SARCASM

Ephesians 4:29—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.

The furnace of character development is heated for many by speech. Growing up, I was the butt of “short-people” jokes. Remember the song that came out in the ‘80’s making fun of short people?—“short people got no reason to live.” Unfortunately, I learned early on that an effective defense against cutting remarks was the use of sarcasm. A witty putdown can become an art-form. It feels good to sting the stinger. But does it really?

Criticism or “put-downs” can inflict damage. But sarcasm also hurts. It reveals that my strength is not in the Lord but rather in my tongue. Just as I can be wounded by another’s remarks, so can I lacerate by being sarcastic. The mark of a believer is not to wound others when badgered but to edify them. The Bible nowhere commends us for verbally stabbing those who provoke with their words or behavior. Instead God challenges us to speak words that build others up. The next time you feel a witty putdown--stuff it. Be like Jesus who bore the insults of the religious elite and chose to love them. “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth.”—Isaiah 53:7.

Inspiration
Sarcasm is the weapon of a weak, spiteful nature, its literal meaning is to tear the flesh from the bone.—Oswald Chambers in The Pilgrim’s Song Book