Mookie Blaylock

Recently watched the documentary Pearl Jam 20 by Cameron Crowe (I love you Cameron Crowe!), and I thought it had a ton of lessons for church planters. Here’s one…

Do you the original name of Pearl Jam? It was Mookie Blaylock. Do you know who Mooke Blaylock is? He was a basketball player, in college for Oklahoma (leading them to the championship game in 1988) and in the NBA, mostly for Golden State. Why did they name their band Mookie Blaylock? Because it was funny. Why did they change it? Because they were forced to. And why did they name their first album Ten? Because it was Mookie’s uniform number.

I love it that Pearl Jam never took themselves too seriously. Their sense of humor is obvious throughout the documentary. And I wonder if that’s a big part of the reason they are one of the very few bands to stay together for twenty plus years? Maybe humor is a part of health and wholeness.

One of the things that makes me sad about so many church planters and pastors today is how seriously they take themselves. I’m all for taking Jesus seriously, but us? We’re just not that big a deal. And maybe we need to lighten up, make some fun of ourselves, and enjoy getting to know God and the honor of getting to lead His church.

If you’re a pastor, how often do you laugh? With your staff? Is there a lot of laughter in your services?