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Introduction:
Ministry in a Divided Society
Ruth Hutchinson
Comment:
Conscientious Objector
Adam Turkington
From
the Director
David Porter
Christian
Perspectives on Reconciliation
Norman Taggart
Ministry in a divided society
1. Pastor John Dickinson
2. Priest Ken Clarke
The
Laughing Minister
Graham Cheesman
Forgetting
to Remember
Peter Stevenson
Ministry in a divided society
3. Prophet Derek Poole
4. Peacemaker David Porter
Review:
A New Start
Heather Morris
THE
LAUGHING MINISTER
Humour is a funny thing. It is different in every culture, changes with
every generation, and we are still not sure why we laugh.
What on Earth is Humour?
Freud had a theory and it goes like this. Our society suppresses a number of deep urges, especially towards sex and violence. Humour takes the lid off the pressure cooker and laughter is the release of the steam. Anyone who has seen a Tom and Jerry cartoon or listened to one of TV’s stand up comics knows Freud has explained much. The other theory is that humour is based on incongruence. Something doesn’t fit. We would laugh at a politician dressed up as a Christmas fairy. The punch line of a joke fits, but doesn't fit in a clever way.
Humour had a different role in our Lord’s society than in ours. But I am sure the crowd fell about laughing when he told them that the Pharisees carefully remove gnats from their wine, but swallow camels without noticing.
Humour belongs to Humans
For us, the really big issue is that humour is human. Real human beings laugh. (It has been claimed that all primates laugh, but having read a few biographies of archbishops and popes, I am not so sure.) Dictators and fanatics have no sense of humour because they have lost some of their humanity. No one wants a minister with a constant inane grin on his face, but everyone wants a minister who is aware of his humanity. The ministry, whether in the pulpit or at the bedside is a very serious thing, but we need ministers who can laugh with us as well as cry with us. After all, ministers and lay people are human beings together.
The Laughter of the Cloth
How does this work in practice? Firstly, humour is a tool of communication. C. H. Spurgeon once explained to his students how he used humour in the pulpit to get the point across. He said that if you try to force open a live oyster or clam you may well not succeed. What you need to do is tickle the edge of the shell and when it opens, stick the knife in.
Secondly, humour recognises the humanity of our ministry and our theology. The Word of God is not human so it is inappropriate to laugh at the Word of God. Your ministry, your theology, your sermons are not in the same category and sometimes deserve a smile or two. They are human.
Let me make the same point in another way. The Word of God is infallible. My theory of the infallibility of scripture is not infallible. Christ is Divine. My sermon on the divinity of Christ is not. The church is the body of Christ, the temple of the Holy Spirit. As it appears in any specific human instance, it is sometimes laughable — if you don’t want to cry. God's truth was given by God. Your church’s statement of faith was put together by men.
So much of our problem in Northern Ireland is a refusal to recognise the humanity of our attempts to understand and present the Word of God. We have transferred the authority of the divine Word to our individual and partisan theological constructions, and so we have become inhuman in our dealings with each other.
Laughter serves us well as ministers. It helps us to be a bit more human, a little humble about our own particular theological constructions, and keeps us on the same level as those we minister to. Loosen up, smile more, be real. God made laughter.
Graham Cheesman - Principal of the Belfast Bible College.
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