Is God Playful?

 Is God Playful? At a previous church of God fellowship, while standing around after services, eating cookies, and drinking coffee, I told a joke. One man listening to my joke later cautioned me that we should not tell jokes "because they are not the truth." I have pondered his statement for quitesome time now. Does everything we say or do have to be "truthful"? By that, I mean, is fiction in any form—even in the service of good—forbidden to us? Certainly, we should not break the ninth commandment (Exodus20:16; Deuteronomy 5:20), which covers intentionally speaking falsehoods to deceive as well as committing perjury. Nor should we step over the line into harmful practical jokes (Proverbs26:18-19). But are there times when something fictional, made-up, lighthearted, or playful could be okay for a Christian to say or do? We cannot go too far astray if we allow Jesus Christ to be our Example in this area of life as in all others. Does Jesus have a sense of humor? The clues all point to the answer that He does! The Bible tells us He is the Creator (John1:3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2), and as such, He created humans and their laughter too. Eight billion people, each with a unique sense of humor, tend to support the idea that their Creator has a sense of humor too. The name of one of the patriarchs, Isaac, means "laughter." And his mother, Sarah, who was in her nineties when God told her she would have a child, laughed (Genesis18:12). Perhaps God exercised His sense of humor, a grin on His face, when He named her son "Laughter." Our Savior was not above having a little fun with the disciples, either. In John 21, the disciples, having been skunked after fishing all night long, saw Jesus standing on the shore. He casually asked them the question every fisherman has beenasked: "Catch anything?" Are we to believe that He did not know? Of course, He knew! He is the One who set up the situation! In Luke 24, on the road to Emmaus, Christ hid His identity from two disciples, allowing them to express what so deeply troubled them about what they had just witnessed in Jerusalem. On the outskirts of their town, the disciples decided to callit a day, but Christ indicated He would continue on. He let Himself be persuaded to stop for the evening and break bread with the disciples. When He blessed and broke the bread and handed it to them, their eyes were opened to His identity. Immediately, Hedisappeared, vanishing into thin air, leaving them awestruck! Who would not have loved to witness this delightful, dramatic, edifying interaction? God's creation provides plenty of examples of playfulness that make us laugh. Have you ever watched a family of otters swimming in the river, playing tag with each other? Have you ever seen squirrels chase each other up and down and around atree and through its branches? Polar bear cubs will hurl themselves down snowy hillsides headfirst and upside-down just for fun. God made them that way! A friend of mine had a horse that would wait for him to put his hammer down. Then the horse would pick it up, walk about ten feet away, drop it, and watch him to see what he would do. On one occasion, while my friend was working on a shed roof,the horse walked over and pushed the ladder away! God made them that way! My daughter's cat keeps the family in stitches with her antics! Drop a piece of string on the floor, and the cat will pick it up in her mouth and drag it throughout the house while walking backward. It will pounce on an electronic fish to startit flopping and run for cover, then reappear and pounce on it again when it stops, endlessly. God made them that way! How dreadful our lives would be without at least a little playfulness and laughter! If we cannot tell jokes because they are not strictly "the truth," we should neither read novels nor watch movies because they are fiction—not the truth. Bythe way, we should take scissors to our gospel accounts because they are chock full of Christ's parables, made-up stories by which He taught His disciples vital spiritual lessons they—and we—needed to know. We should also be wary of history books because, as it is said, history is written by the victors. They alter the facts to depict the winners—themselves—in a heroic light and portray the defeated as villains. Beware of the daily news, too, becauseit may well be fake news leading us down a dangerous path. For good measure, we might want to quit reading opinion pieces because they are just that—opinions from the corrupt minds of people saturated with the knowledge of good and evil. In the end, on the question of whether we should tell jokes, William Shakespeare might have said, it is much ado about nothing! Like the parables, fictional stories—even jokes—can have positive qualities that a wise person can use to conveya piece of wisdom, offer a refreshing perspective, or simply lighten the mood to help others relax. A well-written book of fiction or a movie can impart valuable life lessons or trigger helpful emotions that lead us to think deeply about an issue or situation. Even so, we should not focus on whimsy or laughter. Solomon says that, although there is "a time to laugh" (Ecclesiastes3:4), too much mirth is vanity and madness, producing nothing (Ecclesiastes2:1-2; see 7:3-4). Overall, he suggests a balance between the extremes of laughter and mourning that is weighted somewhat toward solemnity and sorrow. In the New Testament, the apostles advise us to be sober-minded (for instance, Romans 12:3; Titus 2:12; I Peter 1:13; 4:7; 5:8), which is especially necessary during this holy day season. We need to consider seriously where our efforts, our works, are taking us. Are we genuinely endeavoring to grow into the image of Christ? Our thoughtful, personal counting toward Pentecost provides us with a lengthy time to reflect on the spiritual growth our God expects us to accomplish. We would not be remiss to use every holy day season to ask ourselves, "How am I doing"? However,the count to Pentecost is ideally suited for such introspection. We bear a responsibility to produce godly character, modifying our thoughts, words, and actions to align more perfectly with God's character. As the apostle Paul writes to the Philippians, "[W]orkout your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Philippians2:12-13; see Ephesians 2:8-10). Yes, God can be playful, and He no doubt enjoys a good laugh from time to time (see Psalm 2:4). Studies have shown that laughing reduces stress, a finding the Bible supports (Proverbs17:22). But our higher priority is to please God by being a good and faithful servant and one day entering the joyof our Lord (Matthew25:21, 23)! - Mike Fuhrer