Wife to Wife Wednesday: Jokes and Respect

Good morning! Welcome to Wife to Wife Wednesday, the day that we discuss any and all issues relating to marriage. 

Today I want to talk about something that may be a bit divisive in the Christian community. I wrote last week about husband bashing and why it is a bad idea. Today I want to expand on that topic a bit. I want to talk to you (a.k.a Christian wives) about making jokes at your husbands expense. 

If you watch television or movies you are probably familiar with the overused trope of the bumbling idiot dad and the mom who sighs as she cleans up his messes.  Don't believe me? Check out: Everybody Loves Raymond, The George Lopez Show, and Family Matters. (I know most of these shows are out of date, but we don't own a television, so go with me.) Each of these shows depict the husband as this big goofy kid that the wife has to keep in place. She is the head of the family and he just sort of trips and falls through life. 

This idea that husbands are bumbling fools seems to have completely infiltrated society, even Christian society. You see them on social media, in memes, on television, on the radio... the list goes on and on. As I mentioned in my article last week about husband bashing, this is usually where people start shrieking about how it is just a joke. But here is the thing, if you are a Bible believing Christian, then you have to take what the Bible says seriously. Lets take a look at what the Bible says about these "jokes" and use that to help us decide if you should or should not re-post a "joke" on social media.

Lets start wit the most obvious thing, should you be posting these jokes at all? Ephesians 4:29 says, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Ok, so maybe these aren't dirty jokes, so the qualify as wholesome. But what about that second part? Is it helpful? Does it build people (your husband) up? Is it a benefit to those who listen?  If the answer is NO to any of those questions, don't re-post. 

Ok, so now lets check out Proverbs 16:28 which says, "A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends." Are these "jokes" stirring up conflict? If you make these jokes about your husband to a friend, are you not gossiping? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, don't re-post. 

Finally, lets check out Ephesians 5:33 which says, "However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband." This is a passage of scripture that not many preachers are willing to tackle because it angers feminists greatly. However, if you believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, breathed by God (2 Timothy 3:16) then you have to take this portion of the Bible just as seriously as you would any other part of the Bible. 

So ladies, before you re-post that "hilarious" meme from your favorite mommy blog. Stop, think. Run it through your checklist. If it doesn't meet the standards the Christ set for us, don't post it. Honor and respect your husband, as you were commanded to.