Jokes about the Wife Being the Neck in Church

[presidente]

The one tired joke Ive heard a few times is going to church to make a christian is like going to mcdonalds to make a hamburger. Or something like that. I dont know, those jokes seem to fly over my head. Or neck.

I would be like what. I dont get it, its not in my Bible.

The comment is going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going to McDonald's makes you a hamburger. I don't think it's supposed to be a joke, though. Maybe whoever told it said it too quickly.

I like those witty church signs though. They are the best.

I misread that at first and thought you wrote 'They are the blest.' Some of the church signs are funny and clever. Some of those jokes are kind of lame. I don't care for the false prophecy signs. There was a "God's Speaks" campaign to put jokes like saying that God said, "Don't make me come down there" and stuff like that on billboards. If God didn't say it, I don't think we should say He said it as a joke.

what is missing from ch ch? ur

That's sort of clever. It wouldn't have made sense before the age of texting.

In the late 1990s, i saw another countries national middle school English exam that showed a picture of two stick figures, one on the ground, and the other one standing up with these words in a bubble next to his head. "RUOK?" Neither I nor the teachers could figure it out. It meant 'Are you okay?" Maybe the caps through me off, or I just wasn't used to texting. But I did not get it at the time, and I think I would now.

 

[presidente]

Now people laugh at this because it makes it sound as though the woman controls everything. What isn't taught though, is that it isn't just a "I want my way so I'll whine and cry and manipulate my head to turn the way I want to" ..........
that is what people make it sound like and joke about, but that is not the way God intended it to be..

It depends on the relationship. Some women boss their husbands around and the men obey. Some men are afraid of suggesting something lest the wife get angry. Others are in marriages like yours. And there are other marriages where men do operate as head as they should, the wives submit, and the husband loves the wife, following Christ's example.

 

[crossnote]

Occasionally, in church, I've heard jokes about the man being the head... which the Bible says, but the woman being the neck and directing him wherever she wants. I also have heard jokes about how the couple doesn't argue... he just does whatever she says, in church.

These are meant as jokes. I like good jokes and don't want to be the killjoy, the old fuddy duddy that throws a wet blanket on everyone's fun. But some humor is not edifying. Some jokes aren't good. The kind of joke where you lie to people is one of them:

Proverbs 26:18
18 Like a maniac shooting flaming arrows of death
19 is one who deceives their neighbor and says, “I was only joking!”

I would argue that jokes that promote bad doctrine, and especially jokes that depict God in an unfavorable light or that diminish his power and other attributes are unacceptable.

When it comes to these marriage jokes, I can think of several reasons not to engage in them.

1. We live in a culture that does not embrace the Biblical values regarding a wife submitting to her husband. Many people do not take them seriously, and joking about them reinforces this.
2. A controlling wife may consider repentance not to be an urgent matter if others joke about it.
3. Some people in the audience are knew and do not know Biblical doctrine. They may think the wife being the neck quote is actually Biblical doctrine. Do not underestimate the ignorance of the crowd.

Who'd be joking to the unsaved anyways? There lostness is no joke.

 

[presidente]

Who'd be joking to the unsaved anyways? There lostness is no joke.

I don't consider the hamburger comment to be a joke.

 

[Scribe]

the neck joke, far as I know, comes from a well known chick flick comedy.
When the movie came out I was late teen/early 20's and heard it used in church.
I thought it sounded funny, even though I single at the time, and it always stuck in the back of my mind (though honestly I had forgot it until hubs and I watched the movie one night.)
We were both rolling.......
Me like this:
and hubs like:

There's a part to the joke (at least if it's the same one I am thinking of from this movie) that says "the neck can turn the head any way it wants"

Now people laugh at this because it makes it sound as though the woman controls everything. What isn't taught though, is that it isn't just a "I want my way so I'll whine and cry and manipulate my head to turn the way I want to" ..........
that is what people make it sound like and joke about, but that is not the way God intended it to be.

Remember, Eve was made to be a help meet (helper) for Adam. A supporter of/for him.
Man is the head, the leader.
Woman is suppose to be the helper/supporter of/for him.
What supports the head on a body? The neck.

Sadly, even among many churches and "christian" couples, this is not the case.
Many seem to live as though the head has no control and the neck does it all..............

I have heard the comment often about how "If momma ain't happy nobody's happy" and of course it means the same thing as what you described, bringing toxic negative tension into the house and family until everyone bends to her demands.

A horrible house of horrors if you have to experience that on a daily basis. Nothing to joke about but definitely something to preach about in order that those who are guilty of it will repent and receive the grace of God to change before they cause their family to hate them and not want to be around them, escaping the home for refuge elsewhere. Mothers are called to make the home a place of peace and joy and safety not a toxic joyless tension filled "walking on eggshells" attempting to do everything right so there will not be endless lectures and criticism or rage.

If momma ain't happy she needs to get in her prayer closet and not come out until she is filled with the Holy Spirit.

Can I get an amen up in here today?

 

[crossnote]

I don't consider the hamburger comment to be a joke.

Who mentioned hamburger? Or does that have something to do with the 'neck' joke?
I was referring to point #3 in your OP.

 

[presidente]

Who mentioned hamburger? Or does that have something to do with the 'neck' joke?
I was referring to point #3 in your OP.

Okay. That was the only thing that was presented as a joke in the thread that seemed to relate to unbelievers being unbelievers as far as I could ascertain.

 

[Godsgirl83]

. Others are in marriages like yours.

???
just curious about this statement, what you mean by it.

 

[Godsgirl83]

I have heard the comment often about how "If momma ain't happy nobody's happy" and of course it means the same thing as what you described, bringing toxic negative tension into the house and family until everyone bends to her demands.

A horrible house of horrors if you have to experience that on a daily basis. Nothing to joke about but definitely something to preach about in order that those who are guilty of it will repent and receive the grace of God to change before they cause their family to hate them and not want to be around them, escaping the home for refuge elsewhere. Mothers are called to make the home a place of peace and joy and safety not a toxic joyless tension filled "walking on eggshells" attempting to do everything right so there will not be endless lectures and criticism or rage.

If momma ain't happy she needs to get in her prayer closet and not come out until she is filled with the Holy Spirit.

Can I get an amen up in here today?

Actually, this is talked about in Proverbs..........
but I'll have to come back to this since bed time stories don't read themselves............

 

[presidente]

???
just curious about this statement, what you mean by it.

Very sorry about that. I meant to write like the one you described and must have lost my train of thought.

 

[Lion222]

i remember when homosexuality was first introduced into TV and movies.
They where introduced as a joke, something to laugh at.
What we laugh at, we enjoy and eventually come to accept and welcome.

 

[Lion222]

There are people who go to church who absorb the thinking of this world through going to school, watching TV and movies, and listening to the people around them. They may know little to nothing of the Bible. A pastor at a church I attended previousliy was raised Jewish. He went to get an Easter card for someone and was looking for something with a nice bunny on it. He saw a picture of Jesus coming out of the grave and wondered why they would put that in the middle of the Easter cards. He didn't know Easter was supposed to have anything to do with the resurrection of Christ.

If people aren't taught and don't read it for themselves, they may not realize wives are supposed to submit to their husbands. If they hear it and hear the whole topic treated as a joke, never taught seriously, that may discourage those who have heard about such things from taking it seriously.

Your attitude about jokes as expressed in your post is probably at the root of the problem I am addressing. The Bible says that deacons must be 'grave.' I'm probably not grave enough myself. But taking serious things seriously is an important quality of those who serve the church that all of us should cultivate.

By the way, can you think of any scripture that talks about Jesus or the Father having a great sense of humor, telling jokes? There is one passage I can think of about God laughing in Psalm 37. But He is not laughing about holy things. He laughs at the wicked because He sees His day is coming. In the Talmud, someone attributed a clever comment to Jesus of Nazareth which implied that the high priest was a whore-- a story told as a joke. But this is not something from the Bible.

I am not against jokes per se, or cleverness while teaching scripture. But if the joke is counter-productive, encourating people to make light of truths of scripture or jokes that work against Christian doctrine (e.g. a joke implying God cannot understand women and would choose to build a bridge from Hawaii to California rather than explain the mystery to a man) then I believe we should avoid those types of jokes.

Now I am thinking can you use a joke to introduce some aspect of the word of God to unbelievers. I don't see how you could.
Guess its better to go to a house of mourning rather then a comedy club party for a reason.
Does anyone use comedy successfully to share the Gospel of Christ?

 

[AndyMaleh]

I agree. Besides, that is a dumb joke as after all the neck's got no brains and can't truly direct anything in the body. Everything is directed by the head. Truly good jokes never take away from the seriousness of the word of God.

 

[Godsgirl83]

the neck's got no brains and can't truly direct anything in the body. Everything is directed by the head.

Sometimes though, the head wants to look to the right or the left instead of straight ahead ( reference Proverbs 4:25-27) .........
the neck can turn the head back to center focus in order to be looking straight ahead (gently though, we don't want to cause whiplash )

Very sorry about that. I meant to write like the one you described and must have lost my train of thought.

oh no worries. I understand that all to well. Many times I'll be typing something out, and it's very detailed and sounds good in my head only to hear "MOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!" or "honey!"
Finally get to come back and finish, reread it, and go " WHAT? that doesn't make a lick of sense, even to me who wrote it......."
thus reducing it down to a few quick and (hopefully) simple sentences (which often don't express everything I wanted to say on the matter......

I have heard the comment often about how "If momma ain't happy nobody's happy" and of course it means the same thing as what you described, bringing toxic negative tension into the house and family until everyone bends to her demands.

A horrible house of horrors if you have to experience that on a daily basis. Nothing to joke about but definitely something to preach about in order that those who are guilty of it will repent and receive the grace of God to change before they cause their family to hate them and not want to be around them, escaping the home for refuge elsewhere. Mothers are called to make the home a place of peace and joy and safety not a toxic joyless tension filled "walking on eggshells" attempting to do everything right so there will not be endless lectures and criticism or rage.

If momma ain't happy she needs to get in her prayer closet and not come out until she is filled with the Holy Spirit.

Can I get an amen up in here today?

Actually, this is talked about in Proverbs..........
but I'll have to come back to this since bed time stories don't read themselves............

Here they are:

Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
Proverbs 25:24

and Proverbs 21 points this out TWICE

Proverbs 21:9
Better to live on a corner of the roof
than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

AND

Proverbs 21:19
Better to live in the desert
than with a contentious and ill-tempered wife.


Now, getting back to the OP about jokes being used during preaching:
I read through/followed this thread, and thought about it a day or 2 before jumping in, and have continued to think about it.

I was thinking about the church I attended years ago. I started turning on the tv early Sunday morning while getting ready (you know, so I could "spend more time with the Lord" "get some more Word into me" and by the way, I would've been better off keeping the tv off and just having the praise music on, or better yet silence......... )
Well, I got caught up in listening to the early morning (previously recorded) Sunday service from a Mega Church with a speaker who was given the nickname "Smiley Preacher" And he always opened with a joke or 2........
Fast forward a few hours:

I'm at church, the greetings have been given, the music has been played/sung, every one sits down and Pastor walks up to the pulpit.
(Now, this is in NO WAY said as an attack against him. I knew him in church as Pastor, and away from church as a friend. This is something that didn't happen when I first started attending, and certainly didn't last long. The man truly had a heart after the Lord. This is my reflection almost 20 years later of an observation that took place at that time)

Out comes the joke.......
and the giggles from the congregation......
the next week, same thing.
Then I began to realize "HEY! I heard that one already this morning from "Smiley Preacher"

After 4-5 weeks of this I heard someone who was new to that church make a comment
"Why do I bother coming here? I hear this same stuff on tv every morning........"
they stopped attending shortly after that.......


you see, even though the service after that went on to preaching from the Word of God, because of this "opening line" that persons ears were tuned out and heart closed off from it. Nothing else that was said (no matter how profound, and even when the Lord was moving people during the service) was able to get to that person because they tuned out after that.

I think that example shows what the OP was trying to get at.