Does Jesus Have a Sense of Humor? (Part 3)

Last updated on: October 12, 2017 at 8:01 am by Mark Driscoll

Does Jesus Have a Sense of Humor? (Part 3) 2017-10-12T08:01:04-04:00 Mark Driscoll

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Indeed, not only does the Bible say that we are to love people, but that love is not rude. In our postmodern age of nicety, the only real sin anymore seems to be hurting people’s feelings. But, sometimes God needs to offend feelings to save our soul.

When the disciples came to Jesus in Matthew 15:10-14 and said, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended?” how did Jesus respond? Knowing their hardened, stubborn, rebellious, religious hearts of unrepentance, Jesus was not ready to schedule a meeting, apologize profusely, blog about his error, or spend the next decade listening to Gary Jules alone in the dark memorizing greeting card rhymes, and weeping bitterly because he could not shake the horror of hurting someone’s feelings.

In the end, Jesus was murdered. This was because, in large part, he offended a lot of people. Many of them were most offended because they were the butt of his jokes. However, as Jesus says, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me (Matt. 11:6).” Since we are all goofy sinners whose self-righteousness is a silly joke, the only way not to be offended by Jesus and to laugh at ourselves is to live a life of continual repentance. When we fail to laugh at ourselves we also waste a small mountain of golden comedic material.

But, should people laugh in church? Regarding humor’s place in church services, theologian John Frame has said:

Some may think that humor necessarily trivializes worship. But that is not true, for there is humor in Scripture, for example in Genesis 18:13–15; 21:6–7; Proverbs 26:15; Isaiah 44:12–20; Matthew 19:24; 23:24; and Acts 12:1–19. God laughs at the wicked in Psalm 2:7. Humor has a positive theological purpose: it enables us to see ourselves from God’s perspective; it knocks us down a peg or two. It shows the ridiculous discrepancy between God’s greatness and our pretensions. As such, the emotion arising from humor can pass very quickly into a deep sorrow for sin and a craving for God’s grace. Humor can also express joy in the Lord and the “hilarious” cheer (2 Cor. 9:7 in the Greek) by which God’s Spirit frees us from selfishness to serve our brothers and sisters. Humor can also establish a bond between leader and people, reassuring them that he is one of them. Thus, it can strengthen the horizontal side of worship, the unity of the body of Christ.1

Since the Kingdom of God is one of joy, it’s a good idea for its’ citizens to add a little laughing along with their singing as we venture toward the party that never ends hosted by none other than Jesus Christ.

John M. Frame, Worship in Spirit and Truth: A Refreshing Study of the Principles and Practice of Biblical Worship (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 1996), 83.

This blog is adapted from the book Religion Saves by Mark Driscoll.

Blog

Previous Post

September 13, 2017

Does Jesus Have a Sense of Humor? (Part 2)

Next Post

September 25, 2017 Mark Driscoll Ministries app is now available!!!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Ask Pastor Mark Blog Daily Devotions Sermons Uncategorized

Select a Month July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 October 2018 September 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 December 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Moses Peter Jesus Paul