When Humor Meets Holiness

A fellow seminary student (whom I consider a friend and whose opinion I hold in high regard) and I shared an e-mail correspondence today about religion and humor. Recently, his blog introduced me to Mr. Deity, a series of short comedy sketches that address a plethora of controversial issues and burning questions regarding Christianity- all within a four minute time span. I just watched the episodes “The Evil,” "The Messages", “The Book” and "The Really Big Favor" (which is my personal favorite). There are ten in all and I plan to finish watching the entire series this weekend. I find the series to be hilarious and witty, smart and engaging. Imagine a cross between the movie Bruce Almighty, the comedy of George Carlin and the HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm. Personally, I think the series has tapped into a highly effective way to spark discussion and stimulate critical thought and I am glad the creators had the courage to make it.

My friend observed that people respond in interesting ways when the holy is mixed with the humorous. Some would call such attempts blasphemous. But he suggested that we need to laugh at ourselves more. I'd like to think that Jesus had a sense of humor even though we hardly ever see images of him smiling or laughing. I can imagine Jesus telling some of his stories (parables) with a stand-up comedian-like delivery saying, "Hey, did you hear the one about the..."

Our culture has seared into our imagination an indelible image of a morbid and morose Jesus. We have been raised to follow a Jesus that is always contemplative, always brooding and always dead serious. But the Gospel accounts of the New Testament reveal Jesus of Nazareth to be an expert storyteller who weaved together poetry, shock value, irony and humor. I find it hard to believe that the masses that came to hear him would have paid him any attention if he wasn’t somewhat of an engaging speaker or performer.

I also can't imagine that the people of Ancient Palestine would have ever invited the depressing fellow that our culture portrays as Jesus to one of their dinner parties (The life-draining SNL character Debbie Downer comes to mind here). The fact is, the Gospels don’t record a lot of dialogue from those dinner parties. Did Jesus and the disciples have any jokes that they shared? What did they laugh at? Did they laugh at each other? Even the most serious, sincere, and mission-minded individuals I know also happen to be some of the funniest and spontaneous practical jokesters. They have made it easy for me to believe that holiness and humor don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

Personally, I glean a lot of wisdom from modern-day comedians and socio-political satirists. Some of my personal favorites are Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg and the Weekend Update crew on SNL. In many cases, I find them far easier to trust than a lot of popularity-driven politicians who come to interviews, press conferences and debates armed with nebulous messages and politically-correct responses to the sincere and controversial questions of the people (and religious leaders can often fall into this trap). Even though many of these comedians can come off as obscene at times, I think they often speak with far more honesty and clarity than most of us would dare to muster. I recall a line from contemporary performance poet Jamie Kilstein’s poem “FCC” which says “Truth can only be legally broadcast if it's hidden between set-ups and punch lines.” I find this to be true. Give me a brutally honest comedy sketch instead of a bland and over-promising "State of the Union" address any day.

While I acknowledge that many of these comedians also have personal biases and blind spots, I greatly appreciate their talent for pointing out those glaring contradictions and hypocrisies that the casual observer might miss. In my years of watching and studying comedy I have come to realize just how ingenious many of these humorists are. And I would dare say that we have a lot to learn from them.