Rumball in the Jungle

A Lawyer advised me to learn jokes about being a Pastor and tell them in mixed company.  His point was well taken. Laughing at yourself can help you build bridges with people inside and outside your sub-culture or social tribe. That is important for community building in Toronto, with it’s millions of separate tribal identities. Tower of Babel stuff.  Laughter is the common ground for learning. Think of the value that Russell Peters has provided for Canadian cultural understanding!  White Christians need a Russell Peters!

Now, I’ve been a Christian since 1998 and white for most of my life.  I said most of my life because I was probably red or blue from conception until climate adjustments set in an hour or two after birth.  My point is that being part of a corporate, social, ethnic and religious group can blind me to the humours quirks. These books help me with a “cultural mirror” and offer funny, stereotypical observations about being white and being a Christian.

My point is that White Christian Leaders, like me, need to learn the lesson of building bridges of understanding through laughing at themselves and their sub-cultures in the public eye of mixed company!

Dear Christians, learn to laugh at yourself by reading ”Stuff Christians Like” by Jonathan Acuff

Dear White People, learn to laugh at yourself by reading “Stuff White People Like” by  Christian Lander

If you want to understand and laugh at Christian White People, then read both!

I will try to merge these into my sermons in order to model this important leadership lesson: laughing at yourself in public!  Get ready to laugh at High Park Baptist Church: ”Somebody gonna get a laugh real good!”

http://torontoist.com/2008/03/stuff_white_peo.php

http://www.jonacuff.com/stuffchristianslike/

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/