Our guest today on the Everyday Faith podcast is Jonathan Weibel. You may remember his name from our interview with him about front yard missions and how to start a “Love God, Love Your Neighbor” movement in your neighborhood. Jonathan is a husband, father, pastor, church planter, musician, and comedian who lives out his everyday faith wherever he goes. In our first interview, we talked about how Jonathan has shared his faith despite awkward interactions and how he’s seen his entire neighborhood shift as he’s followed Jesus’ command to love his neighbor as himself (Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:30-31) You’re going to be encouraged by Jonathan’s stories as a comedian who follows Christ. And, too, we’ll show you where the Bible talks about joy, laughter, and how God is the most joyful one of all.
Navigating Being a Pastor and a Comedian
“Hey, are you really a pastor? Or is that just part of your bit?”
You may be wondering, are pastors allowed to be comedians? Short answer: yes! For the long answer, we’ll share the story of how Jonathan juggles being a pastor and a comedian. One story Jonathan shared with us during our interview sums up how he thrives as a pastor who is also a stand-up comedian. After doing a live comedy show at a club in his hometown, Jonathan had a college student come up to him.
The student asked, “Hey, are you really a pastor? Or is that just part of your bit?”
Jonathan told the student that he really was a pastor. Then, he asked her, “Why do you ask?”
The student said, “I think God is pursuing me and I don’t have anyone to talk to about it.” Jonathan was surprised and delighted by this conversation. They honesty of the student paved a way for her to learn more about Jesus, the God who loves her. Over the past few months, Jonathan has noticed that interactions around faith and God seem to be more frequent, especially as he’s doing comedy shows at churches, bars, and clubs.
Discover how you can authentically share the Gospel with others anywhere, anytime, without it feeling like a script or a sales pitch: How to Cultivate a Lifestyle of Evangelism
For Jonathan, being a pastor and telling jokes aren’t polar opposite worlds; they’re more like two sides of the same coin. Jonathan considers his stand-up shows as one of the most sacred things he does each week. For him, comedy isn’t divorced from faith. God has put him in places where he can be salt and light to change the atmosphere of a room. And the fruit? Faith conversations with total strangers who are hungry and desperate for God, and Jonathan gets to provide joy and laughter for people, too.
Sharing the Joy of Jesus through Comedy
“You need the suffering and the joy: you need them both” - Jonathan Weibel
While Jonathan isn’t a Christian comedian, he does include the things that are most important to him in his comedy bits. He doesn’t shy away from talking about faith, Jesus, and his family. While comedy clubs and bars may seem like odd places for discipleship, it’s actually a play straight out of Jesus’ playbook in the Bible. Jesus was criticized by the Pharisees for hanging out with sinners. However, those were the people that God was dying to meet. In the Psalms, it says,
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. - Psalm 34:18
What good news to know that God is close to the brokenhearted, saving those who are crushed in spirit! Jonathan considers it his joy and his ministry to bring laughter to the brokenhearted through comedy bits and put smiles on the faces of everyone he meets.
Learn more about how to regain your joy when you’re walking through a rough season: How to Have Joy & Peace in Difficult Times
Jonathan has experienced so many God-moments all throughout his time of being a stand-up comedian. One of the most recent stories had our Everyday Faith team smiling ear to ear. The most famous comedian in Jonathan’s town recently told him that he was a Christian. During this conversation, the comedian asked Jonathan if he could help him learn how to write and work clean, meaning without curse words or dirty jokes. Jonathan said yes, and shortly after, he was booked to open for one of the most famous comedians in his area and has been helping him through laughter, jokes, and life-on-life discipleship.
Staying Anchored in God, Despite the Crowds
“The smallest amount of fame or adoration could ruin us because we were never made for that. We were made to worship and worship God.” - Jonathan Weibel
While most of us may never experience the rush of being responsible for making hundreds of people laugh, Jonathan has. With his platform comes a responsibility to stay humble and meek, despite the compliments and attention. His wife always reminds him, “Stay humble. Stay humble!” Whether you’re a comedian, a business owner, a worship leader, or a pastor, there is a ditch in finding your identity in what you do rather than who God says you are.
Learn more about your identity in Christ and how to receive the love He has for you: 15 Bible Verses About God’s Love For You
Jonathan has been through many transitions and held various careers in his life. For a time, he was a musician. When that season was over, he had to die to that identity. In another season, he was a youth pastor, and when it was time for a new thing, he had to give up that identity. Later on in life, he was a worship leader, and when it came time for a new season, he had to die to that identity. What remains constant through the transitions of life? Your identity in Christ! No matter what job you hold or what dreams are present in your heart, your primary identity is that you’re a child of God and that you are on a mission for His kingdom.
From being a full-time church-planter to becoming the author of “Front Yard Missions”, to being a comedian, Jonathan has fought to remain confident in his identity as a son of God, especially as he remains a faithful husband and father to his kids.
Learn more about how to juggle family and faith in our blog: Faith, Fatherhood, & Fathering the Fatherless
Bible Verses About Joy & Laughter
Did you know that Jesus is the God of joy? Jonathan Weibel and his comedy bits highlight this reality every time he does a show. Even though Jesus went through wild suffering and deep pain, He was more joyful than any of his companions. Even as Jesus was heading to the cross, it says that He endured the pain for the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2). The joy set before Him was you! Through Bible verses about joy and scriptures about laughter, we’re going to show how Jesus is the God of joy and how He has laughter and hope for you today.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions - Psalm 45:7
This Bible verse about joy comes from Psalm 45. This Psalm is generally considered to be a Messianic psalm. Messianic is a big word that means relating to the Messiah or relating to Jesus. So, this means this Bible verse about gladness was written over 1,000 years before Jesus was born. How cool!
Jesus was more joyful than anyone on earth. Learn more about what Jesus did and how you can receive Him into your heart: This is For You
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore - Psalm 16:11
Many Bible verses about joy come from the Psalms. This scripture about joy says that in God’s presence, there is fullness of joy. Can you believe that? God has the fullest version of joy we could ever experience. This means that when we spend time with God, we can receive His joy no matter what we’re going through.
One way to embrace your mission as a Christian is to share Bible verses about joy with those who need them. Learn more about how to share God’s hope with those around you: Sharing God’s Hope with Those You Love
Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them. - Psalm 126:2
This Bible verse about laughter and joy is something that Jonathan sees God do in real time as he performs at comedy shows. God promises to fill our mouths with laughter and even give our tongues shouts of joy. Why? It’s not just for the sake of our joy, but also for the hope of telling others about how good our God is!
Our friend, Brian Zimmer, has experienced just how good God is. Read about a real-life story of resurrection in our blog: How to Have Faith in the Fire
A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. - Proverbs 17:22
Did you know that the Bible says laughter is good medicine? A joyful heart is a heart full of laughter. This Bible verse about joy reminds us that a crushed spirit is hard for anyone to bear. Thankfully, God offers us joy through His word and His presence. Reading Bible verses about joy is a great way to renew your mind on the goodness of God and receive His joy and love.
Learn more about how to renew your mind with the Word of God: How to Practice Christian Meditation with the Recipe for Revelation
He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. - Psalms 2:4
This Bible verse about laughter is a wild one. Psalms 2 is a Psalm that talks about God the Father making His son, Jesus, King over the nations. The nations are angry and start rebelling against God and His ways. What does God do? He sits in the heavens and laughs! He knows that His purposes for His earth and His people will come to pass, no matter what.
"These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." - John 15:11
Jesus often talked to His disciples about the joy that He had to offer. This Bible verse about joy comes from the Upper Room Discourse, where Jesus shares His last words and encouragement to His disciples before He was crucified on the cross. Bible verses about joy invite us to abide in Jesus and choose His peace and gladness instead of the war and chaos in the world. The more Bible verses about joy that you read, the less fear you’ll have.
Learn more in our blog with Savanna Craig, a former alcoholic who encountered the love and joy of Jesus in a profound way: How Encounters With Jesus Lead to Fearless Evangelism
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope - Romans 15:13
This Bible verse about joy comes from Romans. Despite disagreements in the Church and violent persecution towards Christians, this scripture about joy was written to encourage believers in the early Church to receive the hope, joy, and peace that the Holy Spirit offers. This scripture still applies to us today!
You can have peace in times of pain and difficulty. Find out how in our blog: How to Find Peace in Stressful Situations
For the joy of the Lord is your strength - Nehemiah 8:10
More than weight lifting or conditioning, we should be receiving the joy of the Lord as our strength! This Bible verse about joy from Nehemiah 8:10 shows us that the joy of the Lord is a strength in times of trouble and fear.
You don’t have to live afraid. The joy of the Lord is available to you. Learn more in our interview with Hillary Zimmer: How to Overcome Fear and Experience God’s Power
"So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” - John 16:22
This Bible verse about joy is another piece of scripture from the Upper Room Discourse. Just like Jonathan Weibel said, “You need the suffering and the joy...”, Jesus also warns us that even though we will experience sorrow, our hearts will rejoice too. In this scripture about joy, the disciples didn’t know that Jesus was going to be crucified – this is the sorrow Jesus was warning them about. However, they also didn’t know that three days after Jesus was killed, He would rise again and visit them on Resurrection Day!
God always has good in store, and as we give thanks to God, we can receive the joy He has for us. Learn more about the power of gratitude in our blog: Renew Your Mind: The Benefits of Gratitude in the Bible
Conclusion
As you can see, laughter really is medicine for the heart (Proverbs 17:22), and the joy of the Lord can open the eyes of those around us to see the goodness and kindness of God. No matter what sphere of influence you find yourself in, you can bring the joy of God into your space. As we finished our interview with Jonathan, we wanted to highlight two tips he shared to bring the light and love of Jesus into our everyday conversations:
1) Remember Jonathan’s Prayer: “God, help me be salt and light. Help me change the atmosphere.” This simple prayer is something that Jonathan prays as he walks into a new space or when he’s about to perform at a comedy show. Jesus says in Matthew 5 that Christians are to be salt and light in the world. This week, we encourage you to pray this simple prayer as you go to work, when you arrive home after a long day, and as you’re walking into your favorite restaurant for dinner.
2) Listen to Jonathan’s Full Podcast: During our interview, Jonathan shared so many stories with us about sharing his faith, from the conversations that have come from his Bernese Mountain Dog club to how Jonathan boldly led his grandson to the Lord. Hear all the amazing stories and more on our podcast!
Curious to grow your faith and learn more about following Christ? At the Everyday Faith Podcast, we believe you can live out your faith every day by starting with belief, embracing your mission, committing to obedience, and pursuing community. These four simple pillars are essential to the Christian life. We can’t wait to hear about all that God does through you as you take your next step to get closer to God.
For further reading, download our free e-books to grow in prayer, strengthen your faith, and so much more: FREE Prayer & Faith E-Books
