Can I laugh at that?

Posted on January 23, 2008 
Filed Under Christianity, Humor, pastors

Recently, pastor Mark Driscoll preached a sermon on humor in his “ask anything” series. The question submitted to him asked why he made jokes about Mormons, homosexuals and others in his sermons and in the same sermon expected them to be saved. Pastor Driscoll shows in his sermon that the Bible contains a lot of humor and that humor is alright to be used. The entire Ask anything series has drawn negative comments but I would like to address the humor issue.

In the various blogs and forums I have read on this particular sermon, people seem to have come to the conclusion that the only type of humor allowed is humor that makes fun of the joke maker. I began to wonder why and came to the conclusion that people need to lighten up a little bit. While I realize that Christianity is a serious thing, I think it has become a little to legalistic. Are we not allowed to laugh in a service? My pastor makes jokes about everyone from homosexuals to married couples, from the more mature to the young and jokes about individual people (including myself). I do not see a problem with that at all.

When you see a comedian on TV who does he make fun of? EVERYONE! and why does he do it? to make everyone lighten up and in the case of some very talented comedians, to make a point. Humor is used even in politics! Candidates use humor to poke fun at rivals.

So if humor is used in pretty much every form of public speaking to make some sort of point, why can it not be used in preaching?

I think I am having difficulty saying what I want to say so I would like to know how you feel: Can humor in any form be used in Preaching? Can the speaker make jokes about people or groups they do not belong to? Why or why not? Please leave any thoughts you have on this subject.

God bless,
Anthony

PS I would have used some humor in this post to make my point but could not think of anything remotely funny.

Comments

4 Responses to “Can I laugh at that?”

  1. Amber on January 23rd, 2008 3:30 pm

    One point Mark Driscoll made which was very important, is that you must use some discernment. If your joke would offend someone, it might not be a good idea to say it.

  2. Josh R on January 24th, 2008 7:38 am

    Driscoll’s primary audience is unregenerate males. Driscoll specializes in evangelizing to 20-30 year old unchurched men. This kind of humor is their native tongue. If you want to motivate them to change, making fun of them is the best way to make your point.

    The vast majority of his humor is either aimed at the overly religious or the unregenerate male.

    The honest religious folks usually describe his humor as “Harsh, but not inaccurate”, so I suspect his message reaches them as well.

  3. Anthony Mendoza on January 24th, 2008 11:46 pm

    Amber,
    Yes we should use some discernment but if you go off of the possibility of offending someone, you would never tell any jokes. Half of the things I have written on this site should not have been posted following that logic and I don’t think I have done anything wrong

    Josh,
    It is important to remember the audience that Mark Driscoll is primarily aiming for but as you said, humor translates to everyone

    God bless,
    Anthony

  4. Charlei Miller on February 7th, 2008 10:53 pm

    Could not agee with you more..

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