Episode 55

Chase Replogle

Not Funny & Not At Another's Expense

I enjoy sharing lessons I'm learning from my writing. This episode addresses my attempts at humor and the disturbing discovery those jokes have lead me to.
I enjoy sharing lessons I'm learning from my writing. This episode addresses my attempts at humor and the disturbing discovery those jokes have lead me to.
00:00 16:43

Show Notes:55. Chase Replogle — Not Funny & Not at Another’s Expense

I really enjoy authors who can manage to pull off humor in their writing. Particularly I like witty humor.

I often find myself trying to be clever and funny when I write. The vast majority of it gets cut upon my first reread. Usually, it isn’t that funny or that clever. But every once in a while, I manage to find something I’m confident enough to leave in.

But lately, I’ve been recognizing something in my attempts at humor that is concerning. My humor too often comes at someone else’s expense.


Crystal Hodges’s Story

Schadenfreude (Wikipedia)

Not Just a German Word: A Brief History of Schadenfreude

  • Tomorrow is the official release date of A Sharp Compassion. Thanks to everyone who has pre-ordered it. The pre-ordered copies have been arriving over the last few days. I can’t wait for you to read it. Please share your thoughts and your copies when they arrive.
  • A Sharp Compassion releases in less than one week. 

“In our desperate search for comfort, the temptation to minimize, neutralize, or distort the cross looms large for Christians navigating the fragility of our own shortcomings. But the cross is offensive. As Chase Replogle reminds us, ‘the cross is the singular offense we must not lose, for it frees us from all other offenses.’ A Sharp Compassion is a timely diagnosis of our contemporary condition, offering a challenging but accessible, difficult but beautiful path forward, away from suffocating fragility, toward a spacious and free life.”

Jay Y. Kim, Pastor and Author
  • “Through a careful look at some of Jesus’s most challenging conversations, Chase helps us better understand the trap of offense and how Jesus can rescue us from it. Like a skilled surgeon, Chase uses Jesus’s words to dissect our lives, helping us recognize the insecurity and idolatry that often leads us to envy and offense. Jesus loves us enough to be honest with us. For those willing to listen, his hardest words also turn out to be some of his best. With Chase’s usual mix of history, psychology, and literature, A Sharp Compassion is a fascinating and sober read. For those willing to take the journey, you’ll learn and certainly be changed.”

Mark Batterson
Lead pastor of National Community Church; New York Times bestselling author of The Circle Maker
  • A Sharp Compassion is now available for pre-order on audible!
  • I spent the past week with a great writers group in Kentucky. Great good, hospitality, and conversations on writing. And I signed my first copy of A Sharp Compassion.
  • Just wanted to say thanks to those who have been pre-ordering the new book. Fun to see it ranked number three under Christian social issues.
  • Link in bio. A Sharp Compassion is officially online for pre-order. I've got a new episode on the Pastor Writer podcast introducing the book.
  • Link in Bio

I think our current debates about the Paris Olympics reflect how little we understand offense and our need for a Christian theology of offense. Of course it was offensive; the real question is what Christians should do with offense.
  • St Louis day trip, art museum and rainy day at the zoo.
  • Excerpt from Chapter 1: “A Sharp Compassion” is a line from T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets in which he describes Christ’s work as the wound that heals. Sometimes, it’s Jesus’s hardest words that work the greatest healing. But if we find ourselves offended by hard words, we risk never discovering that greater healing.
Tomorrow is the official release date of A Sharp Compassion. Thanks to everyone who has pre-ordered it. The pre-ordered copies have been arriving over the last few days. I can’t wait for you to read it. Please share your thoughts and your copies when they arrive.
Tomorrow is the official release date of A Sharp Compassion. Thanks to everyone who has pre-ordered it. The pre-ordered copies have been arriving over the last few days. I can’t wait for you to read it. Please share your thoughts and your copies when they arrive.
4 days ago
View on Instagram |
1/10
A Sharp Compassion releases in less than one week. 

“In our desperate search for comfort, the temptation to minimize, neutralize, or distort the cross looms large for Christians navigating the fragility of our own shortcomings. But the cross is offensive. As Chase Replogle reminds us, ‘the cross is the singular offense we must not lose, for it frees us from all other offenses.’ A Sharp Compassion is a timely diagnosis of our contemporary condition, offering a challenging but accessible, difficult but beautiful path forward, away from suffocating fragility, toward a spacious and free life.”

Jay Y. Kim, Pastor and Author
A Sharp Compassion releases in less than one week. “In our desperate search for comfort, the temptation to minimize, neutralize, or distort the cross looms large for Christians navigating the fragility of our own shortcomings. But the cross is offensive. As Chase Replogle reminds us, ‘the cross is the singular offense we must not lose, for it frees us from all other offenses.’ A Sharp Compassion is a timely diagnosis of our contemporary condition, offering a challenging but accessible, difficult but beautiful path forward, away from suffocating fragility, toward a spacious and free life.” Jay Y. Kim, Pastor and Author
1 week ago
View on Instagram |
2/10
“Through a careful look at some of Jesus’s most challenging conversations, Chase helps us better understand the trap of offense and how Jesus can rescue us from it. Like a skilled surgeon, Chase uses Jesus’s words to dissect our lives, helping us recognize the insecurity and idolatry that often leads us to envy and offense. Jesus loves us enough to be honest with us. For those willing to listen, his hardest words also turn out to be some of his best. With Chase’s usual mix of history, psychology, and literature, A Sharp Compassion is a fascinating and sober read. For those willing to take the journey, you’ll learn and certainly be changed.”

Mark Batterson
Lead pastor of National Community Church; New York Times bestselling author of The Circle Maker
“Through a careful look at some of Jesus’s most challenging conversations, Chase helps us better understand the trap of offense and how Jesus can rescue us from it. Like a skilled surgeon, Chase uses Jesus’s words to dissect our lives, helping us recognize the insecurity and idolatry that often leads us to envy and offense. Jesus loves us enough to be honest with us. For those willing to listen, his hardest words also turn out to be some of his best. With Chase’s usual mix of history, psychology, and literature, A Sharp Compassion is a fascinating and sober read. For those willing to take the journey, you’ll learn and certainly be changed.” Mark Batterson Lead pastor of National Community Church; New York Times bestselling author of The Circle Maker
2 weeks ago
View on Instagram |
3/10
A Sharp Compassion is now available for pre-order on audible!
A Sharp Compassion is now available for pre-order on audible!
3 weeks ago
View on Instagram |
4/10
I spent the past week with a great writers group in Kentucky. Great good, hospitality, and conversations on writing. And I signed my first copy of A Sharp Compassion.
I spent the past week with a great writers group in Kentucky. Great good, hospitality, and conversations on writing. And I signed my first copy of A Sharp Compassion.
I spent the past week with a great writers group in Kentucky. Great good, hospitality, and conversations on writing. And I signed my first copy of A Sharp Compassion.
I spent the past week with a great writers group in Kentucky. Great good, hospitality, and conversations on writing. And I signed my first copy of A Sharp Compassion.
I spent the past week with a great writers group in Kentucky. Great good, hospitality, and conversations on writing. And I signed my first copy of A Sharp Compassion.
4 weeks ago
View on Instagram |
5/10
Just wanted to say thanks to those who have been pre-ordering the new book. Fun to see it ranked number three under Christian social issues.
Just wanted to say thanks to those who have been pre-ordering the new book. Fun to see it ranked number three under Christian social issues.
1 month ago
View on Instagram |
6/10
Link in bio. A Sharp Compassion is officially online for pre-order. I've got a new episode on the Pastor Writer podcast introducing the book.
Link in bio. A Sharp Compassion is officially online for pre-order. I've got a new episode on the Pastor Writer podcast introducing the book.
1 month ago
View on Instagram |
7/10
Link in Bio

I think our current debates about the Paris Olympics reflect how little we understand offense and our need for a Christian theology of offense. Of course it was offensive; the real question is what Christians should do with offense.
Link in Bio I think our current debates about the Paris Olympics reflect how little we understand offense and our need for a Christian theology of offense. Of course it was offensive; the real question is what Christians should do with offense.
2 months ago
View on Instagram |
8/10
St Louis day trip, art museum and rainy day at the zoo.
St Louis day trip, art museum and rainy day at the zoo.
St Louis day trip, art museum and rainy day at the zoo.
St Louis day trip, art museum and rainy day at the zoo.
St Louis day trip, art museum and rainy day at the zoo.
2 months ago
View on Instagram |
9/10
Excerpt from Chapter 1: “A Sharp Compassion” is a line from T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets in which he describes Christ’s work as the wound that heals. Sometimes, it’s Jesus’s hardest words that work the greatest healing. But if we find ourselves offended by hard words, we risk never discovering that greater healing.
Excerpt from Chapter 1: “A Sharp Compassion” is a line from T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets in which he describes Christ’s work as the wound that heals. Sometimes, it’s Jesus’s hardest words that work the greatest healing. But if we find ourselves offended by hard words, we risk never discovering that greater healing.
Excerpt from Chapter 1: “A Sharp Compassion” is a line from T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets in which he describes Christ’s work as the wound that heals. Sometimes, it’s Jesus’s hardest words that work the greatest healing. But if we find ourselves offended by hard words, we risk never discovering that greater healing.
Excerpt from Chapter 1: “A Sharp Compassion” is a line from T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets in which he describes Christ’s work as the wound that heals. Sometimes, it’s Jesus’s hardest words that work the greatest healing. But if we find ourselves offended by hard words, we risk never discovering that greater healing.
2 months ago
View on Instagram |
10/10

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