The joke is on you…
This past month, there has been a media blitz about Dave Letterman’s joke on his show, The Late Show with David Letterman, regarding his joke about Governor Palin’s daughter. You can follow this link about his monologue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMmKMX44g…
After a media storm, and a full pledge rebuke from Governor Palin, Letterman succumbs to the rising pressure about the remarks. Here’s a script of his apology on June 16, 2009:
“I told a bad joke. I told a joke that was beyond flawed, and my intent is completely meaningless compared to the perception,” he said on Monday’s show. “And since it was a joke I told, I feel that I need to do the right thing here and apologize for having told that joke.”
“It’s not your fault that it was misunderstood, it’s my fault that it was misunderstood,” he said.
“So I would like to apologize, especially to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke. I’m sorry about it and I’ll try to do better in the future.”
Unfortunately, such off-colored remarks cannot be tolerated, even when you think it’s only comedic!
Paul writes in Ephesians 5 these words:
“3But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; 4and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”
The apostles warn us about the issue of filthiness, silly talk, or coarse jesting. I know that we can be easily caught in a situation where we joke about each other and about ourselves. Such moments Paul describes as “not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.” The phrase not fitting is found five times in the Bible (Ezra 4:14; Proverbs 17:7, 19:10, 26:1; Ephesians 5:4). Paul instructs us to refrain from such comments or joking. Instead, we should be about “giving thanks.”
So you see, the joke might be on you…
4 Responses Leave a comment
It is so true, we don’t think about how our jokes can be harsh. It is cool to have fun with friends, fam, or peeps, but it can’t be harsh. GOD says words are like choice morsels and go down to our souls……can’t take em back, even after apology. Thanks Pastor Fel.
Thanks for reading and responding Bryan…let’s get some BBQ soon!
Thank you so much, Ps Fel! It’s the very thing I try to talk about with my teens. Thes passages I kept after reading our book on controlling our tongues. The book of Proverbs says many things about using our words, our mouths…here are two:
Proverbs 26:18-19
18 Just as damaging
as a madman shooting a deadly weapon
19 is someone who lies to a friend
and then says, “I was only joking.”
Proverbs 18:21
21 The tongue can bring death or life;
those who love to talk will reap the consequences.
I like those verses, Kris…thanks for the post!