Editors of magazines that publish cartoons must frequently ask themselves the question, What’s funny and what’s not? We use several cartoons in each issue of ct, and if we fail to address the What’s funny? question carefully, our readers will answer it for us.
Obviously, our use of cartoons indicates we think some things are funny. And we have good company in that assumption. A quick survey of historical literature shows humor to be a mainstay of the human experience and suggests it always will be. Philosophers disagree on why people laugh. But the fact of laughter? Case closed.
But some things are not funny. It is not just because they are bad humor, but because certain topics do not lend themselves to humor. To borrow a phrase from preaching professor Fred Craddock, there is a point of seriousness beyond which humor cannot and should not go. When the point of seriousness is crossed, we run the twin dangers of rudeness and bitterness, or—in the case of religion—blasphemy.
Many of the tensions of church life and the foibles of our frantic attempts to be righteous lend themselves to humor. It is more difficult, however, to think of humorous treatments of the sacred fundamentals of our faith—Scripture and the person of Jesus, for example.
True, the distinctions between the funny and the not funny sometimes blur. At CT, we circulate potential cartoons to all members of the editorial staff for comment. We get far less agreement on usable/nonusable cartoons from this panel of 12 honest citizens than we get on usable/nonusable manuscripts. Senses of humor differ. And frankly, we don’t always get it right.
So, to guide our judgments, we set forth the following principles:
1. Christians should feel good about humor. Sarah laughed. It was the only way she could come to grips with the incongruity of God promising her a child in her hundredth year. Jesus used humor in his parables. Elton Trueblood, in his book The Humor of Christ, discusses in detail Christ’s use of irony in particular. Trueblood goes on to note that “we get better stories at a conference of Christian leaders than we get anywhere else.” Humor and Christianity do mix.
2. There are specifically Christian benefits to humor. Fellowship is enhanced. Differences in education, social class, and culture melt away in the warmth created by good humor.
Tension is relieved. Sometimes the only relief people in impossible situations can get is from a good laugh. Sarah Cohen, in her book Comic Relief, argues that Jewish humor emerged from the disparity between being God’s chosen people and the harsh realities of immigrant life. As Rabbi Baroka noted, “A clown may be the first in the kingdom of Heaven, if he has helped lessen the sadness of human life.”
Truth is taught. In the intimacy of a local church or in the friendly confines of a magazine like CT, the great paradox of Christianity between faith and worldliness can be better understood through the use of humor. Trueblood recalls Christ’s use of humor in the parables: “Christ employed humor for the sake of truth, and many of his teachings, when seen in this light, become brilliantly clear for the first time.”
3. There is something more important than humor. Ecclesiastes says there is a time to laugh and a time to weep. In Luke, Jesus promises laughter as a blessing, but promises woe for those who laugh inappropriately. Clearly, something is more important than having a good sense of humor.
Perhaps that something can best be described as a sense of dignity about the spiritual life. 1 Timothy 3 uses the Greek word semnotes several times to describe the ideal church leader. A person of dignity (or responsibility) models the best in the Christian life for child and unbeliever alike. A person of dignity fully respects the deity of Christ and displays the awe and reverence appropriate for the created to show the Creator.
When we look at our fellow man or inward at ourselves, humor works. When we look heavenward, dignity replaces humor as the emotion of choice.
TERRY C. MUCK
