Telling jokes in the church..?
I saw the following question in an online session today:
Should a Pastor Have a Sense of Humor? Can he use his humor in church?
When I looked at the answers that person got I got sad and there was not much fun about it unfortunately… (almost) all the answers were: no, I don’t think so, absolutely not, and more of the same. Hardly any Bible verse… just “I think so” and frankly… that’s not the way to answer such a serious question. Then it’s about taste or a personal opinion. But in all honesty, what people think about such a subject does not matter, what does God think, and what does the Bible say, that does matter! I answered the question as follows:
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Genesis 1:27
Humor is a part of being human, and since God “created man in His own image” God must have humor and so, there is nothing wrong about it. The question is, how do we use it, and what do we use it for. And for that answer, we take a look at:
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians 4:31-32
Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
Ephesians 5:4
Does it say: do not joke at all? No, it does say: “no crude joking”.
And:
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
Colossians 3:23-24
So, if you use it for His glory to make the gospel message more clear, without lowering other people to make yourself bigger (for instance), I don’t see a biblical reason why a pastor can not.
What place should humor have in a sermon?
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 22:37-40
God is number one, not the jokes, flashing lights or whatever. If you keep that in mind, use the humor that God gave you and me, even in a sermon.
So, once again, I don’t see any biblical reason why not, but I do see plenty of biblical reasons how we should apply it when we do. (no crude(!) joking, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, etc etc etc)
And yes, I do have my personal opinions and taste, but that is not relevant, what the bible says, that does matter. And I wish you a lot of fun with that. 🙂
