Fear of man will prove to be a snare,
but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.
Proverbs 29:25
Ricky Gervais is an English comedian who is well known as the creator of the BBC comedy series, The Office. Gervais has won seven BAFTA (British TV) Awards, five British Comedy Awards, two Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. His standup performances draw large crowds and he has produced comedy specials for Netflix. He is one of the most prolific and successful comedic performers of the past twenty years. He also happens to be an avowed atheist.
Gervais is perhaps best known, however, for his ruthless skewering of Hollywood elites as the five-time host of the Golden Globe Awards. As he opened the 77th annual show, he warned his glamorous (and nervous) audience: “You’ll be pleased to know this is the last time I’m hosting the Golden Globe Awards. I don’t care anymore.” He added, “I’m joking. I never did.” True to his word, he ripped into the assembled glitterati with his signature show-no-mercy humor. Nothing was off the table, to the camera-caught distress of many in the audience. After an especially devastating barb, he would respond to the audible gasps with “Shut up. Shut up. I don’t care. I don’t care.” It was a must-watch, made-for-television massacre.
Disregard for his audience’s indignation is central to Gervais’ comedy. “I’m a scientist at heart,” he explains, “so I know how important the truth is. However inconvenient, however unattractive, however embarrassing, however shocking, the truth is the truth, and wanting it not to be true doesn’t change things.” Gervais is not about to pander to those who find his material offensive. “Someone not liking my work doesn’t mean I have to give the awards or the money back. People who don’t like your work have no effect on you.” On the contrary, Gervais sees outrage as an expected reaction to truth-telling. “Offense is the collateral damage of free speech.” His comedic sensibilities have won a huge following, although there are no doubt many who will not miss his face during awards season.
Jesus isn’t generally known as a comedian. His brand of humor is more of the cosmic kind: the long set up, the apparent defeat, the turn-about punch line. (Nobody pulls off a resurrection like Jesus.) He could fire off a zinger when he wanted to, but he was more into the slow burn. As an entertainer, Jesus was unparalleled. Thousands would gather to watch him perform, especially if refreshments were served. People loved his earthy stories—and the potential for free healthcare. Unlike Gervais, Jesus was a full-on theist.
Yet, like Gervais, Jesus could ruffle a few feathers. His audience didn’t always appreciate it when he aimed too close for comfort, and his disciples sometimes felt the need to point that out. On one occasion, Jesus delivered a trademark line to upend a common assumption: “What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” The Jewish religious leaders in the crowd didn’t think it was very funny. Afterward the disciples came to him. “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” Jesus replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.” For Jesus, offense wasn’t merely the “collateral damage of free speech.” Sometimes it was the whole point.
Jesus was not cowed by the tyranny of public opinion like so many in his audience were. Many even among the Jewish leaders believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith. As John writes it: They loved human praise more than praise from God. Jesus confronted this issue directly. “How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” Even the noteworthy Nicodemus succumbed and kept his fledgling faith under cover of night. For Jesus, on the other hand, public approval or disapproval meant nothing. “I do not accept glory from men,” he flatly declared. John put it in a nutshell: While Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in a man. This disregard for public opinion eventually got him killed—or shall we say cancelled. But that, of course, was part of the joke.
For many the Apostle Paul is one of the most offensive performers of all. To the culturally enlightened, he’s the Andrew Dice Clay of Christian dogma whose takes on women, homosexuality, and slavery are regressive at best. Paul was an equal opportunity offender. Even his staunchest allies admitted that his material often got him into a lot of trouble. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, noted Peter, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures. To say that Paul was a funny guy might be pushing it a bit, but his short-fuse, in-your-face persona was every bit as controversial as Gervais and Jesus. He was not inclined to tip-toe on eggshells; his mantra was straightforward: Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. Paul would have been a prime candidate to host the Golden Globes.
Like Gervais and Jesus, Paul had little concern for public opinion. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court, he asserted. Indeed, I do not even judge myself. Paul saw disregard for public opinion as a requisite for his very mission. If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. He understood that Christians can face some tough crowds, but that’s just the way it goes. He exhorted young Timothy, Do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. Believers are not to be kowtowed, as he reminded Timothy: God has not given us a spirit of timidity. Ultimately, Paul shared Gervais’ conviction that “the truth is the truth.” For this reason, he proclaimed, I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes. For his audacity Paul ended up in chains, but for him prison was just another stop on the tour.
Considering the company he keeps, Ricky might want to reconsider his theological perspective.
