It's just a joke!

One of the signs of true friendship is defense in the face of adversity. It is not friendship to stand by and justify someone's hurtful actions towards your friend, by saying 'He doesn't really mean it' or 'She's just kidding.' A true friend understands that when someone says something hurtful towards your friends, they also are admitting that your interests are not important to the, only their own.

A cousin of mine was dating a fellow who kept calling her friend names. They were quite vulgar and unkind, but when she mentioned it hurt her feelings to my cousin, she kept saying "He's just teasing you, he doesn't really mean it." In the end they were no longer friends anymore. She justified the new fellows behavior because she was attracted to him, and neglected her dear friends feelings. Instead of saying, 'Don't call my girl friend that, it hurts her feelings.' she said to her girl friend, 'suck it up.'

"without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Hebrews 11:6)

In the end it's also a lesson to our brothers and sisters in Christ. We often sit around and listen to people make fun of our God, or call Him names. We laugh it off, saying Ahh they don't mean it, they are making a joke! But do we truly love God if we allow our friends to make fun of Him and never say Hey, God deserves better. He deserves our respect.

I'm just as bad as the next person, even often watching comedies with irreverent tones. Lately though I've become sensitive to certain jokes, some are in good humour, but there is a line. A line that goes from joking with people about religion, society, etc and instead making fun of God.

When we love someone, we show it by not only caring about them but what interests them as well. We care for their friends, their family, their job, even when we don't particularly like those people. We should make an effort to get to like them, or at least to accept that they are part of their life. The same with God. We should look to find what makes Him happy, and what makes Him sad. What interests Him! Then go about trying to make that part of our life too!

Philippians 4:8 - Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

In Christ,
Brian