Should Christians have a sense of humour?

"If I want a laugh, I'll go to the Comedy Club. I don't need my preacher to be a stand-up comic…"

Ouch! So said a friend at Bible College to me many years ago.

What is the place of laughter and humour in Christian life and ministry? Is it OK for Christians to watch "The Simpsons" or "Seinfeld" or "The Late Show"? What about listening to the comedy of Tony Campolo or Eddie Murphy or Chris Rock?

Does God intend us to laugh?

Does God even have a sense of humour?

Actor George Burns in his (in)famous role playing God in a movie which escapes my memory, said "Of course, I have a sense of humour. Did you ever see the flamingo?"

The Bible warns against "obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place" " (Ephesians 5:4). Laughter in the Bible can be a harmless and humorous response to events, like in Genesis 17:17:

"Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, "Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?'"

But it can also have a mocking tone, like in Psalm 2:4:

"The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them."

Certainly, Scripture affirms "a time to weep and a time to laugh" (Ecclesiastes 3:4), as well as the ultimate futility of humour, as well as everything else!

“Laughter,” I said, “is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?” (Ecclesiastes 2:2)

Where do you draw the line? And when do you cross it? When does good clean fun become flippancy and disrespect? After all, humour is such a personal thing. What can make one Christian roll on the floor clutching their sides in laughter can leave another Christian with furrowed brow, cold and utterly offended.

How about this? For ministering to non-Christians, "become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some." (1 Corinthians 9:22). For ministering to other Christians, "do not cause anyone to stumble" " (1 Corinthians 10:32).

So it’s with an equal measure of glee, twee, and trepidation that I point you to these sample sites on the Internet:

www.shipoffools.com
[url=http://www.javacasa.com/humor/]http://www.javacasa.com/humor/[/url]
[url=http://www.angelfire.com/ca4/HumorHotline/]http://www.angelfire.com/ca4/HumorHotline/[/url]
[url=http://www.praize.com/jokes/]http://www.praize.com/jokes/[/url]
[url=http://www.reverendfun.com/]http://www.reverendfun.com/[/url]

Oh, by the way, 10 out of 10 Christians surveyed said these sites tickled their funny bone, rather than raised their ire :)

Andrew Lim

Andrew is Sydneyanglicans.net’s resident digital scholar and the pastor of the new Asian Bible Church (ABC), a congregation of St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney.