Why do pastors joke? Why do they feel the need that they have to joke when delivering a sermon? Did Jesus joke when He preached? Did He feel the need to get people laughing in order that they would receive the Word? NO! Or else He would not trust that His Word alone is living and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow and is discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart (heb. 4:12).
It grieves me when I hear pastors, and teachers continually joking when they are sharing God’s holy Word. Such joking causes many to take the Word lightly. The bible say that we must tremble at His word, not to laugh at it!
Isaiah 66:2
But on this one I will look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, AND WHO TREMBLES AT MY WORD.
How is joking helping the sheep tremble at God’s Word, to take His Word seriously?
It is true that pastors who are filled with jokes when presenting God’s Word cause the sheep to see preaching as entertainment, not seeing God as Holy, but like one of us!
The reason why many pastors joke in their preaching is because they have a fear of man. They still desire to please man above God. They want praise from men. Such pastors cannot be entrusted with the gospel. For they will compromise the Word so that man would like them.
Gal.1:10
For do I now persuade men, or God? For if I still please men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
It is the last days when you have churches filled with laughter instead of a broken and contrite heart. Where are the broken hearted? One who morns like Moses and would die for the backslidden Israelite. Like Paul who suffered much for the church that she may grow maturely. Or like Jesus who wept for Jerusalem. I cannot find hardly any Christians who weeps over the affliction of Joseph (Church), but rather they are at ease in Zion (the church, Amos 6:1-7)! The Lord says WOE to those who are at ease when they should be grieving for the backslidden church!
Yes, such joking pastors will make the sheep at ease when they should be broken!
You cannot find one man in the bible who cracked a lot of jokes while delivering God’s Word. For God’s Word is to be taken seriously!
Imagine the prophets proclaiming God’s Word with much joking. They would not have been persecuted. The people would love them because the joking would show them that the prophets were not serious and not to be taken seriously. But, many prophets were killed because they were so serious when preaching and the people hated that because the Word was preached in the Spirit with all seriousness exposing their wicked hearts. The prophets believed His Word with much fear and trembling.
Why isn’t the church trembling over God’s Word today? One main reason is because the pastors give humorous sermons. So why are many pastors full of jokes today? Fear of persecution! I tell you the truth, many profess Christians HATE a serious preacher. Many do not want to come to the reality of their wicked hearts and needing to repent and forsake their lust of the world. Many want to be in delusion that believes it is enough to confess I believe in Jesus. It is enough to say I believe in the narrow way. But do not want to believe with their hearts that it is the only way or else they would hunger for the seriousness of the truth and obey! Many pastors give in to the people’s wants because they fear man above God.
Today many joking pastors have been raised up because this is what many profess Christians want or else if many churches were hungry for the truth God would raise up many shepherds after His heart
Jer. 3:12-15
“Return O backsliding children,” says the Lord; for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
And I will give you shepherds according to my heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
But, many today are crying out for a joking pastor that will make them feel good and forget how serious the way of the cross is.
Jeremiah says:
“For my people are foolish. They have not known Me. They are silly children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil. But to do good they have no knowledge.”
God’s name is to be feared, but the fear of the Lord is not in them (Jer. 2:19)
If the people did have understanding and knowledge of Him they would not be laughing, but fearful, seeing God as GOD! Who is jealous for His name! And the pastor would be weeping like Jeremiah for the sins of his people!
The people of God must repent of this foolishness! For bringing His Word down with much joking and humorous preaching causing many to stumble and not to fear God. I am broken to see and hear that many professing Christians are taking in the Word with much laughter to please themselves when they should be repenting in sack cloth and ashes crying out for God to revive them.
For Jesus did not die so that we could crack jokes in the pulpit and have humorous sermons about the cross!!!
RSS Feed