It’s probably happened to you. You’re watching your favourite comedian or comedy show on telly, laughing away as the gags roll thick and fast. Then it happens: the ubiquitous mocking of Christians, Christianity, Jesus, God or all of the above.
Whenever it happens my heart sinks. My anticipation of the next knee-slapper slams into a wall of disappointment and often anger. “Why did they have to go there?” I grumble as I reach for the remote to see what else is on the box.
It’s an interesting question, though. Why do so many comedians seem to go to great lengths to attack and belittle Christianity and our king, Jesus Christ?
Seth MacFarlane’s Family Guy portrays God as an all-powerful, hedonistic philanderer and Jesus as a quiet religious guy – the type that always dies first in any war movie. Christianity itself is depicted as a blight on world history, one that has kept society from advancing.
Standup comedians at home and abroad proudly mock Christianity. Comedian Tom Ballard has performed at the Australian Atheist Convention, ridiculing Christianity as fantasy. Josh Thomas is a proud atheist who believes all religion has no basis in reality. A regular at Australian comedy festivals, Danny Bhoy, often bags Christianity in his routine, while Tim Minchin refers to the “two-millennium-dead Middle Eastern Jewish magician-preacher we call Jesus”.
Having dabbled in the difficult art of standup comedy I often wonder why, out of all the things that are humorous about our day-to-day lives, our world and the broad spectrum of culture, Christianity is so often attacked by comedians.
Perhaps because it’s such an easy target. You don’t have to look far to find examples of those who have used Jesus’ name to justify their actions and yet misrepresent him dreadfully. There is, sadly, ample fodder for comedians. However, there is also a sense that Christianity is an easy target because comedians know we will generally take it on the chin. We might blog about our disappointment, fire off an angry tweet or send a letter of complaint but that’s about it. We’re used to being the object of derision, so we just shake our heads and change the channel.
That being said, you won’t hear any of the comedians I’ve mentioned makes a crack about Allah. You won’t see an episode of Family Guy that pokes fun at the Islamic prophet or make a single pun about the Qu’ran. A cartoonist in Denmark tried it once. It resulted in a wave of angry Islamic protests across the globe, from the Middle East and Europe to Indonesia. Christians are much “safer” to mock.
Our faith also fits neatly with a key ingredient of standup comedy: cynicism. It’s a basic tool used to formulate a quip on any given topic, from politics and the shenanigans of celebrities to aspects of everyday life.
Christians step outside the bounds of ambivalence, planting their feet firmly under Jesus’ banner. We believe it’s by the grace of God alone, offering up his Son to die as the payment for our innate state of rebellion, that we are made right with God and will see him face to face in glory. But any system that claims an absolute answer to our search for meaning in life will draw the mockery of comedians like flies to a picnic!
What’s also interesting about anti-Christian comedians is they seem to think they’re original, representing the enlightened in a new age of tolerance. Yet poking fun at Jesus is as old as our faith itself. Some of the first to mock him to get a laugh were the soldiers who struck him repeatedly and taunted him in Matthew 26. Followers of Christ know that being the subject of mockery is par for the course. In John
15 Jesus tells us that if we were like the rest of world, we’d be loved. But because he has called us out of the world to be set apart for him, we’ll be hated.
So what should our response be to this constant ridicule? I confess my first emotion is anger: “How dare they mock my King?” And given many of the psalms of David express a deep jealousy for the glory of God’s name, a feeling of anger when our God is mocked is somewhat justified.
But then I remember there will come a day when those who have mocked God all their lives must stand before him and give an account of themselves. What a fearful day that will be. What sadness for those who don’t know him.
So perhaps our first response should be to pray for these comedians. Pray that, like the Apostle Paul, they will have an encounter with the Lord Jesus that rocks them to their core and sends them to their knees in thanks and praise as his love and forgiveness wash over them.
Next time you hear a comedian mocking Christians or telling the world God doesn’t exist, pray for them. Before you voice your outrage and reach for the remote, as I so often do, send a quiet prayer to our loving God that the Holy Spirit will change their heart, that they will meet Jesus and that they will turn to follow him.
