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Does God have a sense of humor?
“Of course He does; look at the duck-billed platypus.”
“Well, they always say that if you want to make God laugh, just tell Him your plans.”
“He must if He gave you a face like that!”
We often joke about God’s humor, but also enjoy friendly-but-earnest debates about it. God will sometimes come out and tell us something specific about Himself, but other times we get to know who He is by how He reveals Himself by interacting with His creation. So while we can’t point to a particular passage and say “See, God is funny!” we can look at some evidence and make a strong assumption about whether or not God has a sense of humor.
Evidence through human humor?
Perhaps most common among the serious arguments for God’s humor is that humans have a sense of humor; therefore, God must. The evidence goes all the way back to creation.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. (Genesis 1:27a)
What it means to be made in God’s image is a topic for another article. However, many believe this states that we take part in certain aspects of God’s character. We may not be all-knowing, but we can understand love because God is love. We aren’t all-powerful, but we love beauty because we’re made in the image of a God who loves beauty. With this, we look to God to determine what aspects we can take part in.
Thus, we may be able to reverse-engineer this logic by seeing that humor isn’t something sinful, yet it’s something humans have. Thus, we can assume that the one we’re image-bearers of likewise has a sense of humor.
This may not be the strongest argument, but for those who understand “image-bearing” in this way, it certainly adds weight to this discussion.
The frustration of defining humor
There’s a truth in comedy that if you want to ruin a joke, you should try to explain the joke. Likewise, as I’ve set out to nail down what exactly humor is, I think I’ve killed the joy humor. However, it’s important to define our terms if we’re going to conclude whether God experiences it. Thus, allow me to ruin humor for you as well.
Because humor is subjective, no one seems able to accurately define what, exactly, it is. Most definitions or discussions are circular – humor is knowing what’s funny, and something is funny when it’s humorous.
For example, follow me down the rabbit hole of chasing a concrete definition through Webster’s Dictionary:
What is a sense of humor? “a personality that gives someone the ability to say funny things and see the funny side of things”
So what does it mean for something to be funny? “1) affording light mirth and laughter, or 2) seeking or intended to amuse”
Defining laughing leads to “1) to show emotion (such as mirth, joy, or scorn) with a chuckle or explosive vocal sound, or 2) to find amusement or pleasure in something”
A definition of amuse is “to appeal to the sense of humor of”
Humor is frustratingly impossible to define. It’s not a part of human anatomy. It may not even be something we’re born with, but instead is something we develop as part of our culture (hence why British and American comedy is so different).
However, we all know what humor is when we encounter it. So perhaps a better way to discuss God’s relationship to humor is to look at the things we find humorous and determine whether God either a) finds them humorous, or b) expresses that sort of humor in what He’s revealed in His word.
Examples of God’s humor
Masterclass.com has a helpful list of the 13 types of comedy. Though not exhaustive, it casts a wide enough net that we can use it to determine if God has revealed a humorous side to His nature. Rather than go through all 13 of these, let’s look at two that may align with what we see of God in the Bible.
Wordplay
God seems to appreciate a good pun. Although it can sometimes be lost on us, look at a few ways God uses clever wordplay to point out absurdity:
#1
You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! (Matthew 23:24)
Don’t worry if you don’t get the joke. Although it doesn’t translate well into English, the use of gnat/camel is actually a bit humorous. Here’s how it would sound when Christ said it:
You blind guides, straining out a GALMA and swallowing a GAMLA!
God, come to Earth in human flesh, used humor to criticize the extreme religiosity of the Pharisees. He could have just said they focus on small things while being guilty of big things, but chose this exact wording.
#2
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church (Matthew 16:18)
Again, worldplay works best when we know the original words. Here, we have both a pun and a bit of irony. First, look at it in the original Greek:
And I tell you, you are PETROS, and on this PETRA I will build my church
Christ gave Simon Bar-Jona a name that plays off the word “rock.” That’s a kind of humor on its own, but we also can’t ignore that the God of the universe ironically gave such a solid, strong, and bold name to the guy who would melt under peer pressure and deny Christ three times in Luke 22:54-62.
#3
As a final example, we can look to Gideon in Judges chapters 6-8. We first meet Gideon when he’s hiding in a winepress to keep his wheat from the Midianites. God calls on Gideon to deliver Israel from this invading army. After a lot of doubt, hand-wringing, and asking God to jump through hoops before he’s really confident that God is with him, Gideon serves as a judge for Israel, and we see God’s enemies defeated.
Gideon is obedient, but not confident. He’s frequently filled with fear at the impossibility of what God calls him to do. Yet the name of this cowardly judge is, quite honestly, nothing short of hilarious. In Hebrew, the name Gideon means “great warrior” or “destroyer.” And although this name was well-suited to him later in life, we can only chuckle when God calls on “the destroyer” when he’s hiding in a winepress.
Observational
Observational humor draws attention to things in life that we don’t realize are humorous or absurd. For example, Jerry Seinfeld makes an observation that hits a little close to home for many of us: “”What is this obsession people have with books? They put them in their houses…like they’re trophies. What do you need it for after you read it?”
Although stating a valid point, even those of us who are guilty of it can acknowledge the humor of his observation. Although the methods have changed over thousands of years, we may still see God using a form of observational humor.
#1 Mocking idols
but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored. (Daniel 5:23)
Israel was willing to worship and praise gods made out of crafting materials who lack life, yet they rejected the God who gave Israel life and purpose. God points out the absurdity of their lives through observing the backwardness of their faith.
#2 Mocking idols some more
Those who lavish gold from the purse, and weigh out silver in the scales, hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; then they fall down and worship! They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it, they set it in its place, and it stands there; it cannot move from its place. If one cries to it, it does not answer or save him from his trouble. (Isaiah 46:6-7)
Again, the Lord calls for Israel to consider these gods that seemed so real to them. They put their faith in things that can’t exist or move without their servants. Rather than worshipping the God who is self-existent and in need of nothing, they instead trusted in things that depended 100% on their worshippers to do anything. God may point this out with absolute seriousness, or He may have a bit of humor behind His serious discussion on sin and idolatry.
#3 God’s curious judgments
Another example may be how God used His prophets to judge Israel. Although not strictly humorous, there’s a sense of creativity that may reveal God using the absurd or unexpected to make a point. One example would be Hosea’s painful marriage to Gomer. It’s not humorous, but the extreme nature of the marriage certainly spoke to Israel in a way that serious words didn’t. Another example of the strangeness of God telling Ezekial to build a miniature replica of a siege, then lying on his side for several hundred days.
#4 Job gets in trouble
Lastly, I’ve written an entire article on the funniest verse in the Bible. The book of Job, probably one of the least happy books in the Bible, may be our clearest picture that our Heavenly Father has no problem with sarcasm and observational humor. As Job is forced to realize who God truly is in comparison to what Job thinks is just and right, God deals with the seriousness of His holiness while speaking in a way that is, I would argue, filled with humor.
As a single example, look at what God asks Job about a massive sea creature called “Leviathan”:
“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord? Can you put a rope in his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak to you soft words? Will he make a covenant with you to take him for your servant forever? Will you play with him as with a bird, or will you put him on a leash for your girls?” (Job 41:1-6)
Translation: “Can you fish up Leviatan like a salmon? Can you walk him around like a little doggy? Can you make him speak, sit, and roll over? Have you made him purr like a kitty? Any chance you can treat him like a cute little animal or tie him on a leash and give him to some little kids? No? Because I can.”
God is speaking of His awesome majesty. This is a deadly serious matter because Job had just been accusing God of being an unjust bully. Yet, for all the ways God could have revealed Job’s foolishness, it seems He took a humorous approach.
Other considerations
There are many aspects of humor that God won’t take part in. Yet that doesn’t mean He’s incapable of any form of humor. Perhaps God doesn’t wipe tears from His eyes because someone uses a funny voice, nor may He ever set out to make people laugh. But just because God isn’t in the business of comedy doesn’t mean He doesn’t appreciate, and use, humor.
However, there are a few considerations we can still ponder.
What makes funny?
Humor tends to have a few qualities beyond what we’ve discussed:
- It relieves or creates awkwardness
- Things are usually funny when they’re unexpected
- Things are funnier when they relate to a shared human experience (i.e. jokes about fly fishing are funniest to people who know what Royal Wulff is)
Even though my examples above show God using things that we may find humorous, that doesn’t mean God intends them to be. It’s possible the wordplay and sarcasm were tools to get at the seriousness of a situation, rather than God choosing to use humor.
In addition, God cannot be surprised or feel awkward. And while God shares a part of Himself with us when He interacts with His creation, that’s a far cry from us laughing when John Crist pokes fun at Christian moms because, in some way, many of us have experienced it. So while God may use something we’ve defined as humor, that doesn’t demand that God is humorous.
How did Christ experience humor?
Much of this discussion focuses on God as Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In fancy theology terms, we’re questioning whether God is ontologically capable of having a sense of humor. However, we can’t overlook Christ’s humanity and what that might mean for His divine nature.
We looked at a few examples above where Christ used clever, perhaps even fun, wordplay during His time on Earth. We can also speculate about where that came from – Did Christ enjoy wordplay as a child? Was He known for being creative with language during His private interactions as well? We know that Christ came as a man, but lived perfectly. So, in some way, cleverness and humor may not be part of God’s divine nature, but that doesn’t mean that humor displeases Him.
No laughing matter
God alone understands the reality of sin. It may be that the interactions we see that appear humorous really aren’t. Just as we wouldn’t aim to be clever in the midst of terrible tragedy (unless we want to alleviate discomfort), God may not find things funny right now. Luke 15:7 reveals that there’s rejoicing when a sinner repents, but our experience also tells us that there’s a difference between finding joy amidst sorrow and finding humor amidst sorrow.
So perhaps God, knowing every thought and intention of our hearts, doesn’t choose humor as He sees how broken His creation is. However, we also know that Christ will make all things new. One day sin will be no more. In a world without darkness and depravity, perhaps we’ll see what God’s sense of humor looks like.
Final thoughts
While writing this, I kept telling my wife that I was watching humor die with each new sentence I wrote. Theologically analyzing humor and God’s nature is fascinating, but it’s also as funny as taking 5 minutes to explain why a joke is funny.
I realize this discussion risks making God seem like a stern-faced sourpuss who can’t have any fun. I don’t think that’s true. God is far beyond our understanding, and we risk making terrible assumptions when we paint Him as a two-dimensional character who simply can’t have fun.
What I’ve tried to do is simply understand what humor really is so we can see if God matches that understanding.
I also understand that this discussion digs deeper into the question of “Does God have a sense of humor?” than most readers have ever done. But in doing so, I don’t want the takeaway to be that humor is somehow offensive or unimportant to God. It’s an interesting question that’s fun to think about, but it should never make us think less of God just because we can approach it theologically and have meaningful thoughts about it.
In some ways, it does seem like God appreciates some form of cleverness and creativity. Perhaps we’ll never make God laugh, but maybe laughter is part of our finite, limited experience as human beings. However, we can’t discount that God is ultimate in every single way. If humor isn’t sinful, and many of us enjoy hearing and using it, there’s a good chance God gave us the gift of humor to let us take part in another aspect of His character.
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