Ideas for Churches

Top 10 Christian Pickup Lines

Can churches and ministries use humor in their communications? Moreover, does it work?

You clicked on this post, didn’t you? Why? I assume it’s because you wanted a little laugh. Church-goers are no different.

Hilarious Christian @_ChristianHumor has over 20,000 followers on Twitter. The hashtag #ChristianPickupLines reveals a number of humorous, albeit corny, snippets that are basically sound bites of humor with a Christian overtone (and let’s be honest, corny is what makes the best pickup lines “best.”)

My top 10 favorite #ChristianPickupLines from Twitter:

https://twitter.com/its_brittnaayyy/status/574697177139650560

You’ve now made it halfway through this post. What drew you in and kept you reading? It was the promise of humor. Though this may prove my point without going any further, here are a few more examples to illustrate the value of using humor in your church outreach.

In Rachel Held Evans’ blog post on humor, she quotes G.K. Chesterton: “It is a test of a good religion whether you can joke about it.” Held goes on to explain her thoughts on satire, and when it does and does not work.

“Self-deprecating humor is disarming,” writes Held and “makes you approachable, as a writer and a person.” This is a great point because if Christians are not approachable, they are not going to be effective at spreading the good news.

Jen Hatmaker, a blogger and author based outside of Austin, Texas, is my personal favorite conveyor of humor in a Christian context. HGTV took heed of her popularity among their demographic, and created a series called My Big Family Renovation, which documented the Hatmaker family’s renovation of their 105-year old farmhouse. With over 92,000 Twitter followers and a Facebook fan base of 450,000+, Hatmaker writes about family and faith, and everything in between. She is simultaneously humorous, encouraging, and personable.

A Christianity Today feature quotes Jennifer Lyell describing her appeal: “Jen is not merely a writer or a speaker. She makes readers laugh, but she also makes them uncomfortable in their complacency. She leads them to conviction, but she also reminds them of the grace that binds.”

Now if you’re convinced that humor can draw a crowd in the Christian community, put it to work for yourself. Add a weekly humorous quote to your bulletin. Put your favorite #ChristianPickupLines tweet on your young adult ministry brochures or communications. Do you have a pastor or staff member who always has a funny story up his or her sleeve? Ask them to contribute to your monthly newsletter. The key is to keep it light and non-offensive and make sure it appeals to all ages and demographics. Humor can help you reach a broader range of people because it’s interesting. I’d love to see your church’s own examples of using humor – tweet them to me at @promotingfaith or tag @promotingfaith in your Instagram posts.

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