To Mock Is Divine

To Mock Is Divine?

Well... here's what I mean. I just did a cursory search. The Bible is a big book, but the word "mock" isn't used in it terribly often. And even where this word does appear, it's rarely God who is doing the mocking.

God doesn't mock much. In fact, depending upon the translation used, God hardly mocks at all.

But God does mock certain individuals. What sorts of individuals?

Mockers.

Proverbs 3:34
He mocks proud mockers
but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.

Thus my tongue-in-cheek header: "To mock is divine." But humor aside, it's more clearly stated in the negative: "If you're not divine, don't mock." (Corollary: "But if you do, you can be sure God will return you the favor...") God can mock if he wants to. The rest of us are on awfully shaky ground when we presume to do the same.

So what got me on this topic? Watching my kids mock a movie series. They mocked its weakness every which way. Poor acting here. Poor acting there. Poor directing. It wasn't a pleasant thing to endure. But what made it most unpleasant of all was the inescapable fact that they had learned to mock these movies... from me. They mimicked my scorn. Copied my very words and mannerisms. I was watching a virtual instant replay of my own acts of mockery.

It was ugly. And I'm not just saying that. It turned my stomach to hear my own words come from a child's lips.

I want my kids to stop mocking. I do intend to speak with them about the matter. I want to reform their behavior. But before I do, I need to reform my own behavior.

God doesn't like it when I mock. Having watched my kids mimic my own words and attitudes, I can see why. It's ugly because scorn is heaped on the frailties and imperfections of others made in the image of God.

Somebody made those films. If they were in the room to watch my kids rip them up, I'd have wanted to crawl under the carpet. But God was in that room, and God loves the director of those films. God loves the actors who appear in them.

Do I have to call sweet all things that are sour? Absolutely not. But the option of silence is always there for me. How often I decline it.

Proverbs 3:34
He mocks proud mockers
but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.

It's hard to mock when you're silent. It's easy to be silent, however, when you're humble. No wonder silence and solitude are considered powerful disciplines among not only monks but among all who seek spiritual maturity! What better a cure for the habit of mocking than the practice of silence?

Psalm 1:1-3
Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers...
but whose delight is in the law of the LORD,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.