All laughter is not condemned, for there is a kind that is the direct result of the salvation of God.
"When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing; then said they among the heathen. The Lord has done great things for them." (Psalm 126:1:2)
God said to Abraham, "In Isaac shall your seed be called." (Genesis 21:12)
And Isaac means laughter, or laughing; so that they who are born of the Spirit may laugh. Yea, they must rejoice.
Unfortunately, such laughter is very rare. There is another kind of laughter, which is likened to "the crackling of thorns under a pot." (Ecclesiastes 7:6)
This is so common, so almost universal, that we were almost tempted to head this article, "Don't Laugh." That, however, would be too sweeping, for "there is a time to laugh," (Ecclesiastes 3:4) and to laugh heartily, but that time is not all the time or on every occasion.
We have often been pained at religious meetings to see the readiness with which the congregation would burst out into a hoarse laugh. It is true that some speakers deliberately seek to make their hearers laugh; in order to keep up their interest in what would otherwise be a dull discourse; but too often the fault is wholly on the part of the congregation, who seem to be looking for a chance to laugh.
There lies before me a report of a recent gathering on an important occasion, when several ministers addressed the assembly. One of them, in speaking about "Consecrated Intellect," said that there was nothing he dreaded so much as the witty and ingenious preacher who bristled with nice little stories, made his audience laugh once or twice in every sermon, and sent them away with the delightful feeling that they had been to an entertainment instead of listening to the solemn voice of God.
That was well said, yet within two minutes he was interrupted by a "loud laughter." On the single page of the report, we find in addition to "applause," and "loud applause," no less than sixteen instances of "laughter" and "loud laughter." Of course one who was not present cannot tell how the remarks sounded, but very few of the statements that are punctuated with "(laughter)" seemed very funny in print.
We call attention to this, not specially for the sake of the comparatively few public speakers, but for the benefit of the thousands who listen--and laugh. Any earnest speaker would rather be encouraged by bright, eager, earnest attention, and a half unconscious smile that indicates the reception of a new idea, than by laughter.
Or, if the preacher desires to create laughter, he may be corrected by the people. "The witty and ingenious preacher" who bristles with nice little stories to make the congregation laugh, would soon find his occupation gone if his out-of-place witticisms were received in silence.
Too much laughter indicates absence of thought, and the increasing readiness to laugh on the slightest provocation, or on no provocation at all, shows that people are using their thinking power less and less, and are anxious to be simply tickled.
This they cannot afford; so we write in hope that some may be led to think more, and to laugh only when, with all the faculties that God has given them in full activity, they cannot help laughing.--Present Truth, April 7, 1897--Psalm 126:1-2.