Why comedy, though? Why not a faithful retelling of the biblical events? Shows like The Chosen have seen great success. Yet, a comedy has the ability to reach a new audience, especially fans of shows like The Office and Parks and Recreation. The show’s creators say, “Comedy creates connection, lowers defenses, and allows audiences to see themselves in the story.” If we can get a good laugh and learn about the Bible in the process, that’s a win-win.
Comedy also provides a good contrast to the serious events of the Exodus. For example, episode three tells the account of when Moses leaves his people to meet with God for forty days and nights, returning to find the Israelites worshipping the golden calf. The lighthearted tone of the episode suddenly shifts to the gravity of the Israelites’ grave sin, as Moses breaks the tablets containing the Ten Commandments and lambasts the people for their unfaithfulness to God. The abrupt change from comedy highlights the severity of the event and delivers a powerful impact on the audience: We’re not laughing anymore. This is serious.
Bad Comedy
The Promised Land is an example of comedy done with a righteous end. But comedy can also be sinful. It can be profane and vulgar, used to tear down instead of amuse. Ephesians 5:4 warns, “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.” Jokes can also be a shield for bad behavior: “Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, ‘I am only joking!’” (Proverbs 26:18–19). Just as comedy can be a lighthearted way of promoting truth, it can also be an innocent-seeming way of influencing people with sinful ideas and promoting bad behaviors. Then when such jokes are called out, the comedian can simply reply, “It’s just a joke!”
Like many things, comedy is not good or bad in and of itself, but how it is used can be. We learned from a young age the difference between laughing with someone and laughing at someone. The first is rooted in happiness and fun, the second in mockery and harm. The first builds relationships while the second destroys them. Humor can be a lighthearted and nonconfrontational way to get others to reconsider something they’ve taken for granted or to ridicule and tear someone/something down. How we use comedy is our choice. We should avoid extremes: thinking that humor is always innocent fun or that it is always mean and inappropriate.
Taking Ourselves Lightly
G. K. Chesterton famously quipped, “…[A] characteristic of the great saints is their power of levity. Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly.” He plays on the word “levity,” which can mean both lightness of weight and also a lightness of attitude. It is a sense of both playfulness and cheerfulness. He contrasts this hilarity and humility with pride, which “cannot rise to levity or levitation. Pride is the downward drag of all things into an easy solemnity.” Chesterton concludes, “It is easy to be heavy: hard to be light. Satan fell by the force of gravity.”1
What does Chesterton mean by all this? People who don’t take themselves too seriously can reach greater heights than people who are weighed down by their own sense of self-importance. Comedy has come under fire in our culture because of both political correctness and the politicization of nearly everything. Late-night talk show hosts and comedians use their platform not to entertain but to promote their political agenda. Other comedians are criticized, even “canceled,” for making jokes about groups or topics that are contrary to favored political thought. There are certainly jokes that are distasteful and sinful. But the inability to laugh at a good joke may be a symptom of deep-seated pride.
The writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us there’s “a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance” (Ecclesiastes 3:4). There’s a season and purpose for the full range of human emotion and expression. It’s easy to be weighed down by the sin and sufferings of this world and to allow it to consume us, but don’t forget that joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Let us pray like the Psalmist for God to “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit” (Psalm 51:12). Laughter is an expression of joy, and we would all greatly benefit from more of both.