Who needs comedians when you have people? We are just funny. Since none of us are perfect, and won’t be unless we are born again (John 3:16; Romans 10:9-13) and have the promise of our glorified, Christlike body (1 John 3:2), we are going mess up here-and-there. We are going to do something that evokes laughter from others. No matter how hard you try to get it right all the time, it just ain’t gonna happen!! And if you are a pastor, you know that your congregation is waiting and watching for your every gaff!
Well, this past Sunday, I did it. Spell check did not save me, and my eye-sight and brain let me down. Since I use PowerPoint for all my sermons, spelling is crucial. Preaching from Revelation 7, I was using the word, “remnant.” Well, instead, and for the whole sermon, I had it spelled “rement.” When did I see the word was incorrect? As soon as it came up on the screen for the first time. How many times had I seen it on my PowerPoint while going over my message? Many times, and I did not comprehend that it was wrong. So, for the rest of the sermon, there it was, “rement.” So, I make some comments about it, let people laugh, and continued on.
By the way, according to Wikipedia, rement is “a company located in Chiyoda Tokyo, and is a Japanese manufacturer of collectible plastic toys. The company’s name is derived from a combination of the phrase ‘reform the entertainment’, alluding to their desire for innovation in the toy market. Established in 1998, Re-Ment currently sells a line of highly detailed miniature food, furniture and animal figures as well as mobile phone charms, doll fashions and magnets. Re-Ment miniatures have been featured in two television advertisements by the Kellogg Company for their Pop-Tarts pastry product.” That’s a far cry from the word “remnant”!
Point being, our mistakes are a reminder of three things:
- No matter how hard we try to “hit all of our marks”, get ready. You will mess up sometime.
- Learn to laugh at yourself. Proud people are offended when others laugh at their blunders, and make excuses for their mistakes. Have you ever tripped over a curb? What did you do? Immediately you look to see what you caused you to stumble, and then to see who saw it. Incidentally, the curb didn’t cause you to stumble. Your temporal, fallible body caused it. So, go ahead and laugh about it . . . unless you stumbled and injured yourself. In that case, you might laugh later.
- Only the Lord Jesus Christ is perfect, and God is sovereign. Therefore, my security for all of life is in Christ (Ephesians 1:3-14), and my Heavenly Father can take my blunders and turn them into good and for His glory (Romans 8:28-29; 1 Corinthians 10:31).
So, today, enjoy the journey dependent upon God and secure in His Son, and when you blunder, go ahead and laugh. It will do you good and be good medicine for those around you.
Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart does good, like medicine (makes medicine even better), but a broken spirit dries the bones.
From A Pastor's Heart 