Watch the News—Learn Something
I have been intensely preparing for today for the last week. Now it's over—sort of.
For those of you outside the bubble, Steve, Jon, and I prepared a twenty-minute "news" section for student body meeting today. It included live reporting and a mini-documentary. Working out the details (like eight hours of video editing since I didn't really know what I was doing) was a process that absorbed much, nay, most of my free time over the last week. All that work was put to the test today.
I think it went well. We didn't pull it off perfectly, but it went well enough. The audience seemed to like it. We got plenty of laughs. Then came the official response. Suffice it to say, all scripts, jokes, and videos must now be approved by the administration prior to public exhibition. Apparently, some of our jokes poking fun at various aspects of Maranatha and other colleges were deemed unkind. Not exactly the response I was hoping for.
My initial reaction was frustration. I could understand how some people didn't particularly like some of our humor, but we had put a lot of work into it. We had checked it with other student leaders and even the people we were joking about when possible. The audience loved it. Should we really be getting corrected for that?
Then God reminded me why I had done the whole thing—to be a blessing to the student body. To give them something wholesome to enjoy. Yeah, that word wholesome actually means something. It means I should have been presenting things that were uplifting. It means I shouldn't have run the risk of offending someone. To which did I give more importance—making the students laugh or being sure to be absolutely pleasing to God in my humor? I foolishly ran the risk of being an offense in order to be funny (Eph. 5:3-4, 10). So, while it certainly was not my goal to offend, I certainly was not as careful to be pleasing to God as I should have been.
That's one of the problems those of us who try to be funny have to be careful of. It's so easy to get people to laugh by making fun of others, but it's far too easy to cross into an area that is hurtful or offensive. So while my joy in doing what seemed at the time a great show has been soured. I only hope my humor hasn't soured for others a show that I truly intended to be fun. Lesson learned.
For those of you outside the bubble, Steve, Jon, and I prepared a twenty-minute "news" section for student body meeting today. It included live reporting and a mini-documentary. Working out the details (like eight hours of video editing since I didn't really know what I was doing) was a process that absorbed much, nay, most of my free time over the last week. All that work was put to the test today.
I think it went well. We didn't pull it off perfectly, but it went well enough. The audience seemed to like it. We got plenty of laughs. Then came the official response. Suffice it to say, all scripts, jokes, and videos must now be approved by the administration prior to public exhibition. Apparently, some of our jokes poking fun at various aspects of Maranatha and other colleges were deemed unkind. Not exactly the response I was hoping for.
My initial reaction was frustration. I could understand how some people didn't particularly like some of our humor, but we had put a lot of work into it. We had checked it with other student leaders and even the people we were joking about when possible. The audience loved it. Should we really be getting corrected for that?
Then God reminded me why I had done the whole thing—to be a blessing to the student body. To give them something wholesome to enjoy. Yeah, that word wholesome actually means something. It means I should have been presenting things that were uplifting. It means I shouldn't have run the risk of offending someone. To which did I give more importance—making the students laugh or being sure to be absolutely pleasing to God in my humor? I foolishly ran the risk of being an offense in order to be funny (Eph. 5:3-4, 10). So, while it certainly was not my goal to offend, I certainly was not as careful to be pleasing to God as I should have been.
That's one of the problems those of us who try to be funny have to be careful of. It's so easy to get people to laugh by making fun of others, but it's far too easy to cross into an area that is hurtful or offensive. So while my joy in doing what seemed at the time a great show has been soured. I only hope my humor hasn't soured for others a show that I truly intended to be fun. Lesson learned.
At 7:43 PM,
I wanted to tell you that I could see how much work went into that and that you guys did a fantastic job!! I also wanted to say that I understand completely what you talked about. I am definately one of those people that love to make people laugh. Sometimes people like us can get a little carried away though. It is important (as you already stated) that we keep our focus on Christ and the things that He would approve of. You are obviously seeking God in this and He will continue to help you.
At 7:40 AM,
Your attitude is commendable, Justin. We all have things that we've said or done that have been taken in the wrong way. I'm really sorry everything turned out the way it did.
At 7:58 AM,
I still think you're funny and love what you do no matter what.