A Good Saying

When my wife and I joke around with one another, occasionally I get carried away and say something which is “really good” in my estimation but causes Shona to dramatize a shocked expression and say, “A lot of truth is said in jest.” She has pulled this favourite phrase out more than a few times. I have to think that it is a reference to some wise old proverb, though I have not sought to determine its origin. In using the phrase well, she has taught me to ponder it at various moments, like just after a joke was delivered in a recent concert.

I’ll take this opportunity to boast of having been to the concert, which was in a nearby small city on a college campus. It was the culmination of the Arkansas Acoustic Festival 2005, and featured a fine duet: Edgar Meyer on double bass and Chris Thile on mandolin. Wow, these guys must be among the absolute best on their instruments, ever. If you’re interested, I could blog a bit more about the talent of these two gentlemen.

Toward the end of the concert, during a pause, Mr. Meyer and Mr. Thile delivered a short routine which ended with these remarks:

E.M.: I think there is an integrity issue here…a breach of sorts.
C.T.: Yeah, but I think people like that though.
E.M.: Well, they may be used to it, but I don’t think they like it.
~ queue the roaring crowd laughter ~

I just couldn’t help thinking of the truth which went largely unnoticed in that little exchange. “Whether they ‘like’ it or not, people are ‘used’ to breaches in integrity.” We are far too accustomed to the world’s standards of morality. Our senses are indeed dulled to sin.

If you ask people plainly, “Do you approve of deception, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, drunkenness, or murder?,” the answer would likely be an emphatic “NO!” But if you follow-up with, “Do you approve of news commentary, movies, etc. which make light of or sometimes endorse such things?,” the answer may include a great deal of equivocating.

We are far too ready to laugh heartily when the comedian uses a story to glorify a drunken stupor. We are quick to overlook the accepting references to fornication in our culture. We find no difficulty cheering-on the protagonist in a story even as he seeks murderous revenge for some wrong committed against him.

I’m not trying to create some extra layer of piety here, another couple of checklist items for you. But, I am thinking of our desire to actively advance a thoroughly Christ-centered culture. We readily affirm the Scriptures which state that those outside of the covenant have no fear of God and are dead, and we eagerly speak of the need to “reach the lost.” But our thoughts and deeds reflect that dulled sense toward sin. We do not effectively communicate to “the lost” or even unfaithful Christians what it means to fear God and walk humbly before Him.

If it can be said of us that we are “used” to breaches of integrity, or any other sin, then we have failed collectively to communicate the displeasure of God with sin. The unstated implication of Mr. Meyer’s punchline is, “When sin is commonplace and not clearly condemned, you can get away with it even if some people aren’t too fond of the idea.”

Please don’t misunderstand me. Edgar Meyers and Chris Thile may be God-fearing, covenant-keeping Christians, I do not know. This joke of theirs certainly did not seem to be intended to promote sin, but it illustrates Shona’s wise saying, “A lot of truth is said in jest.”