Why So Serious?

II Corinthians 2:1-4

Most of us are probably familiar with Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker. One of his lines from the movie that is so memorable is "Why so serious?". Have you ever met someone who you wanted to ask that question? I'm sure you have and may even me thinking of names. I like to joke around and have a good time. I recently went through some training and one of the people in the training was very serious. She had the personality of a paper bag. You know those brown ones with no print on them. They are flat and dull. I'm not talking about her appearance. I am describing her personality. I wanted to ask, "Why so serious?"

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But I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you in heaviness. 2 For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same which is made sorry by me? 3 And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all. 4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.

II Corinthians 2:1-4

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Paul said that he determined that he "would not come again" to the church in Corinth "in heaviness". If you have ever read I Corinthians, you know what he is talking about. It is a heavy letter in which he addresses a lot of problems in the church. It appears that the church of Corinth was in a mess and Paul addressed all kinds of major problems. It is a letter that is full of truth but not one you run to comfort.

That is how the world tends to picture us. They think of us as the sign holding, yelling, protestors who are against them with hateful attitudes. In all fairness, there are some radical fringe groups of "Christians" who feed this narrative. However, we do not help our cause when we are constantly negative and pointing out faults. It may or may not be calling everything around us sin, it could just as easily be simply complaining about everything. That kind of attitude is "heavy", and people don't like being around it.

Paul said that he wanted to encourage the church so that when he came to visit with them they would also be an encouragement and comfort to him (v. 2-3). This is an intentional attitude. There was still plenty of fault that Paul could have pointed out. We live in a sinful and imperfect world. There is always something wrong. However, Paul says that he intentionally did not point out these faults so that the people were not "made sorry". There are times when we have to force ourselves to not focus on the negatives but rather find something to rejoice in. People need the uplifting. They need the encouragement for themselves, but also because they will encourage us in return.

In verse 4, Paul says that he had to write I Corinthians because there was very much a need to address these problems in the church. Holiness is paramount in a church. However, he wanted the people to see that his heart was a heart of love and not just complaining and fault finding. He was not being negative for the sake of being negative. It was correction for the spiritual improvement of the people. People need to see this same heart in us. We should not come across as hateful when we confront sin in or outside of the church. They need to see that we are confronting sin from a place of love and concern. There is a big difference in our attitude and how we will go about confronting sin.

While there certainly is a time to point out faults and sins, it is important that we do so from a place of love. We must also let people see our joy and hope in Christ. We do not want people to despair when they see us. We are called to be light and salt, not vinegar.

Father, help me to not be negative. May I encourage people but not neglect pointing people towards holiness. I know that this will happen is I have your heart, so draw me closer to you.