Why we should be thankful for MOCKERS

51 CommentsThink about it!

In this morning’s daily reading from Morning and Evening, that great devotional by the Prince of Preachers, I was greatly encouraged by Charles Spurgeon on how to think about those who constantly deride us for our faith.

“All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head.”—Psalm 22:7.

MOCKERY was a great ingredient in our Lord’s woe. Judas mocked Him in the garden; the chief priests and scribes laughed Him to scorn; Herod set Him at nought; the servants and the soldiers jeered at Him, and brutally insulted Him; Pilate and his guards ridiculed His royalty; and on the tree all sorts of horrid jests and hideous taunts were hurled at Him. Ridicule is always hard to bear, but when we are in intense pain it is so heartless, so cruel, that it cuts us to the quick.

Imagine the Saviour crucified, racked with anguish far beyond all mortal guess, and then picture that motley multitude, all wagging their heads or thrusting out the lip in bitterest contempt of one poor suffering victim! Surely there must have been something more in the crucified One than they could see, or else such a great and mingled crowd would not unanimously have honoured Him with such contempt. Was it not evil confessing, in the very moment of its greatest apparent triumph, that after all it could do no more than mock at that victorious goodness which was then reigning on the cross?

O Jesus, “despised and rejected of men,” how couldst Thou die for men who treated Thee so ill?

Herein is love amazing, love divine, yea, love beyond degree. We, too, have despised Thee in the days of our unregeneracy, and even since our new birth we have set the world on high in our hearts, and yet Thou bleedest to heal our wounds, and diest to give us life. O that we could set Thee on a glorious high throne in all men’s hearts! We would ring out Thy praises over land and sea till men should as universally adore as once they did unanimously reject.

Thy creatures wrong Thee, O Thou sovereign Good! Thou art not loved, because not understood: This grieves me most, that vain pursuits beguile ungrateful men, regardless of Thy smile.

Comments (51)

  1. Whateverman

    Reply

    Well… yes, you should be thankful. Being mocked allows you to pretend that you’re more Jesus-like, and that you’re persecuted for your faith. More practically, it also shows that you’re not communicating effectively, which is something that should concern any sincere evangelist.

  2. Beth Renee

    Reply

    I went to wearesmrt to find Jim’s photo of living waters hq. I was shocked to find a violent video posted by someone named E-lad at Apr 13, 2012 12:22 pm.

      • vintango2k

        Would it be fair to say, they’re Christians… they’re capable of Crusades? =)

      • Whateverman

        They’re not all atheists. Just thought you’d want to know, Beth, because Steve certainly isn’t going to tell you that.

      • perdita

        They’re atheists and capable of anything.

        Too true. Like gunning down a doctor inside a church, or beating an 11 year-old with a switch until he lost consciousness and his kidneys were damaged, or staging a mock kidnapping with real guns, or sending a high school girl death and rape threats, or killing children for witchcraft, or be one of the many people that have supported the above actions.

        Silly, when will you learn you can’t judge people by labels, you judge people by their own thoughts and actions? You may say that none of those people were True Christians, but I’ll bet they sincerely believe that not only are they True Christians, but that their actions were Biblically justified and they were doing God’s work.

      • perdita

        Nope.

        That wasn’t a response to me, was it? If it was, “nopte” to what exactly?

      • Nohm

        carl,

        Two things:

        1. No one is calling anyone in your list “people with no moral compass”. There’s a big difference, there.

        2. The point that people try to make with “atheists are under-represented in prisons” is that the percentage of atheists in prisons is much lower than the percentage of atheists in society. To clarify, the “under-represented” claim compares “atheists in prisons” to “atheists in society”, and not “people in society”.

      • Whateverman

        Atheists comprise a small percentage of incarcerated people because:

        1. Small population of atheists
        2. Being an atheist is probably unpopular in prison
        I think those are excellent points, carl.

        The problem still exists, though. If the US is 90% Christian, a simple statistical model would expect 90% of prisoners to be Christian; if atheists made up 10%, we’d expect 10% of prisoners to be atheists.

        However, there’s a larger percentage of Christians in proison than there are Christians in American society as a whole.

        Christians are over represented in prison.

      • Steve Sanchez

        With 76% calling themselves Christian in America (some say it’s higher) I would agree.

        Those false converts make the rest of look bad…

      • Christopher

        Steve wrote “They’re atheists and capable of anything”.

        Now Steve you know that’s a lie. Tell me Steve why do you feel it necessary to tell so many lies? Is it because you are a compulsive liar & can’t help yourself or because of your father the prince of lies?

      • Whateverman

        Those false converts make the rest of look bad…
        You’re not doing that great of a job of making Christians look good either, Steve.

      • perdita

        Those false converts make the rest of look bad…

        Yeah, but we haven’t a way to accurately determine who is a false convert and who isn’t. (No stripes on their backs, or whatever Spurgeon said in that quote.)

        I’m sure none of the theists posting here consider themselves false converts, but there are other Christians that will think you guys are the false converts and that they are the real deal. You can’t ask me to look at the fruit they bear, because, again, Group A Christians may think that Action A proves they are True Christians, while Group B Christians think that Action A proves they are false converts.

        If you ask me who bears the fruit, I would point to some of those Evil Librul Christians like the Slactivist, while someone else entirely might point to the Pearls.

    • theB1ackSwan

      Reply

      Violent video? All I see is Child Celebrities Opposing Kirk Cameron? Is that what you consider violent?

    • perdita

      Reply

      Beth, if you want to find examples of a True Christian behaving badly, look at the posts of Debunking Atheists. He’s a real winner for your side.

    • vintango2k

      Reply

      Wow so Christians didn’t go on the Crusades, your history skills seem to be lacking, silly man =)

      • Really?

        You forgot the Spanish Inquisition, or residential schools run by the church in Canada. But then again Catholics probably aren’t Christian according to Mr. Sanchez.

      • BathTub

        No it’s not, but you keep pretending it is. As I keep pointing out.

    • ryk

      Reply

      Carl the small portion of atheists in prison is based on statistics by the bureau of prisons compared to census data. It is a per capita statistic which means that the small population is not an issue and would not be relevant to the statistics. Your second point is more valid, Christians are a violent lot and yes there is some pressure to not be an open atheist in prison, however such pressure does not seem to be enough to account for the huge discrepency, also as the data is based on the percentage of atheists in society in general, which also pressures atheists to not openly declare their lack of faith there is some cancelling out there.

      I am not trying to say that atheists are underrepresented in prison because atheism is a great moral code or anything. Atheism does not address morality at all, it only addresses belief in Gods. Atheists draw their moral codes from a variety of philosophies. What I am saying is that the claim that Christians or any other brand of theist has superior morality is clearly false.

    • BathTub

      Reply

      I really love that the same Christians too afraid to get into a conversation over here are spending lots of time over at wearesmrt also too afraid to get into conversations over there, but happy to spend time looking for things to pretend to be offended over..

      And then rushing over here to tell steve all about it.

  3. Ryk

    Reply

    Although I addressed this previously when you posted it before, that post is incorrect. Statistically atheists are more law abiding than Christians. Furthermore atheism does not address such things at all only belief in Gods or lack thereof. Morality is an entirely seperate issue,

    However as I said even though atheism does not address morality, atheists are, as i said more law abiding than theists.

    Also considering that theists are the ones who commit the vast majority of murders, terrorist attacks, child rapes, genocides and other atrocities you are very much throwing stones out of your glass house.

    • Steve Sanchez

      Reply

      Remember, you are talking about those who call themselves Christians. Of that, I would agree with you. Nominal Christians are the worst. Religious people are dangerous. See? We agree. At least with an atheist, I will know not to trust them outright.

      • Steve Sanchez

        I look at the word “religious” differently than you. I see a religious person as one attempting to please God through his actions as a means of salvation. I see religious people as those who are saints on Sundays but “sinners” the other 6 days. In other words, faith in God does not change the inner person. I see myself as one who has a relationship with God as evidenced by my life. Oh yes, I still sin, sometimes greatly, but I don’t want to. I care about my sin and turn from it when I can, not as a means of staying saved, my relationship with God is secure, but as a means of maintaining my fellowship with God.

        Does this help?

      • Whateverman

        Steven Sanchez, you lied when you wrote “I’m not religious”.

        What kind of cute response will you use to hide from this fact?

      • Whateverman

        I wonder if a review of your financial records would show you filed under section 501 of the tax code? Have you ever claimed tax exemptions for religious reasons, Steve?

        If so, wouldn’t this prove, to your God, that you’ve just lied in regards to being “not religious”?

      • carl

        “Listen to me iv you vant to live… vor eternity.” -The Sermonator

        “Say hasta la vista baby to your sinful life, repent and believe the Gospel.” -The Sermonator

        “The Sermonator’s a salvation unit, part evangelist, part preacher. Underneath, it’s a hyper-alloy spiritual combat chassis – Holy Spirit micro processor-controlled, fully armored. Very tough.” -Righteous Reese

        “Listen, and understand atheists! That Sermonator is out there! It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be intimidated. It doesn’t feel embarrassment, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are SAVED.” -Righteous Reese

      • carl

        Coming to a beach, beer garden, mall, pier, park, stadium, college and park near you… Steve Sanchez as “The Sermonator”.

      • Whateverman

        I look at the word “religious” differently than you.
        I’m sure you do. You redefine it into something more self-serving yet impractical. Baha’is wouldn’t be religious under your definition, for example, and neither would Jehova’s Witnesses or Calvinists.

        The cold hard truth is that you know you’re religious, and try to pretend otherwise to make YOUR faith seem different / better than all the rest.

        I’m pretty sure your pride is blinding you to the fact that you lie eagerly when it suits you here.

      • Steve Sanchez

        The cold hard truth is that you know you’re religious, and try to pretend otherwise to make YOUR faith seem different / better than all the rest.

        It is different and it is better.

        Indeed, pride is always a problem. I know that because I’m probably more prideful than you.

      • Christopher

        Religious [adj] Of or pertaining to a faith or worship.
        From the Encyclopedic dictionary.

        It seems that according to the English language you ARE religious Steve so enough of these lies.

      • Whateverman

        It is different and it is better.
        You have faith that your faith is different and better, but that’s all you have. You can’t demonstrate that it is so, and if your behavior on this blog is any indication, your faith is in error.

        Indeed, pride is always a problem. I know that because I’m probably more prideful than you.
        I can’t tell either way. All I know is that you lie about the nature of your faith.

    • Steve Sanchez

      Reply

      And what standard are you using to judge me? I don’t allow “over the top” meanness, Ryk. Subtle jibes and snarkiness—even silly atheist facts—I do allow. This is why the majority of your comments are allowed.

      • Really?

        It is, of course, silly when “the fact” abolishes any standing you had regarding a particular argument, like say the criminality of Christians vs. Atheists.

      • Christopher

        Steve wrote “silly atheist facts”.

        That’s Steve’s attempt to invent a language. Sorry Steve but there are no atheist facts nor are there Christian, nor Buddhist nor Islamic facts. There are only facts.

        Fact [noun]: What has really happened or is the case; truth; reality.

  5. perdita

    Reply

    So, mockery is bad when it’s directed at Christians, but good when it’s Christians directing it at non-Christians?

  6. Ryk

    Reply

    What standard.

    The standards commonly accepted among men in my culture that says those who can dish it out but not take it are cowards.

  7. Ryk

    Reply

    Oh and I do appreciate that you credit facts to atheism, that is nice of you but not always accurate. Some theists know some facts as well, you probably jusy don’t know any.

  8. Ryk

    Reply

    Steve
    Your religion is only slightly different than the others. Sure the details are a bit off, but at heart it is still about worshpping an unprovable character.

  9. Ryk

    Reply

    Now I completely disagree that your religion is better. I mean that heaven thing sounds cool compared to a lake of fire but other than that ….meh.

    Mormons on the other hand get to be Gods…..with their own planets. That is much better. Even better than that they have an extra testament, you guys only have the old ones you borrowed from the Jews and the newer one that got put together at the council of Nicea. Mormons have a brand new one.

    Best of all they have just as much evidence supporting their beliefs as yours does.

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