Sarcasm saturates our conversations and interactions to such a degree that for most it is commonplace. So much so that we scarcely notice how much it colors our own speech – especially around others who are fluent in its dialect. Just like anything with which we are familiar, we become immune to it – or at the very least comfortable being around it.
One of the pervasive historical influences in the county in which I live is strife and division. It was here when John Wesley attempted to work with the first Moravian settlement in the U.S. – the historical site of which lies just miles from my home – and it is here still. In spades.
This past week, as we’ve celebrated the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and prepared for the upcoming Yom Kippur, I am reflective. And in my reflective time, I felt the Lord drawing my attention to the sarcasm. It permeates, it feeds, and it eggs on.
As Americans, we cut our teeth on sarcasm, but there are cultures in the world where they are literally baffled by it and struggle to make sense of why we use and how we tolerate it.
As Christians our words ought to be seasoned with grace and love, but too often we use sarcasm as our one last defense, our cloaked attempt to say what we mean without being hateful. Yet, it is still hateful – just within acceptable levels in our society.
I’m soft-peddling this but, I’ve been challenged to watch my words and even the thoughts that lead to my words. Truly, “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45) To curb the strife and division that the enemy would like to perpetrate amongst our ranks, we must control our tongues. Getting rid of sarcastic speech that is “designed to cut or give pain” is a great place to start. Check out the second definition up there … sarcasm depends on bitter words. We know bitterness will eat us alive. We know it should not have residence in our hearts, yet we allow that to breed within us and while it may not escape our lips in other forms, we permit it in sarcasm. Perhaps because it is the only acceptable way to demonstrate our bitterness as Christians.
It is better to eradicate that bitterness and let the healing of God get inside your heart. Sometimes to get to the root of things, you have to follow the clues. I’m following my sarcasm to the root of the bitterness within me and praying for God to uproot it in its entirety. But … I have to be willing to change not only my speech but my thought pattern, and ultimately my heart and its meditations.
How about you? What is God showing you?