Impact of Church Comedy Night

It’s been said that “the shortest distance between two strangers is a laugh.” But what about the local church community? I don’t think it changes much. In the same way one laugh breaks down the wall of awkwardness, allowing two strangers to realize that they really aren’t that different, multiple laughs can knock down the walls we are all prone to putting up.

How to Break the “Church” Ice

Have you ever wondered how to break the “church” ice with a neighbor? Two years ago, the comedy tour that I was on landed in Portland, OR. I saw that the comedy show was at a church that seated 2000 people. Because Portland isn’t quite located in the Bible Belt, and given the fact that I served on staff for four years in the Pacific Northwest, I thought we’d do well to have 700 people. To my shock, I walked on the stage to a packed house, and the laugh & joke exchange was on fire!

The goal for this church was to see people who do not know Jesus, come to their church.  Well, this event obviously did just that! After the show, we stood in front of the stage talking & laughing with some of the church staff leaders. One of their guests lovingly and jubilantly began to drop expletives as he described how amazing the show and the church was (he didn’t know how to act at church because he’d never been!). He then explained how one of the leaders, who had been working out with him at the gym for 2 years, had invited him to church for the 1st time. He then, using more explicit words, joyfully said he would be coming back to this amazing place.

This is one of many amazing stories on how comedy has been used to shorten the distance between the church and the unchurched community. Imagine handing a nicely designed ticket that reads “Comedy Night” to a friend or neighbor, and they receive it with excitement and anticipation. It’s kind of like King Artaxerxes writing letters for Nehemiah so other kings would allow him to rebuild Israel’s wall. When people receive an invitation to laugh with us, they give us permission to help rebuild their hearts for the Lord, and that’s the beautiful part about comedy bridging the the gap.

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