Scornful men bring a city into a snare; but wise men turn away wrath.
Scornful people refuse to learn anything from those who disagree with them. Their language is always laced with disdain, mockery, and sarcasm towards their opponents. Respect all but disappears. These scorners will communicate spite for the president or governor of the state. They speak evil of dignitaries (2 Pet. 2:10). They cannot think of anything good to say at all. When in truth there is little difference between political parties, scorners speak as if one is far better than the other. They consider themselves the absolute standard of what is right and true. Instead of doubting themselves and referring others to the standard of truth revealed in Scripture, they accuse others of gross ignorance for not aligning with their own perspective. They cannot see the inherent weaknesses and inconsistencies in their own economic and political solutions.
When all parties of a nation resort to hateful spite for each other through constant streams of scorn and mockery, this will undermine the unity of the civil body. This in turn introduces anarchy, which inevitably leads to a breakdown of freedom and economic prosperity in the nation. That is how scornful men bring a city into a snare.
Nevertheless, this does not preclude all uses of sarcasm on the part of God’s people. Elijah and Isaiah mocked the idolatry of Israel and the prophets of Baal. Jesus attacked Pharisaism with a measure of scorn (Matt. 23). However, it is far better to mock ideas and idols than individuals or political leaders. It is exceedingly dangerous when a ministry or a person’s work is characterized entirely by a constant stream of scorn and sarcasm. Talk radio in the present day often turns into a scorn fest with one party spewing a torrent of scorn against the other. Scorn like this is merely therapeutic for those who have learned to hate the opposite party. It does not do much to persuade people of the truth. On occasion, we might employ a little scorn to wake somebody up as we might splash a little water in somebody’s face to wake him out of sleep. But it would be wrong to drown him in buckets of water!
Excessive scorn betrays insincerity on the part of the scorner. He may successfully elicit scornful laughter and hatred from some other person, but he certainly does not convey a spirit of humility and the fear of God. He hates some idea or institution, but he doesn’t really love God and others. As with the church in Ephesus, they were good at hating the deeds of the Nicolaitans (which Jesus also hated), but they were terrible at loving (Rev. 2:1–8). As God-fearers, we are called both to hate and to love. Some professing believers would have one without the other, but both are important if we are to love God sincerely and hate the world of pride and lust.
Stirring up wrath among our opponents is usually unprofitable, and that is what happens when we resort to sarcasm and satire. In the case of Elijah, Jesus, and Isaiah, they were more interested in winning the ears of the common people rather than the support of the prophets of Baal and the Pharisees. So, we must know our audience before engaging in this kind of rhetorical device.
For men who lead in the church or the civil state, it is important that they work hard to keep the peace. God calls us to live at peace with all men as much as possible (Matt. 5:9; Rom. 14:19; 1 Cor. 7:15). And it takes a wise man to know how to quell wrath among opposing parties. This is essential for good leadership. Every good leader is a peacemaker.
1. How is scorn used in a proper way? How is it used in a sinful way?
2. What does scorn, satire, and sarcasm accomplish?
3. Does our family engage too much in sarcasm? Are we too negative? Are we better haters than lovers of good things?