Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Jokes--not always a laughing matter

If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you (Matthew 18:15).

When I was a child, people told a lot of ethnic jokes. Jokes about the Polish, jokes about the French, jokes about Blacks, jokes about Indians. Anyone who was part of a minority could be the target of a joke that made fun of them. Nowadays, Political Correctness has curbed these kinds of jokes a bit; we are more likely to hear jokes aimed at groups who aren’t otherwise targets of discrimination—blondes, lawyers, politicians.

Yet is a blonde joke really any different than a joke that makes fun of a Jew? The whole point of these kinds of jokes is to put someone down. If you love others as Jesus desires, why would you ever make fun of them?

We often use jokes to point out problems. We joke about wasteful government spending. We joke about lawyers who use sleazy tactics to win. We joke about people who will do anything for attention. In such cases, we tell jokes as a way to blow off steam over something that bothers us.

But Jesus leaves no room for seeking revenge through insulting jokes. When we have a grievance against someone else, our Lord tells us that the way to healing begins with honest, face to face communication. Rather than tell mother-in-law jokes, go talk with your mother-in-law if the two of you have a rocky relationship. Tell her how you feel she has hurt you, and be ready to apologize for any hurts you have caused. Forgiveness is how Jesus restores our relationship to God; forgiveness is how He instructs us to repair damaged relationships with each other.

I’m not suggesting that all jokes are bad, just that we should be careful of jokes that demean others. We are all sinners, and Jesus wants us to help each other recognize when we do wrong so that we can repent and be forgiven. If we are to do this in a way that builds mutual trust, we must be tactful when we point out another person’s sin; being insulting will only worsen the relationship. Far better that we admit to our own shortcomings through jokes, than to joke about the shortcomings of someone else.

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