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Are God jokes disrespectful?

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skyhigh

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Did you watch Monty Python's Life of Brian? Was it funny? Was it in bad taste?
I sometimes wonder if there is much humour in heaven.
And what kind of humour does God favour? Does he hate sarcasm?
Does he like irony?
Imagine God with self-deprecating sense of humour.. That would be a contradiction, in my opinion.
But it has a lot of potential for interesting humour.
"Hey Skyhigh, watch the jokes on my account or I'll send you to Hell sooner than you expected" :)
 
Have to admit......there is some humor here.......
The Prophets of Baal Defeated
1Ki 18:20 So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel.
1Ki 18:21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.
1Ki 18:22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the LORD, but Baal's prophets are 450 men.
1Ki 18:23 Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it.
1Ki 18:24 And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.”
1Ki 18:25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.”
1Ki 18:26 And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made.
1Ki 18:27 And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”
1Ki 18:28 And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them.

1Ki 18:29 And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.
1Ki 18:30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been thrown down.
1Ki 18:31 Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD came, saying, “Israel shall be your name,”
1Ki 18:32 and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD. And he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two seahs of seed.
1Ki 18:33 And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.”
1Ki 18:34 And he said, “Do it a second time.” And they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time.” And they did it a third time.
1Ki 18:35 And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water.
1Ki 18:36 And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.
1Ki 18:37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”
1Ki 18:38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
1Ki 18:39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God.”
1Ki 18:40 And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there.
 
I watched the life of Brain.. The good thing about the movie was the first scene.. It established that Brian was not Jesus.. Because Brian was in the audience listening ( at a distance ) to Jesus sermon on the mount also known as the beatitudes.. So from that moment on it was for me more of a video about false religion and the silliness of human thinking about God rather then an attack on Jesus..

And the Bible does say there is humor in heaven..

Psalms 37: KJV
11 "But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. {12} The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. {13} The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming."


Psalms 2: KJV
1 "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? {2} The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, {3} Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. {4} He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision."

Can you imagine God rolling His eyes at the evil plans of men and His laughter in the throne room of heaven.. Imagine His angels rolling about the floor in fits of laughter as they see the vain plans of the proud servants of satan on earth....
 
"Blessed are the cheesemakers?"
That seems to be making fun of the sermon on the mount, Jesus' core teaching. I have to be honest and say I find that funny.
 
"Blessed are the cheesemakers?"
That seems to be making fun of the sermon on the mount, Jesus' core teaching. I have to be honest and say I find that funny.

Well i looked on it as making fun of what comes from the limitations of peoples hearing and how it can lead to a breakdown in clear communication which sometimes ends in changes in the communication that are hilarious..

Things like .. The the Meek shall inherit the earth being heard as the Greeks shall inherit the earth.. :)
 
I didn't see the movie, but I'm sure that God has a healthy sense of humor. That passage in 1 Kings 18 already posted is funny. I found Jesus on the road to Emmaus rather funny also. You can see Jesus's sense of humor in this story.

Luke 24:13-35
13 And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs.

14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened.

15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.

16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.

17 And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?

18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and has not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?

19 And he said unto them, What things?.../

Jesus was totally pulling their leg here. Like He didn't know, lol. I bet He was in a real good mood right then, having the bad part of His mission behind Him at that point.
 
Like with many things about the Word it is the heart.
Sorta the laughing with is ok laughing at is not.. thing
Example years ago some one posted here a video of twin toddlers talking to each other .
My commit of 'Tongues? ' was deleted as disrespectful
Being Pentecostal my self i knew it would not be considered so in the pentecostal circles.
these forums are not the Pentecostal circle

1Co_6:12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.
1Co_10:23 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.
 
The the Meek shall inherit the earth being heard as the Greeks shall inherit the earth.
That would have been a funny joke to tell in Saint Paul's time, when he was preaching in Greece. :)
 
one thing a bible teacher i like said is when we want to activate the Mark 11:22-24 kind of faith we need to train our human spirit to mean what we say - that way we see better results with Mark 11:22-24 - it does work better for me when i do this

smith wigglesworth believed that joking was being distracted and distraction meant you weren't doing what you needed to do to please God - he probably wasn't much fun to be around

but then there are preachers that can lighten the hearts of people and prepare them to receive the good things in God's word by telling jokes - so i think it can be a good thing if done properly

the joy of the Lord is our strength - so whatever helps you stay in joy is good

i personally love funny people - they do brighten my day
 
"This is boring. let's go to stoning." (from Life of Brian)
I think the context was listening to the Sermon on the Mount. But another cracking joke in my opinion. I mean as we read and try to understand the Bible, we use our imagination. What was it really like for those people listening to Jesus 2000 years ago. Some might have been bored listening to Jesus. Is that so heretical to imagine that? No. It's realistic. Not everyone was ready to hear God's word through Jesus. As profound as the Sermon on the Mount is, if we are not ready to really listen to its core message, it is wasted on us.
And to think that people watched stoning as a form of entertainment is highly likely. It shocks our sensibilities, yet some of us can enjoy watching the brutality of a game like Ice Hockey or Rugby or Boxing.
 
Like Woody Allen? "God the Shlemazl?"
I like Woody Allen humour, the self-deprecating stuff. example but might be groucho marx "Id never want to join a club which would accept someone like me as a member."
 
if someone said something nasty about your wife, would you put up with it ?

that is the litmus test for me, if i would not let them get away with saying something about my wife or daughter then why would take less offense with someone talking smack about God or the Church ?
 
if someone said something nasty about your wife, would you put up with it ?

that is the litmus test for me, if i would not let them get away with saying something about my wife or daughter then why would take less offense with someone talking smack about God or the Church ?
examples .otherwise we are talking about different issues.
Ok" Your wife is an idiot". yeah that is offensive. My wife is a tangible human being known to me and the person insulting.
"Your God is an idiot." Does that person know my God? I cant take that personally because he doesn't even know "my" God. Assuming it is an atheist I feel more sorry than anything. My response would be "why do you say that?". It becomes more a form of apologetics/debate.
 
if someone said something nasty about your wife, would you put up with it ?

that is the litmus test for me, if i would not let them get away with saying something about my wife or daughter then why would take less offense with someone talking smack about God or the Church ?

No I wouldn't, but that's not humor either. While it is true that humor has a wrongness or insult at it's core, it's not the same thing as someone saying something nasty about your Wife or God. It's a healthy attitude to have though, lol. David had that attitude and God called him a man after His own heart.

Ok" Your wife is an idiot". yeah that is offensive. My wife is a tangible human being known to me and the person insulting.
"Your God is an idiot." Does that person know my God? I cant take that personally because he doesn't even know "my" God. Assuming it is an atheist I feel more sorry than anything. My response would be "why do you say that?". It becomes more a form of apologetics/debate.

Hmmm, I can buy that. How well do we even know our own God?! Perhaps King David did know God so took offense when Goliath was talking smack about God.

On a side note, I don't buy it, that atheists don't believe in God. They may not know Him, but everyone has that knowing inside of them that God does exist and one day, I will stand before Him...they demand proof knowing it is a faith system which has been set up so no proof is (scientifically) possible. They do this so that they may enjoy their fav temptations of the world, thinking that they can say "I didn't know" later on...but deep down inside they did know. God will not be mocked (or outsmarted, lol), so the joke will be on them then.
 
They may not know Him, but everyone has that knowing inside of them that God does exist and one day, I will stand before Him.
That is an interesting comment. maybe quite profound. I need to reflect on that. Thanks.
 
Romans 1:20
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:.../

:wink
 
if someone said something nasty about your wife, would you put up with it ?

that is the litmus test for me, if i would not let them get away with saying something about my wife or daughter then why would take less offense with someone talking smack about God or the Church ?
If someone says something stupid then you are probably dealing with a stupid person.
Do I want to respond in kind?
 
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