If you have the impression that all Christians are serious-minded folks without a sense of humor, you are mistaken. Many Christians have a sense of humor and a sense of fun. It is just that they prefer clean humor to wisecracks with a ribald or risqué quality. If you are invited to speak at a Christian program, you should know this and avoid including any off-color jokes in your repertoire. Below are some tips for clean Christian humor to help you deliver the goods.
Do not Be Self-Righteous
Many comedians have a habit of making themselves the center of attraction when they are telling jokes. They go on and on about their own experiences. Technically, there is nothing wrong with this but you should not overdo it. Your brief is to entertain people by offering them clean humor. Talk about your experiences but downplay yourself and make other people come across as heroic figures. You should be graceful enough to laugh at yourself so that the audience will laugh with you.
Respect Biblical Figures
If you are telling jokes to a largely Christian audience, it pays to include Biblical figures in your presentation. This is something your audience can relate to so it is a smart idea to talk about some great people in Judaism and Christianity. However, you should try as much as possible not to offend the sensibilities of your audience. Do not say things that will portray any respected Biblical figure in a bad light. John the Baptist, for instance, ate locusts and wild honey. Clearly, this is an exotic diet. For good measure, the man wore a garment made of camel’s hair and he had a habit of denouncing hypocrites in the society. You can talk about these things and make the man come across as a smart but rather eccentric dude.
Be Gender Sensitive
Christian humor should be objective and gender-sensitive. Do not associate evil deeds with the male or female folks. Each gender has its fair share of heroes and villains. For instance, Judas Iscariot betrayed Christ and Delilah sold out Samson to the Philistines. On the other hand, Esther was a good woman and so was Joseph of Arimathea. Be fair to both genders and the audience will love you.
As you can see, clean Christian comedy can be colorful and exciting without being ribald. Stick to rules above and you will do a great job.
