A Spoonful of Sugar

This post is part of the May Synchroblog: Lighten Up: The Art of Laughter, Joy & Letting Go.  I’ll put the links to the other contributions at the end of this post as soon as they are available. 

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I’ll admit that I can take myself too seriously – so, in the spirit of lightening up for this month’s synchroblog I am going to share some movie clips that make fun of Christians because being able to laugh at oneself takes honesty and humility which is stuff that I always need more of.

Studies have even shown that people who laugh at themselves are more optimistic, more cheerful and healthier. 

Who knows – if we allow ourselves to laugh at the way we distort what it means to be a Christian we might even get a kick start in the spiritual transformation area. 

So, lighten up and laugh at yourself a little – it’s like taking a dose of humility with a spoonful of sugar.

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Did you ever see the movie Saved?  I remember when it came out and some Christian’s were upset.  My son, who was a teenager at the time, commented to me that he thought the movie did a good job of using humor and exaggeration to point out some common mistakes that Christians and Christian communities often make.  He actually made the remark “we should learn to laugh at ourselves”.  I ended up watching the movie and thoroughly enjoyed it … and thanks to my son’s wisdom I was able to laugh and that led to me being able to look at myself more honestly than I was accustomed to doing.      Here’s a trailer and a couple of great moments from the movie:

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Some of my favorite movies weren’t box office hits and The Good Girl is on my favorite list.  It’s a dark comedy about a depressed woman stuck in an abusive marriage.  She works at the local discount store, “Retail Rodeo”, with a bunch of funny misfits.  One of my favorite scenes is when the store’s goofy security guard invites Justine (the main character played by Jennifer Aniston) to come to the weekly bible study at his church.  “I like to keep my nights to myself,” she explains to him, as a polite way to decline his offer. “Well, maybe you’ll have night after night of eternal hellfire all to yourself,” he quickly responds and then, after pausing, adds, “just kidding you.”  The scene is in this trailer.  I hope you get a kick out of it.

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I think it would be impossible to make a list of movie moments that make fun of Christians without including Ricky Bobby’s prayer to Baby Jesus from Talladega Nights.  It is the perfect reminder that we all have a tendency to make Jesus into someone he isn’t.

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Now that wasn’t too painful was it?

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Here is a list of other synchrobloggers writing on the same topic this month:

• Jeremy Myers at Till He Comes – Lighten Up! 
• Maria Kettleson Anderson at My Real Journey – The Art of Passionately Lightening Up
• Melody Harrison at Logic and Imagination – {I Don’t Do Joy}
• Wendy McCaig – Lighten Up: Learning to Let Go From A Man Who Lost It All
• Carol Kuniholm at Words Half Heart – Resurrection Laughter
• R. Lee Bayes at Southern Humanist – Loving Light 
• Alan Knox – Be Sarcastic With One Another 
• Patrick Oden at Dueling Ravens – Truth, Beauty, and Yodeling Pickles
• Tammy Carter at Blessing the Beloved – A Tricky Little Journey 
• Christine Sine at Godspace – Lighten Up: It Really is the Best Medicine 
• Glenn Hager –  Margaritas, Metallica, and A Serious Case of the Giggles.
• Liz Dyer at Grace Rules – A Spoonful of Sugar 
• K.W. Leslie at More Christ – When Jesus Made A Funny
• Maurice Broaddus – Why So Serious? 
• Ellen Haroutunian – A Laughing God 
• Kathy Escobar at the Carnival in my Head – A Little Laughter Every Day