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Does God Have a Sense of Humor?

Does God Have a Sense of Humor? Could He Even Be Playful?

Really? Does God have a sense of humor? Could we even imagine that God might PLAY? How would He do that? Does He brush-stroke the colors into the sunsets? Could He frolic with the animals? How would He play with us humans?

My first inkling of a playful God dawned on me as I perched on a limb of an apple tree one bright summer day. I don’t remember exactly how old I was, but it could not have been long after I accepted Jesus as my Savior and Lord at age nine.

Up an Apple Tree

Dressed in summer shorts and a t-shirt, I reverse-somersaulted myself up to the lowest limb of the flourishing apple tree in our backyard. Resting my back into the familiar curve of the tree trunk, hidden in the shade among gently rustling leaves, I pulled a ripe fruit from the nearest branch and resumed my reading of C.S. Lewis’ first volume of the Chronicles of Narnia series: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

In the book, an epic battle of good vs. evil gripped the fanciful land of Narnia, and it looked like evil would triumph. The White Witch had killed Aslan the lion, who had sacrificed his own life in place of his friend. Aslan, who was Jesus in the story, had now gloriously arisen from the dead.

But Aslan’s faithful followers still were falling fast to the evil forces, and the gleeful White Witch could almost taste the final victory that seemed sure to come. The situation was indeed dire.

Jesus Playing Tag

Yet, incredibly, Aslan pulled the children into a giddy game of tag!

“Oh, children,” Aslan exclaimed, “I feel my strength coming back to me. Oh children, catch me if you can!”

Then Lewis writes, “Round and round the hilltop he led them, now hopelessly out of their reach, now letting them almost catch his tail, now diving between them, now tossing them in the air with his huge and beautifully velveted paws and catching them again, and now stopping unexpectedly so that all three of them rolled over together in a happy laughing heap of fur and arms and legs.”

“It was such a romp,” Lewis writes, “as no one had ever had except in Narnia.”

Sitting in that apple tree, I felt my young heart quicken with surprise and wonder. A new seed of hope germinated that day—that God is indeed fun, playful, delightful, and many times more filled with wonder than even a nine-year-old tomboy.

I had no idea that such a radical transformation of my concept of God—begun that day and continued through the decades, would transform my life and future ministry so completely.

How Can We Know That God Has a Sense of Humor—And That He Can Even Be Playful?

We’ve all heard the jokes that begin, “A preacher, a priest, and a rabbi walk into a…” Many followers of Christ consider those kinds of jokes irreverent.

So is it irreverent to be playful with God?

Well, it depends upon whether He is indeed funny and playful. If He is, then “playing with God” is good, life-giving, and even transformational!

We often use big, lofty words to describe God:

Omniscient (all-knowing)
Omnipresent (present everywhere)
Omnipotent (all-powerful)
Transcendent (beyond normal human experience)
Eternal (without beginning or end)
Holy (one-of-a-kind, set apart, like no other)
Perfect in every way

But do the words below also describe God? Does God have a sense of humor?

Fun
Light-hearted
Humorous
Playful

Judy Allen, an area director of Community Bible Study, says:

I found a fair number of articles and TED talks by psychologists and doctors who advocate the benefits of play for people of all ages, but not one of them was from an explicitly Christian perspective.
My search was nowhere near exhaustive, but it makes me wonder if Christians tend to be a little too serious.
Are we all trying to be such good Christians that we have forgotten to enjoy God, to delight in his creation, and to have fun with each other?

That’s a great question! It matters whether our concept of God is accurate!

If we view God only as high above us, serious, and focused primarily on our right behavior, we’ll be spiritual workaholics and one-dimensional personalities.
But if our relationship with God includes interacting with His funny and even playful nature, He will literally transform us through uniquely personal relationship.

But is it really true? Is God in fact funny and playful? Or is that just wishful thinking on our part?

Below are three ways we can know that God is indeed funny and playful:

1. Creation Reflects God's Playfulness.

Anyone who views animal videos online knows that all God’s creatures love to have fun! Check out this fun video of animals on the first day of spring!

Why do we humans laugh at the giraffe’s long neck, the elephant’s big ears, the donkey’s raucous braying? What tickles us about playful puppies and funny flying fish? What prompts tiny babies throw their head back in laughter about the most delightfully simple things?

I believe that we and all God’s creatures reflect the humor and playfulness of our Creator.

The Bible says that God’s creation reflects His very nature:

The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. (Psalm 19:1-4, NLT)

Also, God's Word says that the vast and majestic heavens are not the only parts of Creation that teach us about God. So also do the relatively mundane birds and other animals:

But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? (Job 12:7-9, NIV))

We often think that Creation reflects only the big and powerful attributes of God. But Creation also reflects God’s fun-loving nature:

Let’s hear it from Sky, with Earth joining in, and a huge round of applause from Sea. Let Wilderness turn cartwheels, animals, come dance, put every tree of the forest in the choir. (Psalm 96:11-12, MSG)

Furthermore, God even made the formidable “sea monster,” Leviathan, to PLAY in the sea!

Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures. Here is the ocean, vast and wide, teeming with life of every kind, both large and small. See the ships sailing along, and Leviathan, which you made to play in the sea. (Psalm 104:25-26, NLT)

2. The Bible Confirms God's Playfulness.

Does God have a sense of humor?

The Bible abounds with references to playfulness, humor, and fun.

Playfulness in the Bible:

In the book of Proverbs, Wisdom plays over the whole earth:

When he set for the sea its limit, so that the waters should not transgress his command; When he fixed the foundations of earth, then was I [Wisdom] beside him as artisan; I was his delight day by day, playing before him all the while, Playing over the whole of his earth, having my delight with human beings. (Proverbs 8:30–31, NAB)

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, says about the identity of Wisdom in the above verses: “It is a great question what this wisdom is. Some understand it of the Divine wisdom; others of the second person in the Godhead: and it cannot be denied that some passages best agree to the former, and others to the latter opinion. Possibly both may be joined together, and the chapter may be understood of Christ considered partly in his personal capacity, and partly in regard of his office, which was to impart the mind and will of God to mankind.”

So, it’s probable that the above verses in Proverbs talk about the pre-incarnate Jesus, actually playing and delighting in human beings!

Below is a marvelous description of Creation playing in the glory of God:

The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs! What’s wrong, Red Sea, that made you hurry out of their way? What happened, Jordan River, that you turned away? Why, mountains, did you skip like rams? Why, hills, like lambs? (Psalm 114:4-6, NLT)

Humor in the Bible:

Really? Humor in the Bible? Does God have a sense of humor?

Yes!

The Bible is packed with humor! It’s just not stand-up-comedian-type humor.

The Bible shows humor most often through the literary technique of “irony,” which means a stark contrast between expectation and reality.

As we learn to understand and appreciate irony—in the Bible and in our own lives—our minds and hearts open to the delightful reality that God is indeed funny! Even more impactful is realizing that God works through irony (humor) to change our lives for the better! For example, how often did God do exactly the opposite that you expected or wanted, and it turned out even better than you ever would have imagined?

Jesus is a funny guy! The Bible doesn’t record Jesus telling a joke for its own sake, although I believe He probably did that. But Jesus’ humor—and God’s humor—in the Bible is for the purposes of teaching, healing, and converting. Ultimately, biblical irony convicts, redeems, empowers, and transforms us for personal fulfillment and Kingdom purposes.

Below are some stand-out examples of transformational biblical irony:

New Testament:

[Jesus said,] “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’ For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man [Jesus] has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ (Luke 7:31-34, NLT) (The people could not be satisfied, no matter what!)
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. I'll say it again—it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!" (Matthew 19:23-24)

More in the New Testament:

When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” (Mark 2:17, NLT)
[Jesus said,] “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye. (Matthew 7:3-5)
But Paul replied, “I am not insane, Most Excellent Festus. What I am saying is the sober truth. And King Agrippa knows about these things. I speak boldly, for I am sure these events are all familiar to him, for they were not done in a corner! King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do—” Agrippa interrupted him. “Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?” (Acts 25-28, NLT)

Old Testament:

Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman without discretion. (Proverbs 11:22, ESV)
And Sarah declared, “God has brought me laughter. All who hear about this will laugh with me. Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse a baby? Yet I have given Abraham a son in his old age!” (Genesis 21:6-7, NLT) (God even told Sarah to name her baby Isaac, which means “laughter”!)
About noontime Elijah began mocking [the worshippers of a false god]. “You’ll have to shout louder,” he scoffed, “for surely he is a god! Perhaps he is daydreaming, or is relieving himself. Or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened!” (1 Kings 18:27, NLT)

More in the Old Testament:

Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?” Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you here and now.”The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?” “No,” he said. Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell face down. The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared it.” Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back.” (Numbers 22:28-34, NIV)

Fun in the Bible:

I cannot find any translation of the Bible that mentions the word “fun” in a positive sense. (Some translations—i.e. The New Living Translation and The Message—mention “fun” with respect to someone making fun of someone else.)

Nevertheless, God’s desire for us to experience joyful fun permeates the entire Bible. And again, just as with humor—godly fun not only delights, but it also transforms!

Below are notable examples of delightful and transformational fun in the Bible:

New Testament:

[Jesus said,] I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10, NIV)

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. (James 1:17, ESV)
[Jesus said,] The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10, ESV)
[Jesus said,] Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. (John 16:24, ESV)

Old Testament:

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. (Proverbs 17:22, NLT)
Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart! (Psalm 32:11, NLT)
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11, NLT)
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4, NLT)

Why Does It Matter Whether God Is Playful and Has a Sense of Humor?

The greatest and most astounding thing about God’s playfulness, humor, and fun is that He absolutely transforms our lives through it!

When God plays with us, we know He not only loves us, but He also LIKES us!
When God does the opposite of what we expect or think possible, and it’s even better than we ever imagined, our faith in Him skyrockets. That’s “biblical irony,” which is defined as “a stark contrast between our expectation and the reality that God creates for us.”
As we grow in relationship with the lighter side of God, we let go of false guilt, obsessiveness, workaholism, worry, and boredom.
Getting in touch with God’s fun-loving nature—and our own—frees us from constantly having to DO, so that we also delight in just BEING.
When we truly see and are transformed by a joyful and fun Lord, we love and appreciate God, ourselves, others, and His Creation far more than ever before.

For an example of how God’s playfulness transforms us, click this blog to see my first lengthy conversation with God, including a romp into humor: Conversation with God.

How to Be Transformed in Relationship with Our Playful, Humorous, and Fun-Loving God

Does God have a sense of humor?

My own transformation by the fun-loving nature of our Lord began for me in that apple tree in my childhood. Since then, some people have thought me irreverent when I seemed to have too much fun with God. But can there ever be such a thing as having TOO MUCH FUN with the God who loved us so much that He gave His Son to die for us?

I think not.

I believe that the purpose of experiencing God as playful and funny is two-fold:

Simple enjoyment in relationship with Him.
God’s transformation of our lives and Kingdom impact in freely playful relationship with Him.

Read the Bible passages in this blog, and ask God these questions:

God, what do you want to say to me about yourself through these Bible passages?
What do you want to say to me about myself through these Bible passages?
God, please remind me of how we’ve had fun together in the past.
Please remind me of your holy fun—your irony—in my past: ways you’ve done the opposite of what I expected, and you delighted me by making it turn out far better than I’ve ever imagined.
God, how would knowing you more fully—as the playful God you are—transform my life?
How would knowing you more fully—as the playful God you are—transform my ministry?
God, what can you and I do to start having more fun together?
God, here’s how I’d like to start having more fun with you…

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)

May the fruit of the Spirit increase in you as you experience the fullest nature of our fun-loving God!

Additional Resources

1. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, Christian novelist and theologian extraordinaire. This book is an allegory about Jesus’ life on earth. According to PBS’s The Great American Read, it is one of America’s top 100 most-loved novels.

2. Further expand your concept and experience of our fun-loving God through these articles:

3. To grow in your ability to talk back-and-forth in conversation with God, click this blog: Conversation with God.

4. If you’re not sure whether you have a personal relationship with God, click this blog: How to Know You’re Saved.

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February 10, 2021