Laughter is a universal language, and humor has a remarkable way of connecting people across ages and experiences. In writing, a well-placed joke or playful perspective can transform a message, making it memorable and approachable. For Christian writers, humor offers a way to engage readers, lighten heavy topics, and highlight life’s truths without diminishing their significance. By embracing humor thoughtfully, writers can invite readers to reflect, relate, and even rejoice in the everyday moments of faith. Below is an example of using humor in an article:

Fire-spitting John the Baptist

Luke 1:5,57, 3:1,21 5:33 (Berean Study Bible – BSB)

The melodramatic John the Baptist had charisma. He was brutally fearless, frank and a dare-devil. He dared King Herod regarding his brother’s wife Herodias, and all the evils he had done. Those were the days when a King was revered. But John rebuked him.

As for John, crossing a red line was like drinking water. To say that he was breathing fire is an understatement. He was the fire itself. For confirmation, ask Herodias, who was married to two biological brothers. Locals wondered whether Herodias knew the true meaning of love, or she cared only about power, money and stardom.

John was the equivalent of Elijah. The guy who summoned drought and stopped rain for three consecutive years. As if that was not debilitating enough, he beckoned fire from heaven and it obeyed him. God used to supply him without fail with roasted meat and bread without a bill for services rendered. The Baptist knew that heavens was behind him and his message. He was of priestly descent. He was a prophet. And more than a prophet. John was a man on a mission and knew that no one would stop him.

Herodias had double-crossed her original husband. Together with her daughter, she eloped with the brother of her husband because he was a King. Majestic life, power and money made logic to be given a back seat. She was the type of character that preferred to sob and enjoy plenty as a resident of a palace, rather than laugh and lack being an occupant in a slum or estate. This crazy woman had tried to influence her stolen husband to act on John with finality, and cut short the story of John.

Her mind went overdrive. Jailing and murdering are different. A jailed culprit has a chance to get out at the end of the jail term. But assassination is final. A chance to hear his denunciations again and again were not only an imagination but a reality. On the other end, there is no chance whatsoever of hearing anything from the dead. Dead bodies do not tell tales. The fate of John was sealed. It was a matter of waiting. Some execution of sorts must take place.

The husband did not concede to such innuendos. The furthest he went on the issue was to lock John up in prison. Deep inside his heart, he knew John was a righteous and holy man who was right, and he was guilty as charged. But Herodias did not settle on that. She had to bid her time and keep her fingers crossed until the opportune time came. She did not understand why King Herod was treating an inconsequential subject like hot porridge. “I will be eagle-eyed and I will extinguish that fire with such ruthlessness that will leave the local fire brigade envious”, she told herself.

For the baptizer, there was no place to call home. Nothing like a bedroom, sitting room or kitchen. Food, shelter, clothing and comfort were meaningless commodities. He was neither eating bread nor drinking wine. For food, he relied on free meals supplied by God just like Elijah his equal. It was his manna. He had never heard about a seven-course meal or a buffet meal. His type of food could neither be cooked at home nor in a hotel. His food was locusts and wild honey.

As for wardrobe, he had none.  What for? He was never dressed in fine clothes. He did no wear designer suits, shirts and shoes imported all the way to Judea from Paris or Rome. John wore a simple garment of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He had an inkling that those who wear elegant clothing and live in luxury are found in palaces, but he lived in the wilderness. What a contrast.

He spread the word passionately and with a difference. Besides the Herodes, the type of gospel he belched roughed many religious leaders the wrong way. He went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Previously sins were cleansed through a sacrifice as per the Law of Moses.

Enter John the Baptist with a different message. His message resonated well with the multitudes. He changed the earlier order with a mission. The religious leadership was at sea. He seemed to go against the Law of Moses. He was clearing the way for Jesus and did not mince his words. His doctrine, boldness and style left many bewildered.

In the spirit and power of Elijah, he preached in the wilderness of Judea saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.” The priesthood of Caiaphas did not understand this jargon. It sounded Greek, Gujarati, Latin and Kiswahili combined to their ears and understanding. He denounced the Sadducees and Pharisees for pretentiousness and challenged them to produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

As a preacher, John was exceptionally practical and discriminating. Egoism and greed were the predominant sins of the people then. He spread the gospel of sharing and cautioned people against extortion; the soldiers against crime and plunder. He baptized thousands upon repentance.  He was like a magnet, attracting masses upon masses. He even had disciples among his followers. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region around the Jordan.  Confessing their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.

The fame and reputation of John reached the ears of Jesus in Nazareth (Matt. 3:5, 13), and he came from Galilee to Jordan to be baptized by John. His special office ceased with the baptism of Jesus, who must now “increase” as the King come to his Kingdom. He continued, however, for a while to bear testimony of Jesus as the messiah. He pointed him out to his disciples, saying, “Behold the Lamb of God.” John was a forerunner of the Lord.

John and Jesus were age-mates. His birth, which took place six months before that of Jesus, was foretold by angel Gabriel. Both hit ground at around age thirty. Apparently it seems John had not prearranged how to exit and transit upon Jesus taking over from him. He was clueless. Physically and spiritually, John knew that Jesus was the one whose sandals he was not worthy to touch.

The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John could be the Christ. John answered all of them: “I baptize you with water, but one more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Luke 3:15-17)

Hey! John! You do not proclaim a King is coming and install the King in a coronation in the waters of River Jordan and not realize the King will trod his Kingdom like a colossus. For all practical purposes, it was time to fold his ministry and join Jesus as a disciple as some of his disciples did. The narrative had changed from getting saved through baptism of water because the real savior had arrived. The leader of the Kingdom had arrived and was in full control. John had served his purpose and had to give way to the King himself who came like a servant. The main savior had come. The one to baptize with fire was in town.

Meditate this verse: Luke 5: 33 – 35 Then they said to him (Jesus), “John’s disciples and those of the Pharisees frequently fast and pray, but yours keep on eating and drinking.” Jesus replied, “Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.” Simple. It was in black and white. John was continuing his work as usual. The servanthood of Jesus left John bewildered. He expected a King fashioned in the style and custom of other kings. But not a servant. Yet some of his disciples had already understood and decamped from his den to the lair of Jesus.

But when he rebuked Herod the tetrarch regarding his brother’s wife Herodias, and all the evils he had done, Herod locked John up in prison. Unknown to John, the countdown to his demise had begun. While incarcerated, he sent emissaries to Jesus: “Are you the one who was to come, or should we look for someone else?” The identifier of Christ had somehow lost it. He was groping in the dark. He wondered: “Why am I rotting in jail and you have powers and the where withal to get me free and reduce my jailers to smithereens?”

Jesus came as a servant not as a king. John took him to be a king with exceptional powers, far superior to those of Herod. Listen to this: Luke 7: 21 – 23 At that very hour Jesus healed many people of their diseases, afflictions, and evil spirits, and He gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor…” He came to heal, chase away evil spirits and honor the will of God.

The curtains were drawing. A crazy mother burning with fury and an innocent daughter were to do the final act. The girl gyrated in a sexy dance in front of Herod’s guests and pleased him so much. He conceded to serve the bloody head of John the Baptist on a silver platter to his step-daughter as the request had been placed. Not for cooking to get soup but for confirmation of the assassination. What a tragic ending to a flourishing career through the hand of Herodias? Just like Elijah, whose flew from Jezebel, another Iron Lady of her time, made him to retire before his time.

Lessons learnt:

1. Be brave and bold spiritually and physically.
2. God’s ways are not our ways.
3. Meditate the Word of God.

by James Mwinga, freelancer in Kenya