Using Humor in the Pulpit...Continued from page 2
V. Neil Wyrick
The purpose of preaching is not to impress people with how much you know or how serious you can be, but to gain the ear of their souls. Why not engage a new listener on the back row by giving him or her a chance to laugh and -- through a humorous observation -- gain a new perspective on some biblical truth.
I am not necessarily suggesting that the Apostle Paul should have been a master of witticisms, but I do call attention to Acts 20:7-10. Do you remember when an over-extended speech of his caused a man named Eutychus to fall asleep while listening and fall with a thud from a third floor window.
Would you not agree that God had a sense of humor? Look at the duck, all smooth and graceful when gliding across a lake only to turn into a waddling clown with an annoying quack when reaching land. What of the anteater who looks and labors like an animated vacuum cleaner? Look in the Bible itself: how when God wants to start a nation, He chooses a ninety-year-old woman named Sarah who has a son named “Laughing one” (Isaac). Then later, He chooses an emotionally tongue-tied Moses, who certainly wouldn't win any homiletic awards, to talk Pharaoh into letting His people go. As a suggestion for better preaching should you change your name, not publicly or officially, to Isaac the Laughing one?
It is highly doubtful that any preacher worth his weight in homiletical skills would argue that dull is better than quick-witted brightness. An amusing anecdote can often move things along better than a theological truth presented in such an abstract, heavy-handed manner that it impedes rather than inspires.
Many church billboards try to gain attention with one-liners that tickle the funny bone. If humor is used to attract people's attention to attend worship services, what is wrong with using humor to hold that attention during a sermon?
Should humor be limited in a sermon? Of course! Too much of a good thing can turn a preacher into a stand-up comic. And it’s also vital to know your own gifts. Even a sure-fire joke isn’t magical formula for success for everyone. Without a doubt, temperament is a large part of the equation. For some ministers the insertion of a laugh line would be disastrous.
However, being humorous doesn't necessarily mean always telling a joke. Often it is simply having an attitude that can find a vein of humor in a gold mine of philosophical thought.
With or without humor, one great problem for all preachers is time. It is said that Harry Emerson Fosdick enjoyed the luxury of having thirty hours a week he could devote to a thirty-minute sermon. One hour for every minute. What a great privilege! But even preachers who try to set aside mornings for study still find their time-table truncated; the counseling sessions unplanned.an emergency hospital visit.the big etc. What to do? Perhaps go searching for a sense of humor to be able to handle the problem.
Winston Churchill wasn't giving advice for the writing of sermons but his advice to writers included the following, "You should go to your room everyday at nine o'clock and say, 'I'm going to write for four hours.' If you sit waiting for inspiration, you will be waiting until you are an old man, so kick yourself, irritate yourself, but write; it is the only way." Doing anything well requires discipline and preparation, and that includes humor.
Winging it may sound spiritual, but it is also the cry of the laggard. Imagine being in the pulpit and suddenly remembering two stories that might fit and immediately, because of a lack of prior preparation, picking the wrong one. So write your thoughts. "I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork," quipped novelist Peter DeVries. However, when an idea is translated into a written sentence or paragraph, that often makes it clear whether the thought was as good as you thought it was.
All preachers need to beware of taking themselves so seriously their ego gets in the way of effective communication. A good joke at one's own expense can do wonders, in particular, to any in the congregation who are first timers. Humor should never be the backbone of a sermon, but it can be a hard worker and a pleasant companion in the total process of driving home truth.
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V. Neil Wyrick is a Presbyterian minister/dramatic evangelist. His most recent book is The Spiritual Abraham Lincoln (Magnus Press).