by Ian Paul, Psephizo
Can we use humour in preaching? What does it do to help in engaging the listeners? What are the dangers and pitfalls? Was Jesus funny?
Last Sunday week, after I preached at a church I am supporting through vacancy, one member of the congregation commented: “Thank you—that was really funny!” I don’t remember anyone ever saying that before as sermon feedback! But it reminded that I often deliberately use humour, both in preaching and teaching, and it made me go back to think about why it is important.
The sermon was on the epistle for Trinity 14, Romans 13.8–end, and you can see our video discussion of it here. It is a passage in two halves, the first on love as the fulfilment of the law, and the second on clothing ourselves with Christ/the armour of light, because of the time. I decided that the most apposite questions I could ask the congregation, to help explore this, were: why do you obey the speed limit when driving (to avoid a fine? or to care for others?); and why did you not stay in your pyjamas when coming to church (because you dress differently for different occasions). I felt confident that the humorous nature of the questions would help to remember the points, and make Paul’s teaching seem more accessible than is usually thought.
But not everyone agrees that humour is helpful. Some years ago, as part of its publicity, the Christian Resources Exhibition was running a ‘Sermon of the Year’ award. To promote this it commissioned research on what people look for in sermons, and some of the conclusions might seem surprising.The headline conclusion was uncompromising:
Cut the jokes, churchgoers tell Christian preachers, as finalists gear up for ‘Sermon of the Year’ award
According to the survey, most people don’t want jokes and entertainment, but do appear to want sermons of reasonable length which include substantial biblical engagement (men) and real-life application (women).