hammondjones
Puritan Board Junior
Regarding the use of humor in sermons, is that something that arose during the 2nd Great Awakening, or is there evidence of it before that time?
Humor in Sermons
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SolaScriptura
Puritanboard Brimstone
When you refer to "use of humor" do you mean "telling jokes" or are you intending it more broadly?
Backwoods Presbyterian
Puritanboard Amanuensis
There are elements of irony (that must have caused the hearers to crack a smile) in Puritan sermons and similar rhetorical devices, but not for the sake of getting a laugh and being irreverent.
hammondjones
Puritan Board Junior
Primarily I mean going out of your way to, say, break the ice, or something.
Not, for example, a humorous comment on how the ostrich is a stupid bird, or a self-deprecating remark about someone falling out of a window because the preacher was boring.
Not, for example, a humorous comment on how the ostrich is a stupid bird, or a self-deprecating remark about someone falling out of a window because the preacher was boring.
reaganmarsh
Puritan Board Senior
I'm not sure when the modern practice of icebreakers or "funny pastors" began, but I read once that no less a heavyweight than C. H. Spurgeon was criticized for the occasional witticism.
His response was enlightening to me. He said, "I would rather cause a half-moment's chuckle, than a half-hour's profound slumber."
Food for thought...
His response was enlightening to me. He said, "I would rather cause a half-moment's chuckle, than a half-hour's profound slumber."
Food for thought...
Free Christian
Puritan Board Sophomore
I will never pretend to know anything about preaching but I have been in churches where they made jokes and I sat there thinking "why did you say that, we're here to hear about God?" I have heard some make jokes about biblical things. I thought "you wouldn't make a joke about something your Prime Minister said to you in front of him so why do that to God?" To me, me only saying this, we should go to church prepared to hear the Word of God and not have a need to have the ice broken. I guess its the purity of worship issue with me, and being that man is what he is, subject to sinning, its easy to start a wrong with a trickle and end with a flood.
SolaScriptura
Puritanboard Brimstone
I don't believe in telling jokes in sermons, but I do believe in the use of humor.
reaganmarsh
Puritan Board Senior
Amen to that!
Hamalas
whippersnapper
Well said!
Free Christian
Puritan Board Sophomore
Yep, that's where im coming from.
Matthew1344
Puritan Board Sophomore
Everyone else is reposting it.
I do find it humourous that Americans do not know how to spell humour. Spurgeon agrees with me on this one 
SolaScriptura
Puritanboard Brimstone
One of my problems with employing jokes - especially at the beginning in order to "loosen up the crowd" - is that a joke, properly told, is a fully-contained unit. The punchline wraps it up and puts a tidy bow on top. So there's no natural segue into whatever it is you're talking about. So you tell the joke, (maybe) get some laughs, but then at the conclusion you're still where you were at the beginning: you still have to introduce whatever it is you're going to talk about. What's worse, telling a joke is risky: you risk offending, alienating, or it falling flat. In any case, unless he's a natural "comedian" the risk is quite high that the joke-teller will wind up looking like a buffoon.
So I see joke telling as an unhelpful time-killer... and a dangerous one at that.
So I see joke telling as an unhelpful time-killer... and a dangerous one at that.
Bill The Baptist
Puritan Board Graduate
That is the problem, simply seeking to fill time rather than conveying a message. I am not a fan of Andy Stanley, but there is one thing he said that I think is a good point. He pointed out the fact that people who give sermons are always worried about having enough content to fill whatever amount of time they think they should preach for, however the listener is almost never worried about that. Say what you have to say, and when you are done, stop preaching. Don't seek to simply "fill time." If that translates into an hour and a half, may God be all the more glorified. If that translates into 20 minutes, so be it. It is better to preach 20 minutes of solid, biblical content than to preach an hour of fluff.
I don't believe jokes are appropriate, mainly for the same reasons that Ben articulates. But I do believe humor is a (nearly) essential element in a sermon (or any long-ish presentation). I use humor, usually around in an illustration to a Biblical point, and almost always drawn from the humor in life (how siblings interact, how things frustrate us, etc.). I do it intentionally to get people's attention - or to draw attention to a point of application from the text that I am making. Rather than have a joke with a punch line that ends the joke (as Ben aptly puts it), I immediately follow it up with my point (or reiteration of my point). I have found this an effective way to help the congregation remember the point of the text.
After many years of listening to our pastor, I've noticed a mannerism attached to humor (and rarely a joke if it directly supports a point). He'll draw his fingers down the outside of his mouth and down his chin to suppress a smile either out of the humility of not laughing much at one's own joke or to move into a serious point. The move itself is funny to me, and I have no idea if it's on purpose.
Solparvus
Puritan Board Senior
Sometimes a piece of humor in a sermon has made the message itself more memorable, and made the point stick. I one time heard a preacher say that you ask most people what they think Samson looked like they almost always describe a Jewish Arnold Schwarzeneggar. I remember the main points of the message and why it fit so well, so it was profitable. Another man, who is a very serious preacher, talking about being in a church where maybe half are converted and half are converted made the remark, "I suppose the Lord could give me great grace if I have to look at the butts of the goats for a while." (He might have said "deal," but that is how I heard it). It was very difficult to not laugh when I heard that, but in no way did it break the power in his message, and I'd say the line contains a sermon in itself. Sobering night.
Though, I've also seen good points and weighty subjects obliterated by an ill-timed wisecrack. A real life example, I heard one preacher make a splendid point from the account of Abraham and Isaac at Moriah, and then follow it up with a reference to mac and cheese. It was abrupt and awkward after the gem of insight (though others found it funny), And I can't remember the point that he made.
We need care too, because sometimes humor can be a preacher's way of trying to be in the favor and acceptance of his audience.
Though, I've also seen good points and weighty subjects obliterated by an ill-timed wisecrack. A real life example, I heard one preacher make a splendid point from the account of Abraham and Isaac at Moriah, and then follow it up with a reference to mac and cheese. It was abrupt and awkward after the gem of insight (though others found it funny), And I can't remember the point that he made.
We need care too, because sometimes humor can be a preacher's way of trying to be in the favor and acceptance of his audience.
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Caroline
Puritan Board Sophomore
I know a dear person who fills our pulpit sometimes and always starts with a joke. I won't judge him a bad preacher for it, but I will say that it makes me miss our regular pastor. I'll side with the person on this thread who said jokes are really hard to manage without falling flat or insulting someone. When the response is a weak bit of forced laughter, it starts the sermon off on a really bad foot. There have been studies on humor that show that a bad joke provokes people to anger even when it isn't an insulting or offensive joke. So it isn't as though the audience's feelings on joke failures are neutral--it actually makes a negative mark that is hard to erase. Even from a purely practical standpoint, it is a bad idea to start ANY public speaking with a joke unless you are a successful and practiced comedian, and even then, you might want to ask yourself what it lends to the presentation.
My husband was once making an announcement in church and made an opening joke about how his wife begged him not to make any jokes. The response was stony silence, broken only by our pastor whispering behind him, "Oh, you are in trouble now." It was actually pretty funny, although I was the only one who thought so.
My husband was once making an announcement in church and made an opening joke about how his wife begged him not to make any jokes. The response was stony silence, broken only by our pastor whispering behind him, "Oh, you are in trouble now." It was actually pretty funny, although I was the only one who thought so.
hammondjones
Puritan Board Junior
Ok. Then would it be fair to say that the idea of having a planned joke would be right in-line with the kinds of ideas that developed during the 2nd Great Awakening and the conflation of preaching and entertainment? Would that be similar to the practice of having 'special music' - basically a concert for the congregation? (This is not my church, by the way).
Free Christian
Puritan Board Sophomore
If I were pressed to answer if I agreed, yes or no, with the use of jokes full stop in a service I would say no.
I am curious as to why you mention the 2nd Great Awakening. I have not read a great deal of sermons from that time. Did they use a great deal of jokes?
hammondjones
Puritan Board Junior
MarieP
Puritan Board Senior
I agree! I actually believe the best sermon ever preached, by the world's greatest preacher, includes irony that's meant to be humorous. See Matthew 6:27, for example.
I've heard sermons that use humor needlessly, such as beginning with a joke that has nothing whatsoever to do with the sermon. But I also think it can be quite helpful.
Take, for example, my pastor's sermon on the account of poor Eutychus (whose name ironically means Lucky). His main take-home point was that, even with Eutychus being restored after his accident, the focus in Luke's account was on the worship of God. It was a part of his series on Acts, and we happened to be in this text on what the world calls "Super Bowl Sunday." He began by saying, "Well, today's the big day, isn't it? It's the day when millions in our nation and even around the world have been anticipating all week long. Today, gatherings will take place in public buildings, and in homes, and even outdoors. Families and friends and sometimes even complete strangers are going to come together, and they will eat, and they will drink, and they're going to focus their attention upon that one compelling event. I'm speaking of course about the corporate gathering of God's people on the Lord's Day for the worship and commemoration of Christ's death in the Lord's Supper. What'd you think I was talking about?" We all laughed.
Another time, my pastor was talking about how we can have this idea that there are two types of lost sinners, "mostly dead" and "really dead." He likened it to, if he were preaching and had a heart attack, we would just need to go get the defibrillator. But if he were preaching and his head exploded (kaboom!), "we wouldn't be getting the defibrillator." His point was that all lost sinners are of the "exploded head variety."
Now, the overall tenor of my pastor's ministry is not humorous. But he does use humor to make a valid point. And he knows there are times it shouldn't be used. So I think it's more complex than saying, "A sermon should not include a joke."
Alan D. Strange
Puritan Board Senior
I think that we can all agree that jokes to induce humor are distractions, at best (profane, at worst).
However, a humorless sermon, one that intentionally shuns anything that might cause hearers to smile (or even laugh) in recognition of God's greatness, our meanness, and His never-failing love in spite of our unworthiness, is not really biblical. The Bible has humor of various sorts throughout its pages. And the sermon should mimic that in appropriate ways.
There is a certain sort of piety that eschews any sort of humor as improper but such misguided pietism should neither keep us from appropriate expressions of it nor induce us to react against it with joke-telling and other sorts of inappropriate humor.
Peace,
Alan
However, a humorless sermon, one that intentionally shuns anything that might cause hearers to smile (or even laugh) in recognition of God's greatness, our meanness, and His never-failing love in spite of our unworthiness, is not really biblical. The Bible has humor of various sorts throughout its pages. And the sermon should mimic that in appropriate ways.
There is a certain sort of piety that eschews any sort of humor as improper but such misguided pietism should neither keep us from appropriate expressions of it nor induce us to react against it with joke-telling and other sorts of inappropriate humor.
Peace,
Alan
SolaScriptura
Puritanboard Brimstone
This was almost poetic in its beautiful sublimity.
reaganmarsh
Puritan Board Senior
Kaalvenist
Puritan Board Sophomore
David Murray addressed this topic in the Puritan Reformed Journal a few years ago: PRJ 3, 1 (2011), 328-338.
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
Reformed Covenanter
Cancelled Commissioner
While I would concur with his general point, I do wonder to what extent Dr Murray's "take" on these issues is determined by a clash between the religious culture of the Scottish Highlands and Islands and that of the United States. I am also unsure as to whether or not his exegesis really supports his case, but there are others here better qualified to judge that than I am.
On a somewhat related topic, a couple of years ago I decided to leave all humour out of research papers that I was presenting unless it was absolutely essential to the argument of the lecture. I did this because I had increasingly noticed that people would turn up at seminars, present papers that were of virtually no intellectual significance, but the audience would think it was great because of the number of amusing anecdotes. At which point I said to myself, "We are not doing stand-up comedy, but academic history. Our job is not to assess how humorous a lecture is, but to judge its worth as a piece of historical research." Ultimately, I wanted my work to be judged for its academic merits, not as a piece of stand-up comedy. Can the same principle be applied to preaching? Do we judge sermons on the basis of their faithfulness to Christ or scripture, or, on the basis of how funny they are? Although I would not want to go so far as to say that all humour is absolutely excluded from preaching, a healthy sense of perspective does no harm.
He proves his point too much. It is obvious he is Scottish, which is not synonymous with Reformed. He sets up his point by explaining (after a fashion) what Scots are like, and why we should be like them. His point is very correct with respect to telling stories (humorous or not) instead of preaching the text. But it is not true that preaching is devoid of humor - the Bible is full of humor in the sense of mockery of those who rebel against God, showing the foolishness of sin, etc.
One obvious and classic example:
Was Elijah a bad "Johnny Carson" preacher? I think not. In fact, the entire episode is hilarious.
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