By Drew Godwin
I remember being drawn to comedy at a young age. I loved to laugh and I loved to make people laugh. Whether it was making silly faces, learning to tell jokes or learning to laugh at myself – there was something so satisfying about bringing people’s attention to things that I thought were odd. I was always so curious about why things worked the way they worked and about making fun of them when they didn’t. Later in life I began to realize that it wasn’t necessarily a love for humor that made me the way I was, it was a love for truth. There was this gripping desire to know and understand truth – to see things as they really were and to not be content with inconsistency.
This insatiable appetite for consistency is what ultimately led me to the Lord, through apologetics. I saw that I could truly love the Lord with all my mind and the intellectual side of my faith could be nourished – but now I was faced with a dilemma. Would satire have to be one of the things I had to put to death with my old self? Questioning, prodding, poking fun through pointing out discrepancies – this was how I made sense of the world. Is it wrong to laugh at things that don’t make sense, or use humor to point out fallacies?
The formal definition of satire is this. It is the witty practice of vigorously and articulately exposing and discrediting falsehood. Satire seeks to touch on deep truths through sharp rhetoric. Christians are called to recognize distortions and expose fakery, but it is clear from the definition of satire that pointed arguments can slam into people’s sensibilities. So, should we draw a line? And if so, where do we draw it? Can our Christian witness be both loving and pointed? Or should satire pass away with the flesh?
As with any questions that I have about Christian life and practice, I try to go through some simple steps when evaluating a position, and doubly so when it comes to issues, like satire, that don’t appear as clear cut.
1. What does the Bible say?
2. What are we trying to accomplish?
3. Will the outcome glorify God?
For Bible-believing Christians, our first investigations into a new topic should always start with the question – what do the Scriptures say? Is there any mention or use of satire in the Bible? And more importantly, if there are examples, how are they used?
What Does the Bible Say About the Use of Satire?
1 – Elijah and the Prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:27)
As the crowds gathered around Mount Carmel, the prophets of the Canaanite god of fertility, stood in disbelief around an unburnt sacrifice. “O Baal, answer us!” they cried, but there was no voice, and no one answered. On Baal’s failure to answer, look at what Elijah did – “And at noon Elijah mocked (that’s right, mocked) them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is reliving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” (1 Kings 18:27, ESV)
Elijah dealt with Baal and the prophets harshly. He ridiculed Baal, and made the false prophets look foolish. He threw no punches in dealing with those who were trying to deceive Israel into believing that Baal was the supreme god.
2 – Paul and the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 4:7-9)
As all Christians know, falsity doesn’t just come from worldly avenues, but can infect the church body. Paul saw this in the stubborn, haughty believers in Corinth. “What are you so puffed up abaout? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if all you have is from God, why act as though you are so great, and as though you have accomplished something on your own?” (1 Corinthians 4:7, TLB)
Paul levelled his accusations at the Christians who had aligned themselves behind certain apostles and found need to boast. “You seem to think you already have all the spiritual food you need. You are full and spiritually contented, rich kings on your thrones, leaving us far behind! I wish you really were already on your thrones, for when that time comes you can be sure that we will be there, too, reigning with you. Sometimes I think God has put us apostles at the very end of the line, like prisoners soon to be killed, put on display at the end of a victor’s parade, to be stared at by men and angels alike.” (1 Corinthians 4:8-9, TLB)
Paul contrasts the Corinthian view of the apostles as famous – their names prestigious and deserving of praise and the actual view of the apostles – like prisoners condemned to death for the sake of Christ. Paul uses satire to show them the foolishness of their boasting and treating condemned men as celebrities. He uses his scathing remarks to remind them that Christ is only one who is deserving of an admonition.
3 – Jesus and the Pharisees (Matthew 23:34)
I know what you must be thinking – of course Elijah and Paul would use satire, they are sinful humans just like me, but surely there aren’t any examples of Jesus, the pure Lamb of God, employing this tactic?
You would be mistaken.
In the gospel of Matthew in a section entitled the Woes of the Pharisees, Jesus makes an odd, and yet profound statement when understood in context. Jesus says, “Blind guides! [speaking to the Pharisees] You strain your water so you won’t accidently swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!“ (Matthew 23:24, NLT)
Now, you don’t have to be a biblical scholar to understand that we shouldn’t take Jesus seriously, people aren’t swallowing camels – but how should be take it?
Jesus is using satire.
In the Law, it was forbidden for Jews to eat any type of insect as these animals were considered unclean. Pharisees would go to great lengths to make sure they were following every aspect of the Law – even going as far as to strain any liquid they were drinking so as not to accidentally swallow a small insect. In contrast, a camel was probably the largest animal that any Jew in that region would ever come in contact with and, you guessed it, a camel was considered unclean. So, when we see the context, Jesus is saying that the Pharisees spend so much energy on meaningless things that appear righteous [straining gnats – following unnecessary laws], but they completely miss the things that actually make them unclean [they swallow camels – leading the people away from God with their teaching]. Jesus uses a cultural reference to show the ridiculousness of the Pharisees focus.
How must we understand this use of satire in scripture, and is it right for Christian apologists today to use this approach when responding to arguments, and engaging others in discussions about the truth of Christianity? We will discuss that question in part 2.