A Comedic Christian

            Although April Fools passed a while ago, I’ve been wondering about the relationship between humor and Christianity. There are quite a few different viewpoints on the matter. Some Christians I know, including my dad, think laughter is fine so long as it’s not dirty or offensive. My dad especially can’t stand jokes about Jesus. Other friends of mine don’t see the line so clearly. I have one Christian friend who likes to analyze jokes, specifically Jesus ones, to see whether or not they are offensive or not. There are even more strict friends who stick to kid-friendly jokes.

            So where’s the line?

            I think this can be a difficult question, especially with teenagers. So many people like dirty jokes, sexist jokes, racist jokes, etc. Personally, I find it difficult to not laugh. I kind of laugh at pretty much anything. I should probably work on that.

            What I really want to focus on are Jesus jokes, though. Or mainly, humor and where it stands in Christianity. I don’t think Jesus jokes are bad, to be honest. I mean, of course I don’t want to hear an offensive joke, such as one that a friend from high school told me:

“If the Lord’s Supper has us eating the bread that represents Jesus’ body, which part of His body are we eating, if you know what I mean?”

That’s not the kind of humor I’m talking about. I’m with my dad on this one; that’s an offensive Jesus joke. There is some humor in relation to Jesus that I think is okay, though. I remember seeing one photo that showed a sign that read, “No running!” but the place was flooded so there was clearly no place for anyone to run. Someone commented, “Behave Yourself, Jesus.” Personally, I laughed. It made sense. Jesus is the only one who has ever walked on water, so He is the only one who can run on water. Why is that offensive?

All right, so maybe this isn’t that deep a subject to discuss, so I won’t babble anymore about it. But I will leave this video of Stephen Colbert arguing with a Bible Critic. Stephen not only has a great argument, but he uses humor as he makes it. Hopefully, this video can show my point a bit clearer.