Laughing Ourselves to Hell — E.A. Johnston

I was in a Baptist church where the church service let off with a Hollywood video. The content was banal and offensive, yet the church laughed. The music minister laughed. The pastor laughed. The congregation laughed because they were embarrassed.

I don't know why a visiting preacher feels he has to tell a joke to warm up his audience before he begins his message. I'll never forget the big famous pastor who visited a church where I was a member and who told one stale joke after another.

This man made the comment, he said, at my church in California, we would rather laugh than cry. Can you imagine, friends, Jonathan Edwards or David Brainerd warming up their congregations with jokes and funny stories?

The Eternal Misery of Hell

Why have we settled for such nonsense in our churches today? Is it because we'd rather be entertained ourselves? Why are we laughing ourselves to hell today? Hell is no laughing matter. I can assure you, friends, that no one is laughing in hell at this moment.

Warning Sinners About the Day of Judgment

The eternal misery of the damned is no laughing matter. Maybe we should tell folks about hell in a future day of judgment instead of telling them jokes and funny stories. Maybe we should rather preach up the blood and the cross and tell folks about a blood-stained savior who died so sinners could live.

Pastors Seeking Acceptance and Applause

No, we want laughs. Too many pastors today want acceptance, acknowledgment, and even applause. They long to hear someone say, I sure enjoyed your message today, pastor. After all, aren't folks supposed to enjoy themselves in church today?

Entertainment Instead of Gospel Preaching

That's the trouble. That's what it's all about, man being made happy. I'm afraid more preachers today think of themselves as late-night TV talk show hosts whose job is to entertain their listeners. But while we play our silly games, the world waits and souls perish into a crisis eternity while we laugh ourselves to hell when we should be warning sinners not to go there.