Homiletics and humor
I was at a youth retreat and a senior in high school asked me, “Who are your inspirations when it comes to public speaking? I mean, you’ve told us how you felt called by God and how the church influenced you. Who influenced you outside of the church?”
I said two things: TED Talks and comedians.
It’s interesting that we think about abandoning sermons, as TED Talks gain popularity by trying to imitate a good sermon. (Likewise, it’s odd that we talk of abandoning membership when the rest of the world is discovering it. I’m now a card-carrying member of my grocery store, drug store, coffeehouse, and bakery. But I digress.)
My favorite TED Talk is probably “If I should have a daughter.”
Yet, the best insights have come from comedians. I'm often told that I'm either like Tina Fey or Janeane Garofalo. And I have to respond with this.
Here are my top comedian/preaching moments. (Of course, a bit of a warning here. There is adult language and raunchy content with most of these comedians.)
- Chris Rock talks with Terry Gross about how watching his grandfather write sermons and preach had an influence on his stand-up. He often watches preachers to hone his craft. It’s very insightful.
- Lewis C.K. plays God. I'm not sure what else to say about this clip, other than "Amen."
- Margaret Cho’s revolution. No one preaches like Cho. She's incredibly raunchy and then... Bam! She delivers. She performed in a Presbyterian Church once, so I’m going to go ahead and claim her as one of our own.
- Steve Martin’s Born Standing Up was serious and talked a bit about the business of comedy. Oddly enough, I read it at a time when I was going from workshop leading to keynote speaking. Workshop leaders don’t always get paid, and with as much traveling I was doing, I couldn’t justify the time away from my family without any income. The transition felt overwhelming and (again) I didn't feel worthy—but Martin’s matter-of-fact explanation of moving from warm-up to headliner helped me.
- Tina Fey’s Bossy Pants gave off a great vibe, particularly in the ways that she navigates being a woman in a male-dominated world. I'm sure some female clergy can relate.
- Samantha Bee talks about her childhood crush on Jesus in I Know I Am But What Are You? I have to give a hat tip to Ed Blum and Color of Christ for this one. Color of Christ has a section on Jesus jokes.
- Also, I cherished my advanced copy of Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner and Saint by our favorite comedian-turned-Lutheran-pastor, Nadia Bolz-Weber. Nadia’s wisdom and humor soak each page of this book. It’ll be out in about a month. Do yourself a favor and pre-order it now and learn from the best.
What about you? Who influences you in your preaching, writing, and speaking?
