Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. (Ephesians 5:1-4)
I like to jest.
It’s not that I can’t help it (I can), but rather it’s what I do because I enjoy doing it. Frankly, I like making people laugh. Years ago when I first came upon this passage in Ephesians 5 in regards to the art of jesting, it worried me. Would I be forced to abandon my merriment? What is jesting anyway?
Webster’s 1828 Dictionary describes a jest as simply a joke meant only to excite laughter. Religion (according to the definition) should never be the subject of jest. Jesting is concise wit that consists in trope, metaphors, double meanings, or similitude of sound in different words.
Okay I can live with that, but why does God (according to scripture) forbid it?
He Doesn’t
Just this afternoon a person (kindly) reminded me that what I said (to her and another person) was coarse jesting. I kindly corrected her and cited the Bible verse.
“In the phrase ‘coarse jesting,’ ” I said, “what is the key word?”
“Jesting,” was the reply.
“No it isn’t,” I corrected, “the key word is ‘coarse.’ “
I went on to say that God likely opted to use the term coarse jesting instead of mere jesting because He was making a distinction between an acceptable jest and one that is crude, gross, or offensive. The person questioned my interpretation, however I was not convicted. I’m no Biblical scholar by any stretch of the imagination, but I’ve nailed this one — I know crude, gross, and offensive when I see or hear it. I am after all a recovered coarse-aholic. Thanks be to God.
Related articles
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- Morning Bites: Fifty Shades of Fashion, War of 1812 Party, Infinite Jest on Stage, and More (vol1brooklyn.com)
- Hot Pursuit of The 31 Man (lion2lamb.wordpress.com)
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He Dwells -- The B'log in My Eye 
If you offended the woman by your humor, perhaps rather than defending it with a Bible study, you could have just apologized, or started with an apology and then given her your understanding of the verse. Would that have been a better course of action?
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She wasn’t offended, in fact she chuckled; afterwards she just returned to her legalistic nature (which is the other direction this blog could have gone).
Having said that, there have been (many) instances in my faith walk where a) I was in fact being coarse, and b) did have to go back and apologize, so that course of action is most definitely appropriate when the situation calls for it.
Thanks for posting bro! And many blessings for you today!
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Love the spirit of your response-humility! I see that the whole story would have caused me to NOT post what I did. You & I are probably similar in our use of humor to lighten up a situation. But, at least for me, It often backfires! Thanks for the reply and further explanation. [and don’t give in to that legalistic thing, even from close friends!]
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Yes!
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Thanks, Dave. Surely you jest (couldn’t resist…) 😀
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I am feeling better already – something that was bugging me too.
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