The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum humor in worship

I'm curious, does anyone else think that humor is out of place in the pulpit? I personally believer there isn't anything funny about what God is saying to the churches. I can only believe that when humor is included in the message it is a carnally produced message. I believe the church in America is basically dead. Not all, but the majority. Since when was it necessary to grab the congregant's interest? I personally believe that we need to be solemn from the pulpit, because by injecting humor, we basically say that what we have to say isn't that important. I imagine I'll get a lot of disagreement, but I must ask, who is it that we want to grab the attention of the listener, the preacher or the Holy Spirit? I always say, I don't attend the service to hear what the pastor has to say, I really don't care what he has to say, I do care what the Holy Spirit has to say, but it is getting harder and harder to hear Him.

I would agree for the most part about humor and the pulpit. To be sure it is mostly the case that those given to the preaching of the Word today use humor in an unacceptable way which detracts from the sobriety of the means grace which God has designed to bring God's truth to a congregation. However, having said that, Scripture itself does include humor, sarcasm, etc., which should not be avoided when it is part of the passage being considered. One example that comes to mind is when Elijah was dealing with the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel (1Kings 18:19ff). Consider the following:

1. Notice how Elijah mocks the beliefs of Baal worship by pouring copious amounts of water upon the wood. Baal was allegedly the god of nature who brought rain, etc. And so, Elijah pours water on the wood mimicking what Baal was allegedly able to do but in an exaggerated way... "Hey, you worship the god of rain do you? Okay, fine. Let's pour some water on this wood, NO..., I'll do better than Baal and so how about more water and even more water, yes... and even more water until it is flowing off the alter unto the ground and then I'll show you how much more powerful MY God is.

2. Notice his derogatory remark after the fanatical antics of the prophets of Baal had failed, "Cry aloud; for he is a god: either he is musing, or he is gone aside, or he is on a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth and must be awaked." His sarcastic (humorous remarks) resulted in these prophets to do even more bizarre acts, e.g., cutting themselves, etc. Pay special attention to his even rude suggestion that Baal was perhaps preoccupied on the toilet (cf. musing).

So, I think there is a place for humor in preaching where the Holy Spirit Himself has deemed it good to include it in the Word.

In His grace,

I agree in what you said. I believe the humor Elijah used was inspired by the Spirit and it wasn't really intended to make people laugh but to show how foolish the prophets were. My problem is with that humor that quenches the Spirit, there is far too much of it. I can understand that occassional nervous slip to humor but when there is a barrage of it, where the pastor tries to be a comedian, I want to . I may appear to be a stickler for things, but I truly believe we are sowing a bitter crop, and apart from a revival, the "church" is headed for the grave in the U.S. I tell people we usually say that people in the world are getting worse, the problem is, people have always been as bad as they are going to be, the reason that it appears people are getting worse is that the church is getting weaker. It is a fallacy to say people are getting worse or more evil. The hardest thing to endure is to wait for our great God to do something, He is longsuffering, but sadly I'm a sinner with little patience. I admire the Puritans, they understood their responsibility in handling God's word, they respected the office of the pastor/teacher.

I want to add, I know I'm not as smart as most and maybe even all those who use this discussion board, quite honestly, some times I don't even know what the discussion is about, even after reading over them a couple of times. You are probably aware that many times my response to posts isn't even on topic because of my ignorance. However, in spite of all that, I believe I have a good understanding of what is taking place in the church today, and I post questions in order to try my own heart as to whether I'm under the spirit of deception. There are very few if any that agree with my assessment in my church. They believe it is all about evangelism, not about worship, and we need to get the lost into the church.

hisalone, I don't know what church you attend but I know I must have visited several as you describe in the past. On the surface, they claim to be confessional and pay at least lip service to the regulative principle but in practice, they entertain the goats instead of feeding the sheep so to speak. I would not continue at such a church. It sounds like your pastor oversteps the bounds of humor to entertain his congregation. That I would certainly object to as do you.

First, men who make the pulpit a stage, I believe, are dishonoring to God and are likely to lead people astray and into idolatry. This does not mean that one who has lowered the high sanctity of his calling cannot be approached and gently reminded of what the worship of our most holy God is to be like according to His own inspired Word. And, it would not be unkindly if after such attempts have fallen on deaf ears to rebuke him as a father and impress upon him the consequences of not repenting of this type of behavior. In many cases where a man has 'slipped' into such things there is often other 'complementary' things that have been brought into the worship of God, e.g., casual dress, worldly conversation, profane contemporary music, irreverent administering of the sacraments... in summary there is often to be found an "all too familiarity" [toward God] attitude in corporate worship. And where these things are not present, rest assured they are likely to be crouching behind the door and waiting to be given entrance.

BTW, these things are not new. Read this brief lament by Spurgeon written nearly 150 years ago and tell me it doesn't sound like yesterday morning's news!

Second, to address the quoted statement above. It is unfortunately woefully and biblically inaccurate. Fallen mankind is hardly "been as bad as they are going to be". The doctrine is TOTAL Depravity and not UTTER Depravity, i.e., fallen men (sinners) are more than capable of deprovement. It is only the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit and in and through the Church that the world does not immediately fall into total chaos and self-destruction. We are told that in the end days things will get progressively worse, cf. Matt 24:4ff; Mk 13:22; 2Thess 2:3ff; 2Tim 3:1-13) One doesn't have to reflect back too far upon what has happened in Canada and the US in regard to what is now in vogue and even made law by these countries to see that lasciviousness has increased dramatically, that churches have become dens of iniquity and houses of entertainment, having forsaken all that is pure, holy and good. Trust me, the situation is only going to grow worse and worse.

In His grace,