Jokes from the pulpit

[Ralph308]

At church yesterday the minister used at least 15 on liners in his sermon. The associate pastor kicked off the Sunday evening sermon with a joke. Is stand up comedy part of pastoral training these days. I have heard sermons with one liner after one liner. Most of the church seems to love the comic relief. Is this something preachers are trained to do or is it just a general trend in modern preaching. I can't find anything in the scriptures to say it is wrong, but I certainly don' appreciate it.

[JerryNumbers]

Nothing wrong with some jokes, some jokes can be used to get the point across. Yet there is such a thing as taking it to far, it would seem using up 15 minutes for jokes is wasting God's time. I have no idea what seminaries teach about that.

[Seth Doty]

Is stand up comedy part of pastoral training these days.

You would think so sometimes wouldn't you.

Is this something preachers are trained to do or is it just a general trend in modern preaching.

I don't think that most preachers are actually "trained" to tell jokes per se but a lot of preachers seem to try to copy one another and use jokes as a sort of "filler". That is why you tend to hear a lot of the same "jokes" and illustrations from different pastors and evangelists recycled year after year. Most of the time it is basically pointless time filler material. If one preacher that another preacher thinks is effective or likes for some reason has a certain style a lot of them will tend to try to copy that. While that is perhaps a natural tendency it tends more towards the flesh than the Spirit and as often as not comes across as a total flop anyway, polite laughter or not. Unless the jokes being told are of a highly questionable nature or take up way to much time I don't take a major issue with it(one of those things that really isn't worth bothering to much about) but I do agree with you that the jokes and attempts at comedy add nothing and I would be just as happy with no jokes being told from the pulpit period. I have to admit I have a hard time imagining Jesus Christ or indeed any of the prophets or preachers of the scriptures using humor or telling jokes while preaching. In scripture preaching tends to be pretty earnest and serious stuff. That doesn't necessarily mean it is automatically wrong to laugh or tell a joke while preaching, but it certainly isn't necessary, I can't think of any biblical examples of it, and I rather think that it usually isn't for the best. Edited February 15, 2011 by Seth-Doty

[Crushmaster]

At church yesterday the minister used at least 15 on liners in his sermon. The associate pastor kicked off the Sunday evening sermon with a joke. Is stand up comedy part of pastoral training these days. I have heard sermons with one liner after one liner. Most of the church seems to love the comic relief. Is this something preachers are trained to do or is it just a general trend in modern preaching. I can't find anything in the scriptures to say it is wrong, but I certainly don' appreciate it.

There may be some times when a joke is appropriate, but 15 one-liners? That's insane. It's supposed to be preaching, expounding upon the Word of God, not stand-up comedy.

Really, the only "comedy" in preaching we see in the New Testament is sarcasm and such; not, "Did you hear the one about the..." Also, in the Old, for example, Elijah mocked the servants of Baal. He was not asking why the chicken crossed the road.
God bless,
Joel ><>.
2 Chronicles 7:14.

[John81]

Any "jokes" our pastor may reference during a sermon are typically ones that make a point within the sermon and are generally something of a nature specific to us.

According to our pastor, adding an abundance of jokes to a sermon is a part of the trend which says sermons must be more entertaining, that the entire church service should have a fast paced flow. Since simply preaching the Word is mostly viewed as slow paced and not entertaining, it's become common practice to add several jokes, to tell more stories which are typically designed to bring about laughter, and to limit sermon times as much as possible.

Along with this trend, many churches have greatly limited Scripture reading and prayer or outright eliminated them in the name of keeping up a fast pace.

Unfortunately, this trend is no longer just seen in the more worldly churches, the "seeker-sensitive" churches, emergent or charismatic churches, but has also moved into many of the more "conservative" churches.

Thankfully our pastor rejects this trend. We still spend time in prayer during each service and the Scripture is read in each service. If a joke or something funny comes forth in a sermon it's clear it fits and has a point to make and wasn't just added in as a form of entertainment.

[Covenanter]

I don't joke from the pulpit, but there may be a passing humourous moment, for instance, in preaching from Mark, & the expectation of the Jews, I sang a fragment from Gilbert & Sullivan's "Gondoliers" - "There lived a king:"

Now, that's the kind of King for me.
He wished all men as rich as he,
So to the top of every tree
Promoted everybody!

Gilbert shows the reductio ad absurdum:

In short, whoever you may be,
To this conclusion you'll agree,
When every one is somebodee,
Then no one's anybody!

Mat 20:26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

[Bro Jim]

15 one liners in my opinion is overboard. Now we are not to set in the church looking like we have cloth rods down our backs, or look like th Book of Lamentations, or a bunch of old cows going moooo. But neither are we to be rolling on the floor in "Holy" laughter. I use a pun, or an anecdote, at times to get a point across, but comedy has no place in the pulpit.

Example: God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve, is for a point.

WE have a humor section on this board, is that wrong?

[Covenanter]

Hear it in context: There lived a king

[trc123]

I don't joke from the pulpit, but there may be a passing humourous moment, for instance, in preaching from Mark, & the expectation of the Jews, I sang a fragment from Gilbert & Sullivan's "Gondoliers" - "There lived a king:"



Gilbert shows the reductio ad absurdum:



Mat 20:26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

You use the world's material in your preaching? Forsooth............................

[John81]

You use the world's material in your preaching? Forsooth............................

:icon_smile:

[HappyChristian]

I think a lot of times preachers use humor at the beginning of their messages to do two things: loosen up the congregation, and to become comfortable with them. I'm talking about visiting preachers, not pastors.

There isn't anything wrong with humor, but, like everything else, it must be moderated. I agree that 15 one-liners are excessive.

[JerryNumbers]

I suppose there always will be those who are imitators. they feel they just must imitate someone else in order to be successful. I feel its sad that some feel they must imitate their favorite pastor, preacher, or evangelist in order to be successful behind the pulpit. Seems they would be following their favorite pastor, preacher, or evangelist, not Christ Jesus.


In the New Testament how many whole sermons do we have? For the most part isn't it just the relevant portions of a sermon of the issue at hand that we are told about?

[Covenanter]

There is a lot of irony in the prophets' sermons, particularly doubl'entendres & 'soundalikes.'

e.g.
Mic 1:10
Declare [nagad] ye [it] not at Gath,
weep ye not at all:
in the house of Aphrah roll thyself in the dust. (aphar)

Mic 1:14 Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moreshethgath: the houses of Achzib [shall be] a lie ('akzab ) to the kings of Israel.

[JerryNumbers]

Yes, plus, Look at what Elijah did, he called down fire from heaven, yet we are not to follow that example, we are to grow in grace, be merciful. In fact James and John wanted to do as Elijah did, yet Christ rebuked them.

Luke 9:51-56
51 ¶ And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,
52 And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.
53 And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.
54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.

Romans 12:19,20,21
19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

We are to over come evil, with good, and be merciful to all.

[Seth Doty]

Example: God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve, is for a point.

True enough, but does not the language of scripture itself make that point quite well as is? Are not even old worn out "preacher jokes" like that one you mentioned trying to get people to laugh or crack a smile about a topic that in reality isn't even slightly funny? Like I said I don't get to upset about it because it isn't that big of deal unless it gets extreme but I do appreciate it when I hear a preacher preach an entire sermon in complete soberness without one attempt to be funny or "clever".