Proverbs 26:18-19
18 Like a maniac shooting
flaming arrows of death
19 is one who deceives their neighbor
and says, “I was only joking!”
There are few things more harmful than a careless joke. The more I work with youth the more I realize this. As Christians most of us agree that it is wrong to bully people who we disagree with, even if we believe they are sinning. Of course there are a few crazies, like Fred Phelps...but overall I think Christians pretty much agree that bullying is wrong. However, a lot of Christians mask the way they hurt others by following their cutting words with one phrase "just kidding". No one wants to look like they are unloving, or lacking in compassion. Instead of saying "people who struggle with homosexuality are morons" it's much easier to just replace the word stupid with the word "gay", or tell that really funny gay joke. Instead of opening mocking the kid that is cutting himself we tell jokes about "those cutters". Instead of telling kids that struggle with drugs that we are better than they are we make druggie jokes.
I think it is sad that in a lot of churches we have created a culture that finds such sins that destroy families and take lives hilarious. Why is it that we feel so free to joke about these things? Is it because we truly do not feel compassion for those groups of people and believe we are above them? I think there is some truth to that. I do think when we find things like suicide and cutting and the topics before funny we do have a heart issue. I also think a lot of it is ignorance. I think that a lot of us feel so free to tell those jokes in church because we genuinely do not believe people who struggle with cutting, suicide, drugs, or homosexuality are around. Why do we think this? Because they never tell us. And why do they never tell us? Imagine your darkest sin..the one you most do not want anyone to know about. If you genuinely wanted help and accountability would you seek that from someone who made jokes about how stupid people who struggled with that sin were? I didn't think so. Now let's go one step further. Would you seek help from anyone who was around when the joke was told and who laughed at it? Would you seek help within the church in which a popular member joked about your struggle without anyone correcting them? What about seeking help within the religion who's members mock your struggle?
I have had the opportunity to talk to people with all of the struggles mentioned in this post as well as with other struggles and many times when I have asked them why they let it go so far and did not seek help earlier they repeat a "joke" a fellow believer told that they overheard. Or they heard people talk about "those people who struggle with ____".
I guess what I am trying to say here is your words(even when said as a "joke") have a huge effect on people. So if you truly care about people who are consumed with sin and addiction and want to see them turn to Christ and have their sins washed away....don't make jokes about them. I don't want to sound as if I think everyone who makes similar jokes is a hateful person, I know I have been guilty of making stupid jokes before. I just want to encourage us all to watch our words. However, there are truly hateful people out there. So if you can't find it within yourself to care about that person on drugs, that gay kids, or the person who injures themselves...if you think they deserve what they get and are ignorant enough to think that somehow your mocking of them is part of God's righteous judgement(there are people who think this) then at least shut up and quit making it harder for those of us that do care. I would rather work with a kid that struggles with homosexuality anytime over someone who is an ignorant, hateful, loudmouth.
Way to be Christians who wore purple on October 20th...those of you that stood up against hate, even when you disagreed with the sin that the victims were involved in.
Shame on you cowards who hide behind "jokes" to express your ignorant thoughts.
