodward Avenue Baptist Church in Muscle Shoals.
I knew all of them (except Ron) through email but had never met any of them in person. All of them knew me through the weblog, the KBM website, my books and the weekly sermons. When they heard I was coming to Birmingham for a meeting on Monday morning, they asked if I could come over early to spend some time with them. You never know what to expect when you get around other pastors. Sometimes pastors can be a pretty uptight bunch, but these guys were exactly the opposite. We spent the evening talking, laughing, sharing, eating, talking some more, and did I mention that we laughed a lot? Along the way we shared our stories of the grace of God, including how the Lord pulled us through some very difficult moments. And we laughed at those stories of hard times that look a lot different in the rear view mirror. Ryan Whitley wrote some kind words about the things I shared with the group. He stresses that I talked a lot about the sovereignty of God, which I suppose is true because that is the bedrock of my faith. But (I’m smiling as I write this) as I think back on last Sunday, I mostly remember the laughter.
Maybe it’s been too long since I spent time with a group of guys just having a great time. Hearty male laughter is good for the soul. And I think there is some kind of theological point here, something about those who believe in the sovereignty should take God seriously and themselves lightly. And that’s why Solomon tells us that a merry heart does good like medicine (Proverbs 17:22).
I want to thank Buddy and Ryan and John and Ron for an evening I have enjoyed all week long. They did me a world of good last Sunday night.