An Old Vaudeville Joke

There was an old Vaudeville joke that my grandfather loved to repeat. It went something like this;

Patient; “Doctor, doctor, it hurts when I do this.”

Doctor; “Then stop doing it!”

I realize how corny that old routine sounds, but it always made granddad smile – yet the clear, simple logic of that conversation is lost on most people these days. The suggestion that I should give up doing anything I want to do, even if it hurts, flies in the face of our freedom-loving, pleasure-seeking society. We sometimes tend to live our lives like an old Vaudeville joke!

For example, the habit of smoking (which has been proven to be bad for your health in so many ways) continues to persist even while its participants occasionally admit, “I really should quit.” This stubbornness endures, sometimes to the point of emphysema, with patients having to turn off their oxygen in order to “light up.”

Likewise, the only proven way to avoid the trauma of unwanted pregnancy and/or the transmission of a multitude of STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) is to practice abstinence until marriage and then remain true to your wife/husband throughout your life. But because most people seem to want to participate in a free-for-all of promiscuity and not try to control their passions, we attempt to fix everything from herpes to adulterous relationships with condoms and weird reasoning about how it is all so “natural.”

Similarly, though we daily see and hear how over-eating and improper eating shortens our life and fosters all kinds of health issues, we just don’t want to give up our chips and dip, pizza and fast food! It seems that any suggestion to bring our desires or appetites under control is met with ridicule or indifference, with the result being, “Don’t tell me what I can or can’t do – I’ll do what I want!”

Sometimes our lives mirror that of an old Vaudeville joke. That attitude has always been a large obstacle keeping people from truly following Jesus and being a part of God’s Kingdom. Most are happy to know that God is willing to forgive their sin and wrong-doing and that Jesus died on the cross to make that possible, but they balk at the call of Scripture and the Holy Spirit to bring every aspect of their lives under submission to the will and instruction of God. It seems we want to have our cake and eat it too! But it is destructive to continue to practice the very things that made us need God’s forgiveness in the first place.

Jesus clearly shows us the joy and real freedom of selfless obedience and urges us to discover the redemption and grace in denying ourselves and obeying the truth He teaches.

How exciting to be His people,

Pastor David Vanderpool