In Proverbs 9:7-12 it says,
“Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse,
and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury.
Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you;
reprove a wise man, and he will love you.
Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;
teach a righteous man and he will increase in learning.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
For by me your days will be multiplied,
and years will be added to your life.
If you are wise, you are wise for yourself;
if you scoff, you alone will bear it.”
We're introduced to this last category of fool, the mocker. This will be familiar since we live in a very cynical age, where people are doubting any kind of truth. It's fashionable to call everything into question. In The Abolition of Man, C. S. Lewis says that cynicism has a spiraling effect. Cynicism about one thing leads to another and another until a person finds themselves in a place where they're cynical about everything. A person who doubts one fundamental thing invites doubt to run rampant through their life until, eventually, they doubt everything. This is the person the sage refers to in Proverbs, the mocker, or scornful person, who has left cynicism unchecked. They have nothing left to believe in other than their own opinions.
The mocker is our last category, it's the word luts. This is the person who wants to debunk everything. They doubt everything except for their own half-baked opinions. It's very fashionable for them to deride God and others. This is the culture that we live in today, where it's very fashionable to mock Christians and God. But it’s not limited to non-Christians.
We can be susceptible to becoming mockers. Let me offer a few thoughts that I have about how this kind of mocking can get into our own hearts.
Proverbs 13:1 reads this way;
“A wise man hears his father's instruction,
but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke."
No one likes to be rebuked, but how do you respond to somebody who might be a close friend that actually loves you enough to call into question a behavior or a belief that you have? I know that most of you, including me, have these thoughts in our mind like Who are you to tell me what is right? We end up having these mocking thoughts run through our mind, You don't really know what you're talking about or I don't really trust you. This mocking tone can come to rule our lives and push out the humility we need.
My second question for you would be, how cynical are you? Do you approach everything with this attitude of “Prove it then I’ll believe it.”? Do you nitpick everything so that you don't have to believe in anything? Again, this is what C. S.Lewis was getting at. Are there really some things that you need to place a stake in the ground to say, “I believe this. I trust in this because this comes from a good God.”
Last question, do you mock the poor?
In Proverbs 17:5 it reads: "Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker...” As you approach the issue of poverty, are you smug? Do you ignore how complex the issue of poverty is and instead throw around your half-baked ideas like that people should pull themselves up by the bootstraps? In doing these things, you mock people who find themselves in the throes of poverty.
Let me pray for us, that we would be the kinds of people that do not let this mocking attitude fester in us.
Prayer for Today
Dear Lord, There's much in our culture that not only mocks us but also mocks you. Help us to be the kind of people that drive a stake into the ground when it comes to beliefs about your goodness, your love, and your presence in our life. Help us to reject this kind of mocking attitude toward other people. We pray that you would do this now in Jesus name, amen.
