Rules for Fair Play
Click Sarcasm, Mocking & Other Dangerous Sins to read part one of this series.
Are you saying we should never poke fun? No, I’m not. I think it is good to humorously enjoy one another from time to time and in the right manner. But here are a few questions to think about when it comes to mocking, sarcasm and other sins of the tongue:
- Are you characterized as a silly person, a mocker, or a person who is hard to talk to because of your sarcasm or mocking?
- When people think of you, do they primarily think about your affection for the Father? What are you primarily known for?
- Do you pray more with (not just for) the folks you mock or do you mock and generally make fun of them more?
- What is the nature of your relationship with the people you put down? Where do the scales tilt, e.g. putting down or building up?
- If you do enjoy putting others down through mocking or sarcasm, have you asked those you do this to how they feel about it or what they think about what you do?
Some Bible Input
If you are a mocker and/or enjoy sarcasm, place what you do within the following biblical guidelines. I’ve listed some bible helps to serve as a guide regarding how we think about our tongues:
- Psalm 19:14 – Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
- Ephesians 4:29 - Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
- James 3:9-12 - With it (tongue) we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
- Galatians 5:22-23 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
- Philippians 2:11 – and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
- Colossians 3:16 - Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
- Matthew 15:19 - For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.
- Titus 3:2 - to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.
- Proverbs 13:3 - Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.
Application Questions
- Do you enjoy authentic fellowship with the people you mock? The point of this question is that it is not wise to interact with folks through mocking when there is only a casual relationship.
- Related to the question above, do you spend more time praying with the person you enjoy putting down?
- Are you more prone to identify God’s good activity in people’s lives or more apt to criticize others? Are you known more for your gratitude or your put downs?
- Would you talk to three of your friends today about this post and ask them how it applies to you?
Articles in this series
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T. B. said, oh boy, got some work to do here