Seriously, I love Jimmy Fallon. Like a lot. He is absolutely
hilarious and is truly a force to be reckoned with. His humor and presence make
everyone in the room light up and engage in what he is saying/doing. I have
said this in the past and I stick with this statement now: Jimmy Fallon is my
most favorite entertainer of all time. I want to be Jimmy Fallon.
(We get it Bree, you like Jimmy. But what does this have to
do with Jesus?)
There are a ton of reasons why I love Jimmy but I’ll talk
about 3 reasons why Jimmy has helped me in my walk with Christ. (Hang on, I
know this sounds farfetched.)
1. Jimmy is driven. Fallon has worked tirelessly to get to where he is today, hosting the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. He dropped out of college, worked for years doing stand-up, put in lots of time and hours at SNL, was stuck in the Late Night spot for years to FINALLY end up where he is today. He works hard. When he wants something, he goes for it. In his early years, his ultimate goal was to be on SNL. He would put clauses in his contracts that stated he would be released from all contractual obligations if he ever made it on SNL. He auditioned twice to get on SNL. If you haven’t seen where I’m going, Jimmy knows what he wants and he does what needs to be done to get there.
I strive so hard to be like this in my walk
with Christ. My goal should be bringing God the most glory. My goal should be
making as many disciples as possible. But when the going gets tough, I often
get going. I don’t make that my main focus. I am easily distracted (Hi, just
call me Gomer). I don’t put enough want and desire in to what I should. When
have I passionately pursued anything? When have I put in the clause “I will
enjoy this but if God asks me to give it up or do something else, I will give
it up and pursue what He wants”? Jimmy’s drive is something I need/desire in my
walk: an all or nothing type of drive.
2. Jimmy is not defined by his failures. When I
think about Jimmy Fallon, I don’t think about his movie Taxi. I don’t think about the flop that was Fever Pitch. I don’t recall his first failed audition for SNL. I
think about Jimmy from Weekend Update.
I think about Jimmy, the incredibly talented host of the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. I recall the hilarious songs he has
recorded including my personal favorite “Ew!” Yes, Jimmy failed. But he grew.
He learned from his mistakes and chose not to let them define him.
This is something we all could work on. We
all have pasts. We all have moments where we were in complete opposition to
God. God asked us to do something and through fear or just blatant
disobedience, we failed to do it. But the cool thing? When we are saved, God
sees Jesus in us! He took every failure, every mistake, every shortcoming and
nailed it to the cross. When Jesus comes to live in our hearts, we have a
costume change and are now a new person. We are not defined by what we did but
what Jesus did on that cross. And our entire lives should reflect that fact.
3. Jimmy does community so well! Man, this dude is
infectious! His personality is one that just makes you feel right at home. His
humor is one that brings the funny out in everyone. His guests on his show
often get to be the funny versions of themselves. They get to participate in games
or karaoke or “Flip Lip”. He hangs out with people outside of the show. He
learns personal facts about people and allows them to talk about things near
and dear to their hearts. And let’s take a second to talk about the bromance
between him and Justin Timberlake! They are the best friends we all strive to
be/have. Jimmy loves people and does an excellent job of bringing out the best
in people.
This should be us. While we have not all been
blessed with the infectious humor of Jimmy Fallon, we have all been blessed
with gifts. Gifts that were meant to be shared and expressed. Gifts that were
meant to make us unique and gifts that were meant to encourage/inspire others.
We are encouraged to invite others in to our lives. We are meant to enjoy other’s
company all while bringing out the best in each other. We are meant to
celebrate each other. We are meant to dwell together, to intertwine our lives
together. Community is essential to our lives. Learning each other not only
allows the other person to feel comfortable but allows you to grow.
As you can probably tell, I love me some Jimmy Fallon. The
dude is my #1 celebrity dream BFF (followed closely by Ellen Degeneres). I
strive to have his humor, his wit, and his infectious personality. I also
strive to have the above listed qualities not for entertainment’s sake but the
Gospel’s sake. Jesus is way better than Jimmy. He is so driven that he came to
Earth with one goal and did everything His father required to fulfill that
goal. He never failed. And He is the ultimate example of community. He loves
well, lives intentionally, and brings others in with the ultimate goal of
bringing them to His father.
