Published: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 in The Whitworthian.

Satire is a tricky concept. Sarcasm’s cynical cousin, true satire is difficult to create. Tasteful satire is all but unheard of. But Christian satire? I mean, who does that?
Dr. Gordon Jackson of the Communications department, apparently.

Jackon’s latest book, “‘Jesus Does Stand-Up’, and Other Satires,” is an unusual tome. Less than 100 pages long, its pages are filled with short stories, poems, text pulled from imaginary church bulletins and hymnals and a variety of other formats. It’s this variety that keeps the reader moving through the book – each page holds something fresh.

With few exceptions, each piece, whether a hymn rewritten for humorous effect or a memo between two employees at Bibles “R” Us, tackles a specific issue within the contemporary church. Hypocrisy, materialism, Sunday-only Christians, the prosperity Gospel and busyness are just a few of the problems with the modern church that Jackson identifies through these satirical pieces.

For the most part, the point of each piece is clear and humorous.

A to-do list that describes an affluent woman’s spending habits, including making reservations at a thousand-dollar-a-plate restaurant and taking “the BMW in for a service,” is punctuated by the final item on the list: mailing in $25 to a charity organization; elsewhere in the book, a demographic report that looks at Jesus’ ministry as if it were a political campaign (the Savior does well in the criminal demographics, but not so much in affluent groups).

A few pieces are harder to decipher. A few of the satires seem to be more of an inside joke – funny, but seemingly without the clear purpose of the majority of the book.

In the introduction, Jackson says that his goal is to use the satirical format to call attention to the hypocrisies within our modern life-is-good, paint-by-numbers church. The message is clear: many Christians have forgotten what it means to be a Christian. Jackson points out through his humor that those who believe the Christian faith is about making everyone happy, or making life easy, or going through a few rituals once a week are missing the point.

The book’s final piece sums up the entire work. A pastor is praying for his church, asking God to heal the “failing body.” But if that isn’t possible, the pastor asks God to at least give him a new heart.

That’s the thrust of this little book of humorous rib-jabs: the Christian faith isn’t about rules, money and nice clothes once a week; it’s about people. And if the church is to be healed, the change must start internally. The book implies it won’t start with others – it must start with the reader.

Jackson’s book is well worth a read-through. It’s easy to pick up and chuckle over a few pages before tossing it back on the coffee table for later. But the real genius of this work is that in-between chuckles, chances are high you’ll run across one or two things that will make you stop, think and maybe find yourself convicted on.

Good Christian satire will likely and rightfully remain rare, but Jackson proves that it can be done and done with excellence.