Behind the Jokes

A typical ward, most likely in Utah

We all have heard of people who make jokes and engage in light-hearted talks during the sacrament and other church meetings. There's nothing inherently wrong with bringing out the smiles in otherwise stern processions. There are, however, painfully overused lines that make one wonder. Are the speakers desperately trying to entertain the audience in order to not appear straight-edged, or there's some underlying truth about how they feel about the situation?

First of all, I apologize for my lack of posting in the past month due to my busy schedule at the hospital. This topic actually came up weeks ago during Elder's Quorum from one of my roommates, Ty Reese. His point of view brought some noteworthy points, at least for me to notice. I'm sure many of you have heard things similar to the following examples during church:

"I was minding my own business when the bishop called and gave me the talk assignment...[time filling stuff that basically says how much he/she doesn't want to do this]."

"I'm here because of my wife...[fill in some ridiculous reason]."

"I didn't want to get up here, [reason x, y, and z here]."

Generally, following these statements, there are always some chuckles, etc. What is the significance of these in terms of our mindset other than my usual cynical observations about people? I don't mean to offend (actually, I don't care) the readers, but I think you may find some interesting insight to this potentially disturbing trend among our peers.

Yes, understandably, we all know the speakers are utilizing humor to assist their points. Can it all be jokes and giggles when they tell you they didn't want to do stand up in front of the congregation? Most people have a healthy fear of public speaking. Frankly, the culture in the Church often places a stigma on individuals who turn down an assignment unless they have a "legitimate" reason. Or is that the perception of what would happen to someone who feels he/she is not adequate for the job?

Okay, that wasn't a great coherent thought because the Lord chose us before we reciprocated (John 15:16).

What about the man that says the reason he was there was because of his wife? Is that a joke or some underlying truth about it? If that's the reason, shouldn't we be worried about the brother's testimony or perhaps the motives behind the spiritual facade?

I don't know if I can justify this at all. I've heard it all too often in some family wards.

The testimony rush is generally less mind-boggling compared to some of the statements we hear elsewhere during our three-hour meeting block. Many people are generally spiritually-motivated. Sometimes people want to sell themselves (I mean, come on, I'm currently attending a YSA ward). There are times I'm not sure why the person is up there, especially when I can't understand the gist of his/her testimony thanks to the outburst of emotional sobs that chokes up any audible words coming out of the mouth.

Is that judgmental? Well, you better read Preach My Gospel because there's a great quote by Howard W. Hunter in regards to this on page 99.

Of course, as usual, I write down things I've found amusing or intriguing. A serious lesson we can learn from this is that the above-mentioned cases do happen. The relative frequency of their occurrence is beyond the scope of this blog post. One thing we do need to keep in mind, though, is that we need to make righteous judgments before labeling everyone in negative light (Matthew 7:1-3).