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Preachers Are Not Comedians
I love good clean comedy. Three things are needed for a good act: 1) Good material 2) Good Comedian (timing, delivery, stage presence) 3) Good crowd. The famous “Who’s On First” did not originate with Abbott and Costello. But they made it famous and “owned” it.
Preaching is not like a good comedy act. The power is not in the preacher, it’s the material that matters (1 Corinthians 2). Being a good preacher does not mean making the material good. To me it means not getting in the way of the message. Being a good crowd is not what empowers a preacher (I’ve made that mistake). Again, it’s the material. God in His sovereignty did give the crowd the free will to accept. That takes a good heart, one that often needs to overlook the preacher (Philippians 1). Just like Abbott and Costello did not originate their material, neither does a good preacher (2 Corinthians 11).
Oh, if you thought this was going to be about humor not being appropriate during sermons, it’s not. Visualize Jesus condemning some walking around with a beam or plank in their eye and yet want to remove a speck of dust (Matthew 7). That’s funny!
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