For everything you can name, I’m pretty sure there’s an official phobia listed for it.
If you’re afraid of phobias, would you be considered a phoba-phobe? I’m not sure how true it is. Still, surveys show the fear of public speaking (glossophobia) and the fear of dying (necrophobia) are at the top of people’s lists. In that order, even.
As a public speaker—and one who is often billed as a humorist—I think tops on my list would be “necro-glossophobia.” Fear of death while speaking. Okay, yes, I made that one up. But I’ve experienced it on a figurative level once or twice. Frightening.
One of those events particularly sticks in my mind. I was delivering what I considered some of my most rip-roaring material when…it happened: nothing. A whole big lot of nothing. Hardly a snicker. I think I heard crickets chirping— kind of slow death, speaker-wise.
The Bible says that laughter is like medicine. I’m telling you, this had to be the control group. Placebos for everyone!
After I spoke, a lady came up to me with a completely lifeless face. Truly lifeless. Without an ounce of expression, she monotoned, “I have never laughed so hard in all my life.” She didn’t crack a smile even then. It was so hilariously strange.
Here’s hoping we always look “alive” to the world. Know what “alive” looks like? It looks like love. First, John 3:14 says, “We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers.”
We have passed from death into life—heavy on the life! We need to pass it on. Others can’t see our redemption unless we live it out. And love it out.
It’s not a new message, but it’s one we need to hear often. We read in the same passage, “This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another” (1 John 3:11). So how do we know exactly what that kind of love looks like? The same chapter gives us that, too: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers” (verse 16).
Real love sacrifices. The Jesus kind of love is a love that surrenders in humility. It’s a love that endures beyond the very worst offenses.
When Jesus was asked which commandment in the law was greatest, He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’” (Matthew 22:37-39). A right-to-the-heart-and-soul kind of love. Being a follower of Christ means we love Him with everything we’ve got, and we love others in His name with the same enthusiastic love. It’s our focus. Because it’s God’s focus.
Here’s hoping that if I’m asked to lay aside my rights, fears, possessions, pride, and even my very life for another, I’ll give the right response. No silence. No crickets chirping. Just love.
Giving sacrificial love to a heartsick world that doesn’t know the love and joy of Jesus is the best medicine we can offer. And that, my friends, is no placebo.
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