Daniel Radosh tours the Christian comedy circuit in Rapture Ready: Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture

In his new book, Rapture Ready: Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture, author—and chosen person—Daniel Radosh journeys deep into the often hidden world of Christian culture, discovering a vast and vital economy teeming with Jesus-approved music, fashion, and even a God-fearing equivalent of Def Comedy Jam. In this excerpt from the book, Radosh probes The View's Sherri Shepherd and other Christian comedians to discover the unique challenges of getting (tasteful) laughs from the sometimes humorless faithful.

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The morning after the comedy showcase I returned to the Cornerstone Church for the opening session of the Christian Comedy Association's annual conference. At the registration table I picked up a badge with my name and the designation "press." I sighed. While I was willing to identify myself as a member of the media elite in one-on-one conversation, I was concerned about wearing the label in a room full of skeptical Christian conservatives. Soon I realized that the real problem was wearing it in a room full of aspiring comedians. Two different people got the hilarious idea to press the badge and wait for a reaction.

Great comedy comes from insecurity, self-loathing, and pain ... Jesus helps you know joy and feel truly at peace. This seemed the biggest impediment to Christian comedyIn fact, I was welcomed as warmly as anywhere I had been. Once again, being Jewish gave me a certain cachet, this time as both the theological older brother and as a member of a group that does have a reputation for being funny. A gregarious blond woman grabbed my arm to tell me how much she identified with Jewish culture. "My Jewish friends say I'm more Jewish than anyone they know!" she exclaimed. I eyed the three-inch silver cross around her neck and said nothing.

CCA President Dan Rupple began the morning with a comedian's prayer. "Father God, we're just trying to find a middle ground between being humble and being noticed, between being secure and desperately needing the approval and validation of nearly everyone around us." I'd been wondering about this very issue. Any comedian will tell you that great comedy comes from insecurity, self-loathing, and pain, while any Christian will tell you that Jesus helps you know joy and feel truly at peace. This, perhaps more than latent Puritanism, seemed the biggest impediment to Christian comedy.

"There is always a struggle between the comedian who is grossly insecure, and the Christian who is supposed to be secure in the loving hand of his almighty God," Rupple told me later, relaxing on a leather couch in the church Starbucks. "The reality is, we understand that we are secure spiritually, but our flesh is still very insecure—and I think it is that conflict that great humor can come from. Often people think the term Christian comedy is an oxymoron, 'cause there's nothing funny about being a Christian. I think it's really the exact opposite. I think it's hysterical what the Christian struggles with, trying to live out their beliefs in a world that is, for the most part, unbelieving. It's also, I think, quite humorous what some people go through to turn against God"—that is, to persuade themselves that pleasure or power or any other worldly measure of success is all that one needs out of life.

I mentioned what I'd learned about most contemporary Christian music—that it tries to avoid addressing the struggles of Christians in favor of painting a rosy picture of the Christian life. "I imagine that's harder to get away with in comedy."

"Sure. One of the staples of comedy is truth. Comedy has to have its basis in truth. It's an exaggeration of the truth. That's usually where the joke comes from, or from something's incongruity with the truth. Saying that it's all a bed of roses, you are not being truthful, and so I don't think you can be very effective as a comedian. Christian comedians are very, very prone to being very honest and candid with their struggles of what they are going through, probably much more than a musician. A musician has a little bit more luxury to romanticize."