Comedy and humor have an amazing way of creating a vessel through which even the hardest of instructions can be “heard.” This was evident with court jesters of medieval times, among the most powerful people in their kingdoms. By disguising their comments, thoughts, and opinions in song and jokes, court jesters could say things to royalty for which anyone else would have been executed! The difference was that the kings and queens were probably laughing far too hard to care, only realizing later what the jesters had meant. And by that time the kings and queens probably had time to reflect and realize that the jesters were, in fact, correct.
Jesus was a master of fun and humor. He was a joy to be around. When he spoke, he did so in a way that made people laugh and therefore listen. And both of these facets of Jesus’ personality point us to some clues, I believe, in successfully working with young people—helping them to see that life is, in fact, fun. That Christianity isn’t about dullness and straight faces. And that communicating in fun ways plays an important part in a healthy and balanced expression of Christianity and Christian issues.
This is not about sugarcoating the Christian message or advocating bait-and-switch evangelism; it’s about communicating, through our lives and ministries, the same spirit of fun and laughter that I believe Jesus presented to all who came into contact with him.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Immerse Journal: Stand-Up Jesus
I think sometimes we try too hard to imagine Jesus as "one of us" in the sense that were he around today, we imagine he would have loved Call of Duty, let loose on a few farts, and enjoyed a pint down at the local pub. (I'm not saying he wouldn't have, I'm just saying we sometimes project Jesus as we would like to imagine him rather than going by what can know from the text of the Gospels.) However, Mark Gladman is quite right that so much of Jesus' teaching is laced with humor, and we miss it all the time. Check out his article:
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