Doctors and psychologists tell us that laughter is good for us. This is undoubtedly true, because the Bible says that “a merry heart does good, like medicine” (Prov. 17:22).

But the Scriptures distinguish between good and bad laughter. The author of Ecclesiastes declared that the laughter of people who have no place for God in their lives has no more value than the noise of crackling thorns in a fire (Eccl. 7:6). God disapproves of any humor that belittles people or makes light of immorality. Sin is never a laughing matter.

Joe E. Brown was a top-notch movie and Broadway comedian of the World War II era. When entertaining American troops in the South Pacific, he was asked by a soldier to tell some “dirty jokes.” He responded, “Son, a comedian like me lives for applause and laughter. . . . But if telling a dirty story is the price I must pay for your laughter, then I’m not interested. I’ve never done an act that I couldn’t perform before my mother, and I never will.” The soldiers rocked the jungle with their cheers.

Lord, give us a merry heart. And help us be discerning so that we will laugh for the right reasons and about the right things.

  — Herbert Vander Lugt