When We Laugh at Sin

In the latter half of Disney’s new movie, “Beauty and the Beast,” there is a scene in which the townspeople storm the castle. During their raid, three men run up the stairs with swords drawn and are met by the Wardrobe who then combats the men by dressing them as women in dresses, wigs, jewelry, and so on. Two of the men run off screaming but the third smiles broadly and skips joyfully away to the encouragement of the Wardrobe to be free. In other words, be who you want to be. Dress how you want to dress. Live how you want to live. I am sure you are familiar with this scene as it was a source of much debate in the church earlier this spring.

When Caitlin and I saw this movie in the theater the whole room burst out in laughter during this scene. It is not necessarily sin for someone to watch a movie tainted with perversion, but it is a sin to laugh at sin and especially when those around you may be struggling with that very thing. One of the main problems with finding obscenity humorous is that it reveals an approval and it is approval of sin that is sin. The things a person laughs at reveals what is in their heart (Matt. 15:18).

Many Christians are very vocal regarding their distaste in the transgender movement. I’m sure my Facebook newsfeed is not the only one that is daily filled with the transgender debate and labeling it sin, unhealthy and illogical. However, a few months ago I saw another side of Christianity. One that is being defined and driven by our culture.

With the lack of Biblical literacy and the rise of immoral behavior, Christians today are being pressed more than ever to conform into the image of the world rather than that of Christ. Their method? Compartmentalize and fragment the Christian life so that God only impacts some of the believer’s life and not the whole. Social media is a perfect demonstration of this with Christians condemning specific sins of others while, at the same time, laughing about them on the big screen.

Maybe a contributing factor to the reason why the world doesn’t take Christianity seriously is because we don’t take our own faith seriously. We have changed the fear of God into merely the respect of Him. We have taken His Word and cut from it the passages that cause discomfort or that we disagree with entirely. Rather than functioning as the locker room to regroup, encourage, strengthen, and prepare believers for another week in the world, churches today are often no more than a social gathering where crowds gather to hear a motivational speech teaching them how to feel better about themselves.

Paul writes in Romans 2:24 that the world blasphemes God because we blaspheme God. That is a heavy statement but a sobering one that should cause us to pause and evaluate our own lives. The Mosaic Law calls transgenderism an abomination to the Lord (Deut. 22:5). As Christians, we must strive to be consistent in our beliefs regarding sin and holiness. Do you believe transgenderism is sin or do you find it humorous to watch men and women destroying themselves and defacing the glory of God?

As we watch movies such as “Beauty and the Beast” we should pay attention to what we and even kids think is funny. We all experience at times moments when we laugh at things that insults the Lord – that’s called being human with an old sin nature. But our aim should be holiness. As stated earlier, Caitlin and I did see this movie in theaters and now even own the DVD so I’m not saying that you should never go to the theater or watch anything other than black and white movies. I just wish to encourage my fellow believers in Christ to watch movies with an awareness of how our culture works to undermine the Lord and our own reactions to their advances.