Glorifying God with Laughter

After a history of abuse and overcoming homosexual tendencies by finding a relationship with God, Christine Sneeringer managed to find a way not only to smile again but to laugh. Today Sneeringer runs an interdenominational Christian parachurch ministry in South Florida called Worthy Creations and performs stand-up comedy.

Glorifying God through humor, Sneeringer does so by sharing her testimony, establishing the fact that she used to be a lesbian and then joking about her gender insecurities and dating life. “My comedy is so new that I’m still figuring it out,” said Sneeringer. “But there is a ministry aspect to my comedy. It’s a subversive way to impact culture with the message that there is freedom from homosexuality.”

Sneeringer adds that performing in front of a secular audience can be somewhat intimidating. “I don’t have a lot of fear of rejection when I’m speaking to Christian audiences. It’s another thing to bring a politically incorrect message to a world that’s mostly convinced that homosexuality is genetic and unchangeable. I’m living proof that homosexuality is not a fixed condition.”

For now, Sneeringer said she’s getting laughs. “I get right into my topic early on, establishing that I used to be gay. Then I follow it up with, “I can prove I’m not a lesbian anymore. I learned how to accessorize!”

Debut opportunity

In March, Sneeringer performed at a benefit for GraceNet radio at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale. “That was really my debut because I had a lot more stage time than at a typical open mic night, and it was my biggest opportunity to reach more people,” she said. There were about 400 in attendance.

Known amongst her friends and colleagues as being naturally humorous, Sneeringer said that she did not intend on being a comedian. “I got into comedy kind of by accident,” says the Christian comedian, “but then again there are no accidents with God!”

Though encouraged by her friends to pursue comedy, it was not until Christine heard a Christian comedian speak at a leadership development course that she finally acknowledged her calling towards Christian comedy.
The following month Sneeringer decided to take a three-month long course in which students worked on pursuing two goals. While writing was one of her goals, Christine made comedy her second goal. During that coaching program, Christine did stand-up comedy three times.

Surprise mentor

Although Christine originally intended to quit comedy after the program, God had other plans. The day after Christine’s course ended, the phone rang. It was the established Christian comedian Michael Jr., a comedian who has appeared in front of many secular audiences including, but not limited to: The Tonight Show, Comedy Central and Jimmy Kimmel Live. And yet he was calling Christine Sneeringer to tell her that God had told him to call her to ask to be her mentor. “I didn’t tell him that comedy was just an experiment for me and that I had retired from it already. I just said okay to his offer. I took it as a sign from God that I was supposed to continue in comedy,” said Sneeringer. “Michael Jr. told me early on, ‘Your stuff is so talkable. If you were on the same stage as Chris Rock they would come out of the show talking about the former lesbian.’” she said.
Despite having intended to quit comedy, Sneeringer currently performs at open mic nights and other events when invited, “So invite me,” jokes Sneeringer.

Worthy creations

She also stills run Worthy Creations, which serves to educate and equip the body of Christ on how to deal with homosexuality in a biblical and compassionate way and to offer an alternative to those struggling with unwanted same-sex attractions. She does this through speaking engagements, youth events, seminars and multimedia resources that they produce and distribute. Next month she is expected to speak with the chaplains of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) about ministering to lesbian athletes.

Cresonia Hsieh is a journalism student from the University of Florida. She can be reached at [email protected].

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