Sarcy

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Colossians4:6NIV

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians4:29NIV

I need to nail something down. Right now. My Scottish culture almost demands that you are sarcastic, and the more sarcastic you can be, the better. To soften the barbs, we find it goes by other names like, ‘a bit of fun’, ‘banter’, ‘harmless chatter’, ‘inoffensive laughs’ and the favourite, ‘everybody does it’. It doesn’t sound so bad like that, does it? However, sometimes it feels like a competition and I’m getting tired of it.

The little brother of sarcasm is irony, and there is a better place in our language for that, than for being sarcastic. Let me throw a lifeline. Done well, sarcasm can be very funny and more so when no one is affected personally. Scottish menfolk are not good at light sarcasm. It has to be full bore or not at all. In fact, the more personal you can make your sarcastic comments, that would seem to work for many. Because this is a cultural failure, the ailment has seeped into the church, and good Christians have become quite adept at the ‘art’. Social media is a favourite gallery to display your prowess’.

I wonder how Jesus views our conversations? We do have good evidence that God would prefer we didn’t sink to that level as seen in the two verses above. There are many more taken in context which would support this.

The ground has been pierced by my sword from here on. I cannot do anything to stop my friends being who they are, or holding to this kind of so called humour, but I can exert some pressure to change myself, from the inside. So, when addressed in sarcasm, whether personally or aimed at another, I will not react or respond. For my own part, it dies right there. I feel I have been here before, but each time I backslide, the worse the error of my sarcasm becomes. Is my target too high, and perhaps unattainable? I hope not because I don’t like myself when I slide back, even a little.

Sarcasm defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary: “The use of remarks that clearly mean the opposite of what they say, made in order to hurt someone's feelings or to criticize something in a humorous way.” Or how about this definition?: “the use of irony to mock or convey contempt.” ...and still the answer comes back, “..it’s only a bit of banter, a bit of fun!” Somehow I don’t see my culture changing anytime soon!

Epitaph? What Will It Be?

One of the believers was named Joseph. The apostles called him Barnabas, a name that means “one who encourages others.” Acts 4:36

We are good at putting ourselves in a good light, even when things don’t look that way to others. No one likes to be thought badly of and the natural thing is to act and behave in such a way that others will like us, and maybe even think we are funny.

Our National bard put it well when he said, “Ah wid some power the Giftie gie us, tae see oorselves as ithers see us”. Wise words, but not always heeded. We don’t get a complete picture of Barnabas in the New Testament, but what we do know should give us a goal.

If you are in a crowd of friends, and some pick on you, put you down, and belittle you my guess is that you don’t feel good about yourself and are not likely to help others to feel good about themselves. If, on the other hand, there are a few friends who help and encourage you, and even see past your faults to boost your confidence, I suggest that will make you want to do the same and help others. What an encouragement we can be, if we but take the time and opportunities when they arise.

You must have noticed that Barnabas did not confer this ‘encourager’ title on himself. It was the apostles around him, noticing how he acted with others, who called him “one who encourages others”. What a lovely, amazing, and yes Christ like trait to possess. When the time comes for others to put a headstone over your grave, what kind of person will it say you had been? A Barnabas? A son or daughter of encouragement? In our openly sarcastic society, I earnestly pray that simple prayer, and with God’s help it may just happen if I let His love shine through. Will you join me?