January 19, 2025 • 35 mins
Is sarcasm a clever tool or a dangerous trap? In this episode, we explore how sarcasm shows up in the Bible, from Elijah’s sharp mockery of Baal’s prophets to Job’s biting responses to his friends. While sarcasm can highlight absurdity and deliver truth with wit, it can also harm relationships when used carelessly. We’ll share biblical examples, personal stories, and insights into how sarcasm can enhance communication—or derail it—depending on the intent and audience. Join us as we navigate the fine line between humor that builds up and sarcasm that tears down.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to the Exhorter podcast, where we're
going to stir up love and goodworks through bite-sized
biblical discussion.
Welcome back.
Well, Kyle, you have our topictoday.
What are we going to be talkingabout?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Well, we are going to talk about sarcasm, and first
thing we should do is define it.
Who wants to volunteer todefine sarcasm?
Let's say it.
I'm faster.
Let's go this way Put it inyour own words and I'll give you
some dictionary definitions.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Chad JBT is faster than you, sarcasm.
Sarcasm is a form of verbalirony where someone says the
opposite of what they reallymean, often in a mocking or
humorous way.
It's usually used to expresscontempt, criticize or make a
point in a sharp or cuttingmanner.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
A lot of the definitions of sarcasm will
oscillate between those twoextremes.
One of it will be emphasizing.
It's a sharp, often satiricalor ironic utterance designed to
cut or even give pain.
So that has a very negativeconnotation.
But it can also be a mode ofsatirical wit, depending for its
(01:14):
effect on bitter, caustic andoften ironic language that is
usually directed against anindividual.
So it certainly can have thatconnotation of causing harm or
insult or slamming someone.
But it can also simply be aliterary device to draw
attention to something.
When you're sarcastic peopletend to pay attention.
(01:36):
So I guess the basic gist ofsarcasm is when what you say
isn't precisely what you mean,is when what you say isn't
precisely what you mean.
This is why Vulcans, forexample, struggle with sarcasm,
because they're very literalbeings.
Do we need a Star Trekreference?
Speaker 1 (01:53):
I mean, you already did that.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Well, a really entertaining quote I came across
was from Oscar Wilde, and mostpeople just quote the first half
of it Sarcasm is the lowestform of wit, and so it's often
thought of as a negative thing.
But the full quote from OscarWilde, I believe, goes something
to the effect of sarcasm is thelowest form of wit, but the
highest form of intelligence.
(02:16):
Being a bit sarcastic in thatcomment itself Is sarcasm a
literary device?
Speaker 3 (02:24):
I mean irony is right .
Speaker 2 (02:26):
I think sarcasm is a form of irony, or it can be yeah
, type of verbal irony yeah, andirony is uh.
You know, a good example ofirony would be writing a whole
song about irony.
That is just about bad luck ormisfortune and not actually
ironic.
That's a little ironic, don'tyou?
Don't you think?
Don't you think I'm not thatsmart?
Speaker 3 (02:47):
That went over my head.
Oh, sarcasm, that super obviousway people say exactly what
they mean all the time, totallystraightforward, no hidden
meaning at all.
The sarcastic definition ofsarcasm.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yeah, is that what that was?
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Yeah, Do you want me to read it again?
Yeah, I can read it again foryou.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
of course Was that chat GPT that did that.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
No, it was my brain.
Oh sarcasm.
It's just that super obviousway people say exactly what they
mean all the time Totallystraightforward, no hidden
meaning at all.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Is that what you're talking about?
That's a definition we can workwith.
Well, sarcasm can be a prettypowerful tool to get people's
attention, and we have quite afew examples in scripture Some I
don't know if they're eitherneither good nor bad, they're
just examples of sarcasm.
Some examples are definitelybad.
We'll look at some forms ofsarcasm that Christians should
(03:37):
avoid, and I think there aresome examples that accomplish
some good things and we'll lookat some examples that even Jesus
himself used sarcasm at times.
First example that comes to mymind is in Job, chapter 12.
When I think about Job's friends, there's a lot of criticism
(03:59):
about what they did.
They came and sat with theirfriend in silence for a time,
and that was good.
And then they started talkingand telling him he's an awful
person and that's why God'sangry with him.
He must have done something,he's a sinner, that's why God
took away everything from him.
And well, if I'm Job, I'd feelpretty hurt by that too.
And so he responds in chapter12 and verse 2, no doubt you are
(04:22):
the people and wisdom will diewith you.
Okay, that's a great example ofsome of the most common
dictionary definitions ofsarcasm.
That we read earlier is wherewhat you say isn't exactly what
you mean.
You mean essentially theopposite.
He's telling them on thesurface they are the wisest
(04:44):
people in the world and whenthey die, all wisdom will be
gone from the face of the earth.
But that's obviously not whathe means.
It's meant to be a rebuke,because the wisdom they're
giving him, he thinks, is notsound at all.
He thinks it's terrible wisdom.
So he's he's responding in away that's critical of them,
(05:05):
maybe a bit biting, possiblyinsulting.
But is it justified here?
Speaker 3 (05:10):
I was gonna say he's mocking them.
He's mocking them.
Oh, you're so smart yeah, is it?
Speaker 2 (05:16):
does it feel justified here?
I don't know how to categorizethis is a good or bad example.
I kind of feel like his threefriends sort of have it coming.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Well, given the situation, I think I would bear
with Job in this.
I think I would side with him,yeah.
Yeah, he was justified.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Sometimes friends have it coming.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
That was really profound, john, that was really
profound.
Sometimes two or three friendshave it Now one example that I
think we all know, and it's astory that if you don't laugh at
this one, then there'ssomething wrong with you.
It's just one of the morehumorous stories in the Bible,
First Kings, chapter 18.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Is this Elijah.
This is Elijah.
Yeah, yeah, that's the one Iwrote down.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Yeah, where he's got that showdown with all the
prophets of Baal.
And they set up their altarsand cry out to your God and I'll
cry out to mine and whicheverone sends down fire, we'll have
this showdown and see which Godis real.
And they're going at it all daylong.
They're just whippingthemselves till blood is pouring
(06:23):
out.
And in 1 Kings 18 and verse 27,it was at noon that Elijah
mocked them and said cry aloud,for he is a God.
Either he's meditating or he isbusy, or he's on a journey, or
perhaps he is sleeping and mustbe awakened.
So they cried out louder, cutthemselves and, as was their
custom, with knives and lances,until the blood gushed out on
(06:44):
them.
And well, we know how the storygoes he soaks his altar till
there's water everywhere,puddles of water, buckets of
water and he prays, and Godsends down fire and it consumes
all the prophets.
And he proves his point.
But this one definitely seemsjustified, because he is
defending God in this instance.
(07:06):
Was sarcasm necessary here?
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Wait wait, wait.
What translation is it thatsays that he was relieving
himself?
Speaker 2 (07:17):
I'm not sure there's a little ambiguity, but there
are some translations.
And if you put it in modernvernacular it says well, where's
your God?
Is he on a break?
Is he in the bathroom?
Are some translations?
And if you put it in modernvernacular says well, where's
your god, is he?
Is he on a break?
Did, yeah, is he in thebathroom?
Speaker 3 (07:28):
yeah, that, that's what I remember from this verse
uh, I don't know what version Iread it in, but it was like
maybe he's relieving himself Iwas like, oh okay, yeah, that's
sarcasm for sure well, yeah,because what he's doing is he's
using sarcasm to highlight, todraw attention.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
He could have just said hey guys, what you're doing
isn't working, but it didn'thave the same dramatic effect to
draw attention to howridiculous their whole premise
is.
If your God is really a God,then where is he?
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Where is he?
Isn't that similar to usingillustrations or parables when
you're trying to conveysomething with emotion?
Or trying to get people toreally understand something.
Humor and you know suggestingand sarcasm and kind of mockery.
It can actually make a staunchpoint that people aren't getting
(08:23):
make a staunch point thatpeople aren't getting.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yeah, that's where we can see some positive uses for
sarcasm or even mockery to acertain degree.
It's not inherently wrong, butif you're drawing attention and
highlighting how you say,something matters probably even
more than what you're saying.
Sometimes they both matter.
What you say matters, clearly,but how you say it can make all
(08:49):
the difference in how it'sinterpreted.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
I think that's the purpose of, like all literary
devices you are trying to make apoint and you're going to do it
in a way that is effective,because, like you said, kyle, I
could come up and say well, guys, what you're doing isn't
working, yeah, yeah, yeah, justgive it some time, right?
Whereas if I say, oh, just callon your God a little louder,
you know, maybe he's using thebathroom.
Well, now, that kind of cuts alittle deeper, that makes the
point a little bit, you know,more effectively, and that's
(09:13):
something that we're going toremember.
Whereas if I just said, hey,it's not more.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
And this isn't the only spot in the Bible Isaiah 44
, if you read about verses 14through 17, Isaiah is mocking
the idols that plagued Israel atthat point in their history and
using this illustration thathighlights and again he could
have just said stop worshipingidols.
But God did that hundreds ofyears earlier with the Ten
Commandments right, Don'tworship idols.
But God did that hundreds ofyears earlier with the Ten
Commandments right, Don'tworship idols, Don't make a
(09:47):
molded image of God or a carvedimage or anything like that.
So God tried the straightapproach, but through Isaiah, in
chapter 44, he uses thishumorous illustration to just
show how ridiculous an idolreally is.
Well, with one chunk of wood,you'll cut up part of it and
start a fire and cook yourbreakfast.
And with the rest of of wood,you'll cut up part of it and
start a fire and cook yourbreakfast.
And with the rest of the wood,you'll carve a God and worship
(10:08):
it.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Makes sense to me.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Yeah, it's just showing how stupid that whole
idea of idol worship is.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Except for if you did that in Indiana Jones, it would
come alive and destroyeverything my daughter Bae, got
to ride Indiana Jones for thefirst time this last week.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Cause.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
I was in Disneyland, yeah, and uh, I told her not to
look in the eyes and she was.
She was like almost tearing up.
She was scared, like uh, oh,yeah, yeah, yeah.
So with sarcasm we can seethere are some useful times, uh,
to make your point moreeffectively through sarcasm.
Another great one is Micaiah.
That one's humorous too.
First Kings 22, uh, ahab uhsays let's consult a prophet,
(10:53):
and Micaiah uh says, uh, yeah,go up and go ahead, go for it.
Yeah, go fight them and see.
And he's like well, that's not,that's not what God told you to
tell me.
Now go up and fight them, ahab,and see what happens.
He's lying to him, but forhumorous effect.
So there's lots of examples ofthat.
At times, even Jesus himselfused sarcasm, for example in
(11:18):
John, chapter 10 and verse 31,.
The Jews took up stones againsthim to stone him, and he
answered them.
Many good works I have shownyou from my father.
For which of these works do youstone me?
You're going to stone me fordoing good things.
Which good thing?
A little bit of sarcasm there,just a little hint, but it's
there.
But Paul, I think Paul is theNew Testament master of sarcasm.
He's fluent in sarcasmthroughout many of his letters
(11:41):
to the Galatians.
In Galatians, chapter five,he's dealing with the Judaizing
teachers.
We often call them.
They are Christians, but JewishChristians, who are insisting
that all, in particular Gentiles, have to keep the customs of
the law of Moses, which includescircumcision.
And I had to pull up adifferent translation for this
(12:03):
one.
It says in the contemporaryEnglish version, galatians 5 and
verse 12, I wish everyone whois upsetting you would not only
get circumcised, but would cutoff much more.
Next level.
I don't know how much of a punchthat had in the original Greek,
but I think that that's whatthe contemporary English version
is trying to convey here isthat Paul is showing some
(12:24):
sarcasm, but I think the bestexample we can look at of
sarcasm that teaches us how touse it properly these have all
just been fun, humorous stopsthrough the narrative of
scripture, but I think 1Corinthians 4 is probably the
most instructive text we haveabout criticism.
So here in this example Paul iswriting to the Corinthians.
(12:45):
It's a church that he took nomoney from because he thought it
was best to avoid that.
He didn't want the accusationsof doing it for the money, like
some of the other teachers thatthey were enamored with and
wanted to separate himself.
So he said for the sake of thegospel and for the sake of
Christ's kingdom, I will takenothing from them.
And notice how he words thishere in 1 Corinthians 4,
(13:05):
beginning in verse 8.
You are already full, you werealready rich.
You have reigned as kingswithout us, and indeed I could
wish you did reign that we alsomight reign with you, For I
think that God has displayed us,the apostles last, as men
condemned to death, For we havebeen made a spectacle to the
world, both to angels and to men.
(13:26):
We are fools, for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ.
We are weak, you are strong,you are distinguished, but we
are dishonored.
To the present hour, we bothhunger and thirst and we are
poorly clothed and beaten andhomeless, and we labor, working
with our own hands being reviled.
We bless being persecuted, weendure being defamed, we entreat
(13:48):
.
We have been made as the filthof the world, the offscouring of
all things, until now.
He's an apostle commissioned byChrist to be this foundational
figure in his kingdom.
But he's writing to theCorinthians saying you are king
and you are wise and we're foolsand you guys are rich and we're
(14:09):
just stupid filthy apostlesyeah, yeah, we're the worst of
all people in this world becauseI don't make any money.
He's drawing attention to thefact that they would elevate
other teachers above him for thewrong reasons.
However, look at the next verse, verse 14.
I do not write these things toshame you, but, as my beloved
(14:31):
children, I warn you.
So when we talk about sarcasm,it can be a very effective tool
to highlight the point you aretrying to make, but make sure
you're doing it for a goodreason.
Is my takeaway from this?
He's not doing this just toinsult them just for the sake of
well, you hurt my feelings.
Now I'm going to hurt you back.
I'm going to say something thatbites a little bit.
(14:53):
See how you like it.
I'm not trying to shame you.
I'm trying to warn you.
I'm trying to wake you up andrealize how stupid you're being
by following these teachersinstead of following Christ.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
It seems like maybe sarcasm should be the like
second or third tool in the beltas opposed to the first tool in
the belt, like if you're ifyou're really trying to make a
point with somebody.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
I wouldn't lead off with it.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
Yeah, yeah, maybe maybe you lead off with you know
that that uh warm and kind andlike, hey, you know, maybe we
could do that differently, or Inoticed this just something kind
of soft.
And then you know, for toolnumber two or tool number three,
if they don't get the point,then you, then you bring out the
bigger hammer, right Well?
Speaker 2 (15:34):
it depends on your audience too, when we look at
the examples of sarcasm in Jesusuh, he, he saved it for the
pharisees and the scribes andthe priests, the ones you people
should know better, yeah, yeahyou can even do it in that
context without it being amockery too.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
It could be like well , it'd be a situation where
you're talking to someone youcan be like, well, obviously you
know we don't have anystruggles in the flesh right,
like you're kind of using itlike a tool to get them to
self-reflect.
You know where it's notnecessarily you're mocking them,
but you're basically saying thenegative, so the positive that
(16:14):
they're reflecting on it.
Obviously you don't have anyproblems with this, right, you
know that can be a littlesarcastic.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
That can be like a little None whatsoever.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Right, that can be like a little bit sarcastic, and
I think that that's still in akind of like transparent and
kind of like getting someone tothink about something in a
different way versus you know,it's the way you say it, right.
At that point it'd be like,well, you're just perfect,
aren't you?
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Like that's mockery with sarcasm.
But well, obviously you knowwe're perfect, right?
Yeah, if what you're doing, ifwhat you're doing isn't working,
then maybe change it up withthe with a little bit of sarcasm
.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
So far, you've just been giving three sarcastic
people lots of pats on the backand I feel really good about the
amount of sarcasm they use.
When can sarcasm go wrong?
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Well, is it just me, or does Genesis chapter four,
when God confronts Cain where'syour brother?
Is it just me, or does hisresponse sound a little bit of
sarcasm?
Anytime?
Speaker 1 (17:14):
I have said that to my parents.
It came off a little bit.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
What am I?
My brother's keeper?
Yeah, yeah, oh, anytime I'vesaid it came off a little bit.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
What am I?
What am I?
My brother's keeper?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh, I've said that myself.
I try to use that, maybe a fewtimes.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
I would not use sarcasm in dealing with God.
Yeah, oh boy, I don't.
I don't think that's going togo over well.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
Yeah, yeah, or yeah to your parents.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Yeah, and obviously I think that you can tell when
it's not working with people ormaybe you can't, and that's kind
of the the danger of using itin a sense of not going, not not
making sure someone understandsthat you're.
You know, the first time youtried is with caring and love.
If they just hear the sarcasmand think that it's a derision
(18:00):
that you're trying to.
I think people are hard to read,and so I think that that's the
problem is, sometimes you canuse sarcasm with people and they
aren't if they do not identifysarcasm well.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Oh right.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
They're just thinking it's straight up mocking or
you're being real truthful?
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Sometimes I like to use sarcasm in those scenarios
because they don't even knowwhat I just did.
Yeah Well, I'm sure you do?
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Kyle, uh, yeah, what'd you see?
Nate gets it.
Do I uh?
Do I uh?
So both of you guys are justtalking about um?
Know your audience.
Know your audience.
Who are you talking to Like,like with my kids?
Kids?
I know one of them I can bevery stern with and she's going
to get the point and it's notgoing to like damage her.
(18:47):
She's not going to go pout,she's just going to do what
daddy said Graceland, right?
No, she is disobedient to thenth degree.
We'll get there, honey.
That's his six month old.
Six month old.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
I think I'm close enough for that one.
Yeah, you're good.
Yeah, you win a point, allright.
But your other kid.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Yeah, no, no.
But then the other one if I amstern with her, she will
literally crack like an egg.
Yeah, and so it's.
And so it's.
Knowing your audience, thereare some people who I can be
sarcastic with and they will getit, and they will get the point
and they'll go.
Okay, that's the point thatNate was trying to make.
And there are some people whoyou can be sarcastic with and
they'll be like that guy is ajerk.
I hate him and I don't want todo anything he suggests to me.
(19:29):
Why?
Because he made fun of me.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
So confession.
So there was one time where Iuse sarcasm and I use humor as a
way to sometimes deflect my ownuncomfortableness, let alone
maybe for a group of people.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
But I remember someone that's what I use food
for.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Yeah, I remember someone was having me meet
someone brand new they broughtto the church and I took that as
a great opportunity to kind ofslightly dig personally but,
like you know, funny at thatperson, oh yeah yeah, and they
felt I I wasn't supporting whatwas the best way to say that.
so so like you, felt it wasinappropriate at that time
(20:11):
because they were trying to winsomeone over to you know um us
and our caring and our you knowour brotherly love and was here.
Maybe they didn't see that Iwas being sarcastic and just
kind of playing with this person, but sometimes I would do that
with people.
I really like and kind oflittle jab here Good natured rib
like.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Oh you know, this guy Boy, that's tough, I know.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
I don't think I've ever had a conversation with
Julio, a friend of ours.
I don't think I've ever had aconversation where I wasn't just
digging at him, or sarcastic.
That is just the relationshipwe have.
John is very loving, yeah, but,but, but.
Well, but in this case, thisperson pulled me aside and said
that they didn't really feellike that was the right time.
And that was just a reminderthat, yeah, sometimes you got to
(20:54):
check the things you say andthe way that you approach things
.
It's not about you, right it's.
It's not about you know.
It's not about you, right it'sit's not about you know.
It's not about your intentions,yeah, but how things are
received to people.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
So knowing your audience is a very important
piece and it's a little moredifficult to say things when
you're a ginger, you know youcome across wrong.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Obviously a lot right .
I mean, when you check themedia I was gonna say we don't
have a soul, no one really takesyou.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
That's right, that's right seriously anyways.
Well, when you have a giant potof gold that you're always
trying to protect and alwaysworried, about.
You have to be a little bit onedge at all times.
Well, so the first negativeexample, the first warning with
sarcasm is if you're going to besarcastic with God, just don't
do it, and I think this carriesover to God appointed leaders as
(21:40):
well.
Don't do it, and I think thiscarries over to God appointed
leaders as well.
So an example would be inExodus, chapter 14, when the
people of Israel looked at MosesExodus 14 and verse 11, and
they said well, because therewere no graves in Egypt, have
you taken us away to die in thewilderness?
Okay, what is Egypt mostfamously known for?
Oh, it's graves.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
Giant pyramids.
That's all it is.
It's like that's the thing thatthey do.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
And you're saying was there not enough graves in
Egypt for us?
Well, that's sarcasm.
We know God was ready to lightthem up like a Christmas tree.
Moses, stand back.
It didn't go over very well.
That was unfair criticism there.
Did I word that too strongly?
Speaker 1 (22:22):
No, I was just trying to think of who would do that
today and how would you do ittoday.
I was thinking the sameapplication across the board.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Who would be sarcastic with God?
Speaker 1 (22:29):
Yeah, what would that look like?
Speaker 3 (22:31):
Is this where I say the Lieutenant Dan bit about
Forrest Gump?
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Well, I mean, there's people who obviously optimally
challenge God and his authorityand his existence and his love.
But like us, when we believe inGod, we don't necessarily doubt
that very much.
But how can we be?
Speaker 2 (22:49):
sarcastic.
Well, moses was arepresentative of God in this
instance, so it's an extensionof that same concept.
And that's not to say you can'tcriticize or question leaders
within the church or anythinglike that.
I'm not trying to suggest that,I'm just saying that maybe
sarcasm.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
Maybe not the best tool to do that with at first.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Because another example of this would be King
David when he was dancing whenthe Ark was returned.
I know that story makes usuncomfortable because David was
dancing, but notice his wife,michael's response.
How glorious was the king ofIsrael today uncovering himself
today in the eyes of the maids.
And David said his response wasit was before the Lord who
chose me instead of your father.
(23:31):
That's a good burn right there.
You know where's your dad.
You know he was the king, butGod chose me, so I'm the king.
God.
You know he was the king, butGod chose me, so I'm the king.
But he also said I will be evenmore undignified than this and
will be humble in my own sight.
I was dancing for the Lord.
It was an expression of trueemotion and joy for returning
(23:53):
the art to its rightful place.
And how dare you criticize mefor that?
And so for the rest of her lifeshe was neglected by David and
had no children.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
And so you get one shot next week marital advice
from David, you get one shot.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
Sarcasm in marriage.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Oh, if I'm dancing in my underwear, for the Lord,
keep your mouth shut.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
I don't care if your friends see me Sarcasm in
marriage.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
That's an oil water scenario.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
Yeah, that's a that's a, that's a careful peanut
butter cookies.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
But I'm reminded of Paul's.
Paul's teaching in FirstTimothy, chapter five, verse 19,
where he said do not receive anaccusation against an elder
except from two or threewitnesses.
It's not saying you can't makean accusation, you can't be
critical, you can't questionleadership within the church.
I'm talking about the eldershipin a local congregation.
(24:44):
I'm not saying you can'tchallenge or question, but this
tells me you need to do it witha certain amount of seriousness,
and sarcasm is not appropriatefor making accusations against
leadership.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Sometimes we don't really look at the position that
an elder holds as set up by God, to expect a certain amount of
respect and authority from.
We might look at the person andkind of judge the person or
joke with the person.
I do think there's a healthyand we've talked about that.
(25:19):
There's a great, I guess.
Another podcast opportunity ishow to interact with elders and
what if you disagree with eldersand things like this, and maybe
the right way to approach thosesituations.
You would hopefully approachthem differently just because of
the respect that's due theposition that God has set up.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
You know I'm sure we'll get right on recording
that future podcast episode Iwant that one Sarcasm.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
It'll have him, you'll see it.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
He's laying it on pretty thick.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
I was hoping he'd go there, Viewers, if you can name
that movie, Extra ExhorterPoints oh do we have Exhorter
Points, the podcast, where?
Everything.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
The points don't matter.
Are we getting that?
Points now that's all podcast,where everything you can name
that and the points don't matterif you can name that.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
I don't even know what movie that's from tommy boy
man.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Come on bro oh, are you being?
Speaker 3 (26:10):
sarcastic there.
Did you know where it was from?
Speaker 2 (26:12):
yeah, let me.
Let me give one more word ofcaution with sarcasm as well.
Uh, if you get into the area offlattery, where it's
unnecessarily buttering someoneup because you want something
from them, that's a pretty badplace to be in.
That's a pretty bad way totreat others.
Proverbs is pretty harshagainst flattery.
Proverbs, chapter 26 and verse18 says like a madman who throws
(26:35):
firebrands, arrows and death isthe man who deceives his
neighbor and says I was onlyjoking.
So if you're using sarcasm in ahurtful way, then you walk it
back.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
I feel like this episode is very much like the
euphemisms one.
Every time you say something Iwant to say, give me an example,
which this entire conversationwould just be sarcasm.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
That shirt looks so good on you today, kyle.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
It really accentuates your biceps, yeah is that it
like I'm trying to?
What would it be an example of?
Speaker 3 (27:07):
this flattery?
Speaker 1 (27:09):
I was just, I was just kidding, bro, your biceps
so if, if you laughed at that,then it'd be funny, but if you
didn't, he could just easily sayI was just kidding, bro, I'm
just messing.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
No big deal.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
Yeah, they don't agree no, you're right, I'm just
going with the flattery remark.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
I can see how sarcasm could could fall under under
that.
Oh, oh you.
You look so good today, boss noturn around.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Yeah, that wasn't true yeah, maybe I can't imagine
that ever working out likethat's the maybe I'm only
thinking contextually me sayingthat anything like this to my
wife depends on the intelligencelevel of your boss or your wife
I can't just imagine saying anyof this to my wife and it not
be Taylor's pretty smart, thoughshe's an ass.
Yeah, I know she's too smart,what I?
Speaker 2 (27:53):
take away from this is if your purpose and intent in
sarcasm is simply to tear downor hurt and you try and walk it
back by saying well, I was justkidding, I was just being
sarcastic.
But if your intent is simply tohurt, and that's where I come
back to.
I think the most instructiveexample is 1 Corinthians 4 in
verse 14, when Paul says I writethese things not to shame you,
but to warn you.
(28:14):
Paul had a purpose and a reasonfor sarcasm.
Jesus had a reason for sarcasmbecause the Pharisees stood
condemned and he was trying toin any way he could awaken them
up to that reality.
So if there is a purpose for it, that's a consideration.
But if all you're trying to dois just sound funny at someone
(28:37):
else's expense, if you're justbeing unnecessarily hurtful or
if it's simply a matter of yousaid something I didn't like, so
now I'm going to get you backAnything that sounds backhanded,
anything that sounds yeah,mockery.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
It's basically just saying golden rule you know the
way we should treat people.
You know, we obviously knowthis you shouldn't be mean to
people, you shouldn't sayhurtful things, but sometimes we
feel like we can get away withit with a little humor.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
If once you say that delivery system is sarcasm.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
I want to use a little humor.
I want to say what I'm reallyfeeling.
But I want to use a littlehumor and get away with it, and
that's that's how the deliverysystem is sarcasm.
And then it's like, oh, I'lltake it away.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
That just messes with you.
That's what I think Proverbs 26is talking about.
There is your you're andwalking it back by by shrouding
it with humor or sarcasm, or Ididn't really mean that, yeah,
and obviously.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
But what you said was my point is it's a simple
lesson, right?
I mean we shouldn't be mean andrude and unkind to people.
I mean that should be a simplebut.
But sometimes, like I said,we've we've learned this tool
that we feel like we can use andget away with it.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
But then again, if you say something mean to me,
but it's really really, reallyfunny.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
I won't even be mad.
I wanted to get roasted.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
I think that would be funny too, John.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
it would be very difficult to roast you.
So this whole time I just keepcoming back to this is a tool in
the communicator's tool beltand it should be used, like any
other tool, with caution and andthought.
What is the situation I'mcoming up on and which of these
(30:20):
tools is going to be mosteffective?
And then, if it's not effective, then you go to another tool
and you just, you know, keeppulling out A hammer can be a
very, very useful tool, butoften not when you're doing
mechanics or when you're workingwith glass, Right yeah?
Speaker 2 (30:36):
exactly Not.
Not an appropriate tool for thejob.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
Yeah, yeah, I grew up thinking that sarcasm was like
all bad all the time, and and Igot to a point where I learned,
oh no, it's not necessarily allbad, all the time 's it's how
you use it, which is funny,because it's not because you're
one of the most.
You're very sarcastic, likemyself, so I I think it's funny
(30:59):
that you you grew up thinking itwas a bad thing yeah, it is
because I think my mom usedsarcasm one time in the
workplace and it backfired onher and then she kind of like
she told us us like this is whathappened, you know, so don't be
sarcastic.
And I took it like gospel, like, oh, I can't be sarcastic.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
So so maybe just a kind of like a little check in
there on self-check and empathyand self-reflection is, when
you've used sarcasminappropriately and it's gone
bad, what are some signs of that?
Because maybe people don'trealize and know that Obviously
you can see it on someone's face.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
If you have used sarcasm and it's backfired,
please share your story in thecomments.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we'd love to hear, but that's
the thing is, obviously thereare some signs to know when you
have and then we have afollow-up there.
If you've said somethingsarcastic and you didn't
necessarily you felt it was okayand it was appropriate, it was
in jest and you got an adversereaction, it is on us to
(31:58):
apologize and to clear that up.
I know there's certainrelationships I have with people
like you guys where you couldsay a lot of different things to
each other and you know you'renot going to hurt that one's
feelings, where you could say alot of different things to each
other and you know you're notgoing to hurt that one's
feelings.
And so love those relationshipsthat you have and cherish those
and use it there.
But don't experiment withsarcasm with people you've just
met and that you don't quiteknow how it's going to be.
(32:19):
And sometimes people have a badday.
Sometimes we put our foot inour mouth and we find out that
that is the worst thing to doand that's when we follow up and
that's when we do that so isthe worst thing to do and that's
when we follow up and that'swhere we do that.
So it's tread lightly right, Usewith a warning.
It's not saying never besarcastic at all, obviously yeah
.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
And if someone's sarcastic towards you don't be.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
I'm always encouraging people show some
grace.
I'm always encouraging people.
Show some grace grace, alwaysencouraging people show some
grace.
Yeah, I mean trust me, I've hadlots of sarcastic jabs my
direction so I have learned touh, smile and nod and oh, that's
so funny.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
Either show some grace that later, either show
some grace or come up with asarcastically sarcastic remark,
equally coming back.
Yeah, right away.
Yeah, yeah, as long as it's assarcastic or better.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
You know games even well, in this context, I know
the listener uh, specificallybrought this up in the sense of,
you know, backhanded commentsbeing, you know, exclusion and
then, um, sarcasm.
All of these things kind ofgive people negative feelings
and make people feel bad andobviously that's not anyone's
intention, hopefully that's notyour intention in using sarcasm.
(33:31):
And so one of those things isjust tread lightly and be
careful and then if you haveoffended someone, fix it.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
Sarcasm is like my garam masala spice.
It's good when I'm makingchicken tikka masala, but
sarcasm is not salt that goes oneverything.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
It's bad on Cheerios oh.
Speaker 3 (33:53):
Yeah, that was a good analogy, kyle.
Thank you for an excellentdiscussion.
I don't know if I can say thatseriously.
Kyle great episode, Greatepisode.
I really enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
Hey, thanks Me too.
Episode.
I really enjoyed it.
Hey, thanks me too.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
No, but it was a good discussion of sarcasm and I had
never thought that in depthabout it as a tool to use for
communication, and so now I havemy heuristic formed about
sarcasm.
Thanks, Kyle.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
Appreciate that To you, our audience.
We thank you for listening andif this episode or any episode
we've done in the past, has beenhelpful, we'd like to know that
.
We appreciate your feedback.
Look us up on Facebook andfollow for the latest updates on
upcoming episodes.
Like, subscribe.
See you guys later, see younext time, let's see, let's do.
(34:49):
Contemporary english version.
I wish everyone who isupsetting you would not only get
circumcised, but would cut offmuch more little sarcasm from
paul that reminds me of therobin man in tights.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
I'll have two, right the moil, he's all I want one.
He he said I'll have two.
That's a little extra.
Speaker 3 (35:16):
Isn't sarcasm with God?
Would that be like LieutenantDan when he's in the midst of
the storm?
Speaker 1 (35:23):
no legs at the top.
Speaker 3 (35:24):
Is that all you got?
Come on God, Lieutenant Dan,you got legs and he was mad.
Welcome to the Exhorter podcast, where we're
going to stir up love and goodworks through bite-sized
biblical discussion.
Welcome back.
Well, Kyle, you have our topictoday.
What are we going to be talkingabout?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Well, we are going to talk about sarcasm, and first
thing we should do is define it.
Who wants to volunteer todefine sarcasm?
Let's say it.
I'm faster.
Let's go this way Put it inyour own words and I'll give you
some dictionary definitions.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Chad JBT is faster than you, sarcasm.
Sarcasm is a form of verbalirony where someone says the
opposite of what they reallymean, often in a mocking or
humorous way.
It's usually used to expresscontempt, criticize or make a
point in a sharp or cuttingmanner.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
A lot of the definitions of sarcasm will
oscillate between those twoextremes.
One of it will be emphasizing.
It's a sharp, often satiricalor ironic utterance designed to
cut or even give pain.
So that has a very negativeconnotation.
But it can also be a mode ofsatirical wit, depending for its
(01:14):
effect on bitter, caustic andoften ironic language that is
usually directed against anindividual.
So it certainly can have thatconnotation of causing harm or
insult or slamming someone.
But it can also simply be aliterary device to draw
attention to something.
When you're sarcastic peopletend to pay attention.
(01:36):
So I guess the basic gist ofsarcasm is when what you say
isn't precisely what you mean,is when what you say isn't
precisely what you mean.
This is why Vulcans, forexample, struggle with sarcasm,
because they're very literalbeings.
Do we need a Star Trekreference?
Speaker 1 (01:53):
I mean, you already did that.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Well, a really entertaining quote I came across
was from Oscar Wilde, and mostpeople just quote the first half
of it Sarcasm is the lowestform of wit, and so it's often
thought of as a negative thing.
But the full quote from OscarWilde, I believe, goes something
to the effect of sarcasm is thelowest form of wit, but the
highest form of intelligence.
(02:16):
Being a bit sarcastic in thatcomment itself Is sarcasm a
literary device?
Speaker 3 (02:24):
I mean irony is right .
Speaker 2 (02:26):
I think sarcasm is a form of irony, or it can be yeah
, type of verbal irony yeah, andirony is uh.
You know, a good example ofirony would be writing a whole
song about irony.
That is just about bad luck ormisfortune and not actually
ironic.
That's a little ironic, don'tyou?
Don't you think?
Don't you think I'm not thatsmart?
Speaker 3 (02:47):
That went over my head.
Oh, sarcasm, that super obviousway people say exactly what
they mean all the time, totallystraightforward, no hidden
meaning at all.
The sarcastic definition ofsarcasm.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yeah, is that what that was?
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Yeah, Do you want me to read it again?
Yeah, I can read it again foryou.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
of course Was that chat GPT that did that.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
No, it was my brain.
Oh sarcasm.
It's just that super obviousway people say exactly what they
mean all the time Totallystraightforward, no hidden
meaning at all.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Is that what you're talking about?
That's a definition we can workwith.
Well, sarcasm can be a prettypowerful tool to get people's
attention, and we have quite afew examples in scripture Some I
don't know if they're eitherneither good nor bad, they're
just examples of sarcasm.
Some examples are definitelybad.
We'll look at some forms ofsarcasm that Christians should
(03:37):
avoid, and I think there aresome examples that accomplish
some good things and we'll lookat some examples that even Jesus
himself used sarcasm at times.
First example that comes to mymind is in Job, chapter 12.
When I think about Job's friends, there's a lot of criticism
(03:59):
about what they did.
They came and sat with theirfriend in silence for a time,
and that was good.
And then they started talkingand telling him he's an awful
person and that's why God'sangry with him.
He must have done something,he's a sinner, that's why God
took away everything from him.
And well, if I'm Job, I'd feelpretty hurt by that too.
And so he responds in chapter12 and verse 2, no doubt you are
(04:22):
the people and wisdom will diewith you.
Okay, that's a great example ofsome of the most common
dictionary definitions ofsarcasm.
That we read earlier is wherewhat you say isn't exactly what
you mean.
You mean essentially theopposite.
He's telling them on thesurface they are the wisest
(04:44):
people in the world and whenthey die, all wisdom will be
gone from the face of the earth.
But that's obviously not whathe means.
It's meant to be a rebuke,because the wisdom they're
giving him, he thinks, is notsound at all.
He thinks it's terrible wisdom.
So he's he's responding in away that's critical of them,
(05:05):
maybe a bit biting, possiblyinsulting.
But is it justified here?
Speaker 3 (05:10):
I was gonna say he's mocking them.
He's mocking them.
Oh, you're so smart yeah, is it?
Speaker 2 (05:16):
does it feel justified here?
I don't know how to categorizethis is a good or bad example.
I kind of feel like his threefriends sort of have it coming.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Well, given the situation, I think I would bear
with Job in this.
I think I would side with him,yeah.
Yeah, he was justified.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Sometimes friends have it coming.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
That was really profound, john, that was really
profound.
Sometimes two or three friendshave it Now one example that I
think we all know, and it's astory that if you don't laugh at
this one, then there'ssomething wrong with you.
It's just one of the morehumorous stories in the Bible,
First Kings, chapter 18.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Is this Elijah.
This is Elijah.
Yeah, yeah, that's the one Iwrote down.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Yeah, where he's got that showdown with all the
prophets of Baal.
And they set up their altarsand cry out to your God and I'll
cry out to mine and whicheverone sends down fire, we'll have
this showdown and see which Godis real.
And they're going at it all daylong.
They're just whippingthemselves till blood is pouring
(06:23):
out.
And in 1 Kings 18 and verse 27,it was at noon that Elijah
mocked them and said cry aloud,for he is a God.
Either he's meditating or he isbusy, or he's on a journey, or
perhaps he is sleeping and mustbe awakened.
So they cried out louder, cutthemselves and, as was their
custom, with knives and lances,until the blood gushed out on
(06:44):
them.
And well, we know how the storygoes he soaks his altar till
there's water everywhere,puddles of water, buckets of
water and he prays, and Godsends down fire and it consumes
all the prophets.
And he proves his point.
But this one definitely seemsjustified, because he is
defending God in this instance.
(07:06):
Was sarcasm necessary here?
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Wait wait, wait.
What translation is it thatsays that he was relieving
himself?
Speaker 2 (07:17):
I'm not sure there's a little ambiguity, but there
are some translations.
And if you put it in modernvernacular it says well, where's
your God?
Is he on a break?
Is he in the bathroom?
Are some translations?
And if you put it in modernvernacular says well, where's
your god, is he?
Is he on a break?
Did, yeah, is he in thebathroom?
Speaker 3 (07:28):
yeah, that, that's what I remember from this verse
uh, I don't know what version Iread it in, but it was like
maybe he's relieving himself Iwas like, oh okay, yeah, that's
sarcasm for sure well, yeah,because what he's doing is he's
using sarcasm to highlight, todraw attention.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
He could have just said hey guys, what you're doing
isn't working, but it didn'thave the same dramatic effect to
draw attention to howridiculous their whole premise
is.
If your God is really a God,then where is he?
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Where is he?
Isn't that similar to usingillustrations or parables when
you're trying to conveysomething with emotion?
Or trying to get people toreally understand something.
Humor and you know suggestingand sarcasm and kind of mockery.
It can actually make a staunchpoint that people aren't getting
(08:23):
make a staunch point thatpeople aren't getting.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yeah, that's where we can see some positive uses for
sarcasm or even mockery to acertain degree.
It's not inherently wrong, butif you're drawing attention and
highlighting how you say,something matters probably even
more than what you're saying.
Sometimes they both matter.
What you say matters, clearly,but how you say it can make all
(08:49):
the difference in how it'sinterpreted.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
I think that's the purpose of, like all literary
devices you are trying to make apoint and you're going to do it
in a way that is effective,because, like you said, kyle, I
could come up and say well, guys, what you're doing isn't
working, yeah, yeah, yeah, justgive it some time, right?
Whereas if I say, oh, just callon your God a little louder,
you know, maybe he's using thebathroom.
Well, now, that kind of cuts alittle deeper, that makes the
point a little bit, you know,more effectively, and that's
(09:13):
something that we're going toremember.
Whereas if I just said, hey,it's not more.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
And this isn't the only spot in the Bible Isaiah 44
, if you read about verses 14through 17, Isaiah is mocking
the idols that plagued Israel atthat point in their history and
using this illustration thathighlights and again he could
have just said stop worshipingidols.
But God did that hundreds ofyears earlier with the Ten
Commandments right, Don'tworship idols.
But God did that hundreds ofyears earlier with the Ten
Commandments right, Don'tworship idols, Don't make a
(09:47):
molded image of God or a carvedimage or anything like that.
So God tried the straightapproach, but through Isaiah, in
chapter 44, he uses thishumorous illustration to just
show how ridiculous an idolreally is.
Well, with one chunk of wood,you'll cut up part of it and
start a fire and cook yourbreakfast.
And with the rest of of wood,you'll cut up part of it and
start a fire and cook yourbreakfast.
And with the rest of the wood,you'll carve a God and worship
(10:08):
it.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Makes sense to me.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Yeah, it's just showing how stupid that whole
idea of idol worship is.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Except for if you did that in Indiana Jones, it would
come alive and destroyeverything my daughter Bae, got
to ride Indiana Jones for thefirst time this last week.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Cause.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
I was in Disneyland, yeah, and uh, I told her not to
look in the eyes and she was.
She was like almost tearing up.
She was scared, like uh, oh,yeah, yeah, yeah.
So with sarcasm we can seethere are some useful times, uh,
to make your point moreeffectively through sarcasm.
Another great one is Micaiah.
That one's humorous too.
First Kings 22, uh, ahab uhsays let's consult a prophet,
(10:53):
and Micaiah uh says, uh, yeah,go up and go ahead, go for it.
Yeah, go fight them and see.
And he's like well, that's not,that's not what God told you to
tell me.
Now go up and fight them, ahab,and see what happens.
He's lying to him, but forhumorous effect.
So there's lots of examples ofthat.
At times, even Jesus himselfused sarcasm, for example in
(11:18):
John, chapter 10 and verse 31,.
The Jews took up stones againsthim to stone him, and he
answered them.
Many good works I have shownyou from my father.
For which of these works do youstone me?
You're going to stone me fordoing good things.
Which good thing?
A little bit of sarcasm there,just a little hint, but it's
there.
But Paul, I think Paul is theNew Testament master of sarcasm.
He's fluent in sarcasmthroughout many of his letters
(11:41):
to the Galatians.
In Galatians, chapter five,he's dealing with the Judaizing
teachers.
We often call them.
They are Christians, but JewishChristians, who are insisting
that all, in particular Gentiles, have to keep the customs of
the law of Moses, which includescircumcision.
And I had to pull up adifferent translation for this
(12:03):
one.
It says in the contemporaryEnglish version, galatians 5 and
verse 12, I wish everyone whois upsetting you would not only
get circumcised, but would cutoff much more.
Next level.
I don't know how much of a punchthat had in the original Greek,
but I think that that's whatthe contemporary English version
is trying to convey here isthat Paul is showing some
(12:24):
sarcasm, but I think the bestexample we can look at of
sarcasm that teaches us how touse it properly these have all
just been fun, humorous stopsthrough the narrative of
scripture, but I think 1Corinthians 4 is probably the
most instructive text we haveabout criticism.
So here in this example Paul iswriting to the Corinthians.
(12:45):
It's a church that he took nomoney from because he thought it
was best to avoid that.
He didn't want the accusationsof doing it for the money, like
some of the other teachers thatthey were enamored with and
wanted to separate himself.
So he said for the sake of thegospel and for the sake of
Christ's kingdom, I will takenothing from them.
And notice how he words thishere in 1 Corinthians 4,
(13:05):
beginning in verse 8.
You are already full, you werealready rich.
You have reigned as kingswithout us, and indeed I could
wish you did reign that we alsomight reign with you, For I
think that God has displayed us,the apostles last, as men
condemned to death, For we havebeen made a spectacle to the
world, both to angels and to men.
(13:26):
We are fools, for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ.
We are weak, you are strong,you are distinguished, but we
are dishonored.
To the present hour, we bothhunger and thirst and we are
poorly clothed and beaten andhomeless, and we labor, working
with our own hands being reviled.
We bless being persecuted, weendure being defamed, we entreat
(13:48):
.
We have been made as the filthof the world, the offscouring of
all things, until now.
He's an apostle commissioned byChrist to be this foundational
figure in his kingdom.
But he's writing to theCorinthians saying you are king
and you are wise and we're foolsand you guys are rich and we're
(14:09):
just stupid filthy apostlesyeah, yeah, we're the worst of
all people in this world becauseI don't make any money.
He's drawing attention to thefact that they would elevate
other teachers above him for thewrong reasons.
However, look at the next verse, verse 14.
I do not write these things toshame you, but, as my beloved
(14:31):
children, I warn you.
So when we talk about sarcasm,it can be a very effective tool
to highlight the point you aretrying to make, but make sure
you're doing it for a goodreason.
Is my takeaway from this?
He's not doing this just toinsult them just for the sake of
well, you hurt my feelings.
Now I'm going to hurt you back.
I'm going to say something thatbites a little bit.
(14:53):
See how you like it.
I'm not trying to shame you.
I'm trying to warn you.
I'm trying to wake you up andrealize how stupid you're being
by following these teachersinstead of following Christ.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
It seems like maybe sarcasm should be the like
second or third tool in the beltas opposed to the first tool in
the belt, like if you're ifyou're really trying to make a
point with somebody.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
I wouldn't lead off with it.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
Yeah, yeah, maybe maybe you lead off with you know
that that uh warm and kind andlike, hey, you know, maybe we
could do that differently, or Inoticed this just something kind
of soft.
And then you know, for toolnumber two or tool number three,
if they don't get the point,then you, then you bring out the
bigger hammer, right Well?
Speaker 2 (15:34):
it depends on your audience too, when we look at
the examples of sarcasm in Jesusuh, he, he saved it for the
pharisees and the scribes andthe priests, the ones you people
should know better, yeah, yeahyou can even do it in that
context without it being amockery too.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
It could be like well , it'd be a situation where
you're talking to someone youcan be like, well, obviously you
know we don't have anystruggles in the flesh right,
like you're kind of using itlike a tool to get them to
self-reflect.
You know where it's notnecessarily you're mocking them,
but you're basically saying thenegative, so the positive that
(16:14):
they're reflecting on it.
Obviously you don't have anyproblems with this, right, you
know that can be a littlesarcastic.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
That can be like a little None whatsoever.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Right, that can be like a little bit sarcastic, and
I think that that's still in akind of like transparent and
kind of like getting someone tothink about something in a
different way versus you know,it's the way you say it, right.
At that point it'd be like,well, you're just perfect,
aren't you?
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Like that's mockery with sarcasm.
But well, obviously you knowwe're perfect, right?
Yeah, if what you're doing, ifwhat you're doing isn't working,
then maybe change it up withthe with a little bit of sarcasm
.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
So far, you've just been giving three sarcastic
people lots of pats on the backand I feel really good about the
amount of sarcasm they use.
When can sarcasm go wrong?
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Well, is it just me, or does Genesis chapter four,
when God confronts Cain where'syour brother?
Is it just me, or does hisresponse sound a little bit of
sarcasm?
Anytime?
Speaker 1 (17:14):
I have said that to my parents.
It came off a little bit.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
What am I?
My brother's keeper?
Yeah, yeah, oh, anytime I'vesaid it came off a little bit.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
What am I?
What am I?
My brother's keeper?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh, I've said that myself.
I try to use that, maybe a fewtimes.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
I would not use sarcasm in dealing with God.
Yeah, oh boy, I don't.
I don't think that's going togo over well.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
Yeah, yeah, or yeah to your parents.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Yeah, and obviously I think that you can tell when
it's not working with people ormaybe you can't, and that's kind
of the the danger of using itin a sense of not going, not not
making sure someone understandsthat you're.
You know, the first time youtried is with caring and love.
If they just hear the sarcasmand think that it's a derision
(18:00):
that you're trying to.
I think people are hard to read,and so I think that that's the
problem is, sometimes you canuse sarcasm with people and they
aren't if they do not identifysarcasm well.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Oh right.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
They're just thinking it's straight up mocking or
you're being real truthful?
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Sometimes I like to use sarcasm in those scenarios
because they don't even knowwhat I just did.
Yeah Well, I'm sure you do?
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Kyle, uh, yeah, what'd you see?
Nate gets it.
Do I uh?
Do I uh?
So both of you guys are justtalking about um?
Know your audience.
Know your audience.
Who are you talking to Like,like with my kids?
Kids?
I know one of them I can bevery stern with and she's going
to get the point and it's notgoing to like damage her.
(18:47):
She's not going to go pout,she's just going to do what
daddy said Graceland, right?
No, she is disobedient to thenth degree.
We'll get there, honey.
That's his six month old.
Six month old.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
I think I'm close enough for that one.
Yeah, you're good.
Yeah, you win a point, allright.
But your other kid.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Yeah, no, no.
But then the other one if I amstern with her, she will
literally crack like an egg.
Yeah, and so it's.
And so it's.
Knowing your audience, thereare some people who I can be
sarcastic with and they will getit, and they will get the point
and they'll go.
Okay, that's the point thatNate was trying to make.
And there are some people whoyou can be sarcastic with and
they'll be like that guy is ajerk.
I hate him and I don't want todo anything he suggests to me.
(19:29):
Why?
Because he made fun of me.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
So confession.
So there was one time where Iuse sarcasm and I use humor as a
way to sometimes deflect my ownuncomfortableness, let alone
maybe for a group of people.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
But I remember someone that's what I use food
for.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Yeah, I remember someone was having me meet
someone brand new they broughtto the church and I took that as
a great opportunity to kind ofslightly dig personally but,
like you know, funny at thatperson, oh yeah yeah, and they
felt I I wasn't supporting whatwas the best way to say that.
so so like you, felt it wasinappropriate at that time
(20:11):
because they were trying to winsomeone over to you know um us
and our caring and our you knowour brotherly love and was here.
Maybe they didn't see that Iwas being sarcastic and just
kind of playing with this person, but sometimes I would do that
with people.
I really like and kind oflittle jab here Good natured rib
like.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Oh you know, this guy Boy, that's tough, I know.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
I don't think I've ever had a conversation with
Julio, a friend of ours.
I don't think I've ever had aconversation where I wasn't just
digging at him, or sarcastic.
That is just the relationshipwe have.
John is very loving, yeah, but,but, but.
Well, but in this case, thisperson pulled me aside and said
that they didn't really feellike that was the right time.
And that was just a reminderthat, yeah, sometimes you got to
(20:54):
check the things you say andthe way that you approach things
.
It's not about you, right it's.
It's not about you know.
It's not about you, right it'sit's not about you know.
It's not about your intentions,yeah, but how things are
received to people.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
So knowing your audience is a very important
piece and it's a little moredifficult to say things when
you're a ginger, you know youcome across wrong.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Obviously a lot right .
I mean, when you check themedia I was gonna say we don't
have a soul, no one really takesyou.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
That's right, that's right seriously anyways.
Well, when you have a giant potof gold that you're always
trying to protect and alwaysworried, about.
You have to be a little bit onedge at all times.
Well, so the first negativeexample, the first warning with
sarcasm is if you're going to besarcastic with God, just don't
do it, and I think this carriesover to God appointed leaders as
(21:40):
well.
Don't do it, and I think thiscarries over to God appointed
leaders as well.
So an example would be inExodus, chapter 14, when the
people of Israel looked at MosesExodus 14 and verse 11, and
they said well, because therewere no graves in Egypt, have
you taken us away to die in thewilderness?
Okay, what is Egypt mostfamously known for?
Oh, it's graves.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
Giant pyramids.
That's all it is.
It's like that's the thing thatthey do.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
And you're saying was there not enough graves in
Egypt for us?
Well, that's sarcasm.
We know God was ready to lightthem up like a Christmas tree.
Moses, stand back.
It didn't go over very well.
That was unfair criticism there.
Did I word that too strongly?
Speaker 1 (22:22):
No, I was just trying to think of who would do that
today and how would you do ittoday.
I was thinking the sameapplication across the board.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Who would be sarcastic with God?
Speaker 1 (22:29):
Yeah, what would that look like?
Speaker 3 (22:31):
Is this where I say the Lieutenant Dan bit about
Forrest Gump?
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Well, I mean, there's people who obviously optimally
challenge God and his authorityand his existence and his love.
But like us, when we believe inGod, we don't necessarily doubt
that very much.
But how can we be?
Speaker 2 (22:49):
sarcastic.
Well, moses was arepresentative of God in this
instance, so it's an extensionof that same concept.
And that's not to say you can'tcriticize or question leaders
within the church or anythinglike that.
I'm not trying to suggest that,I'm just saying that maybe
sarcasm.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
Maybe not the best tool to do that with at first.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Because another example of this would be King
David when he was dancing whenthe Ark was returned.
I know that story makes usuncomfortable because David was
dancing, but notice his wife,michael's response.
How glorious was the king ofIsrael today uncovering himself
today in the eyes of the maids.
And David said his response wasit was before the Lord who
chose me instead of your father.
(23:31):
That's a good burn right there.
You know where's your dad.
You know he was the king, butGod chose me, so I'm the king.
God.
You know he was the king, butGod chose me, so I'm the king.
But he also said I will be evenmore undignified than this and
will be humble in my own sight.
I was dancing for the Lord.
It was an expression of trueemotion and joy for returning
(23:53):
the art to its rightful place.
And how dare you criticize mefor that?
And so for the rest of her lifeshe was neglected by David and
had no children.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
And so you get one shot next week marital advice
from David, you get one shot.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
Sarcasm in marriage.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Oh, if I'm dancing in my underwear, for the Lord,
keep your mouth shut.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
I don't care if your friends see me Sarcasm in
marriage.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
That's an oil water scenario.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
Yeah, that's a that's a, that's a careful peanut
butter cookies.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
But I'm reminded of Paul's.
Paul's teaching in FirstTimothy, chapter five, verse 19,
where he said do not receive anaccusation against an elder
except from two or threewitnesses.
It's not saying you can't makean accusation, you can't be
critical, you can't questionleadership within the church.
I'm talking about the eldershipin a local congregation.
(24:44):
I'm not saying you can'tchallenge or question, but this
tells me you need to do it witha certain amount of seriousness,
and sarcasm is not appropriatefor making accusations against
leadership.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Sometimes we don't really look at the position that
an elder holds as set up by God, to expect a certain amount of
respect and authority from.
We might look at the person andkind of judge the person or
joke with the person.
I do think there's a healthyand we've talked about that.
(25:19):
There's a great, I guess.
Another podcast opportunity ishow to interact with elders and
what if you disagree with eldersand things like this, and maybe
the right way to approach thosesituations.
You would hopefully approachthem differently just because of
the respect that's due theposition that God has set up.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
You know I'm sure we'll get right on recording
that future podcast episode Iwant that one Sarcasm.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
It'll have him, you'll see it.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
He's laying it on pretty thick.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
I was hoping he'd go there, Viewers, if you can name
that movie, Extra ExhorterPoints oh do we have Exhorter
Points, the podcast, where?
Everything.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
The points don't matter.
Are we getting that?
Points now that's all podcast,where everything you can name
that and the points don't matterif you can name that.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
I don't even know what movie that's from tommy boy
man.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Come on bro oh, are you being?
Speaker 3 (26:10):
sarcastic there.
Did you know where it was from?
Speaker 2 (26:12):
yeah, let me.
Let me give one more word ofcaution with sarcasm as well.
Uh, if you get into the area offlattery, where it's
unnecessarily buttering someoneup because you want something
from them, that's a pretty badplace to be in.
That's a pretty bad way totreat others.
Proverbs is pretty harshagainst flattery.
Proverbs, chapter 26 and verse18 says like a madman who throws
(26:35):
firebrands, arrows and death isthe man who deceives his
neighbor and says I was onlyjoking.
So if you're using sarcasm in ahurtful way, then you walk it
back.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
I feel like this episode is very much like the
euphemisms one.
Every time you say something Iwant to say, give me an example,
which this entire conversationwould just be sarcasm.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
That shirt looks so good on you today, kyle.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
It really accentuates your biceps, yeah is that it
like I'm trying to?
What would it be an example of?
Speaker 3 (27:07):
this flattery?
Speaker 1 (27:09):
I was just, I was just kidding, bro, your biceps
so if, if you laughed at that,then it'd be funny, but if you
didn't, he could just easily sayI was just kidding, bro, I'm
just messing.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
No big deal.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
Yeah, they don't agree no, you're right, I'm just
going with the flattery remark.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
I can see how sarcasm could could fall under under
that.
Oh, oh you.
You look so good today, boss noturn around.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Yeah, that wasn't true yeah, maybe I can't imagine
that ever working out likethat's the maybe I'm only
thinking contextually me sayingthat anything like this to my
wife depends on the intelligencelevel of your boss or your wife
I can't just imagine saying anyof this to my wife and it not
be Taylor's pretty smart, thoughshe's an ass.
Yeah, I know she's too smart,what I?
Speaker 2 (27:53):
take away from this is if your purpose and intent in
sarcasm is simply to tear downor hurt and you try and walk it
back by saying well, I was justkidding, I was just being
sarcastic.
But if your intent is simply tohurt, and that's where I come
back to.
I think the most instructiveexample is 1 Corinthians 4 in
verse 14, when Paul says I writethese things not to shame you,
but to warn you.
(28:14):
Paul had a purpose and a reasonfor sarcasm.
Jesus had a reason for sarcasmbecause the Pharisees stood
condemned and he was trying toin any way he could awaken them
up to that reality.
So if there is a purpose for it, that's a consideration.
But if all you're trying to dois just sound funny at someone
(28:37):
else's expense, if you're justbeing unnecessarily hurtful or
if it's simply a matter of yousaid something I didn't like, so
now I'm going to get you backAnything that sounds backhanded,
anything that sounds yeah,mockery.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
It's basically just saying golden rule you know the
way we should treat people.
You know, we obviously knowthis you shouldn't be mean to
people, you shouldn't sayhurtful things, but sometimes we
feel like we can get away withit with a little humor.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
If once you say that delivery system is sarcasm.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
I want to use a little humor.
I want to say what I'm reallyfeeling.
But I want to use a littlehumor and get away with it, and
that's that's how the deliverysystem is sarcasm.
And then it's like, oh, I'lltake it away.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
That just messes with you.
That's what I think Proverbs 26is talking about.
There is your you're andwalking it back by by shrouding
it with humor or sarcasm, or Ididn't really mean that, yeah,
and obviously.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
But what you said was my point is it's a simple
lesson, right?
I mean we shouldn't be mean andrude and unkind to people.
I mean that should be a simplebut.
But sometimes, like I said,we've we've learned this tool
that we feel like we can use andget away with it.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
But then again, if you say something mean to me,
but it's really really, reallyfunny.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
I won't even be mad.
I wanted to get roasted.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
I think that would be funny too, John.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
it would be very difficult to roast you.
So this whole time I just keepcoming back to this is a tool in
the communicator's tool beltand it should be used, like any
other tool, with caution and andthought.
What is the situation I'mcoming up on and which of these
(30:20):
tools is going to be mosteffective?
And then, if it's not effective, then you go to another tool
and you just, you know, keeppulling out A hammer can be a
very, very useful tool, butoften not when you're doing
mechanics or when you're workingwith glass, Right yeah?
Speaker 2 (30:36):
exactly Not.
Not an appropriate tool for thejob.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
Yeah, yeah, I grew up thinking that sarcasm was like
all bad all the time, and and Igot to a point where I learned,
oh no, it's not necessarily allbad, all the time 's it's how
you use it, which is funny,because it's not because you're
one of the most.
You're very sarcastic, likemyself, so I I think it's funny
(30:59):
that you you grew up thinking itwas a bad thing yeah, it is
because I think my mom usedsarcasm one time in the
workplace and it backfired onher and then she kind of like
she told us us like this is whathappened, you know, so don't be
sarcastic.
And I took it like gospel, like, oh, I can't be sarcastic.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
So so maybe just a kind of like a little check in
there on self-check and empathyand self-reflection is, when
you've used sarcasminappropriately and it's gone
bad, what are some signs of that?
Because maybe people don'trealize and know that Obviously
you can see it on someone's face.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
If you have used sarcasm and it's backfired,
please share your story in thecomments.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we'd love to hear, but that's
the thing is, obviously thereare some signs to know when you
have and then we have afollow-up there.
If you've said somethingsarcastic and you didn't
necessarily you felt it was okayand it was appropriate, it was
in jest and you got an adversereaction, it is on us to
(31:58):
apologize and to clear that up.
I know there's certainrelationships I have with people
like you guys where you couldsay a lot of different things to
each other and you know you'renot going to hurt that one's
feelings, where you could say alot of different things to each
other and you know you're notgoing to hurt that one's
feelings.
And so love those relationshipsthat you have and cherish those
and use it there.
But don't experiment withsarcasm with people you've just
met and that you don't quiteknow how it's going to be.
(32:19):
And sometimes people have a badday.
Sometimes we put our foot inour mouth and we find out that
that is the worst thing to doand that's when we follow up and
that's when we do that so isthe worst thing to do and that's
when we follow up and that'swhere we do that.
So it's tread lightly right, Usewith a warning.
It's not saying never besarcastic at all, obviously yeah
.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
And if someone's sarcastic towards you don't be.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
I'm always encouraging people show some
grace.
I'm always encouraging people.
Show some grace grace, alwaysencouraging people show some
grace.
Yeah, I mean trust me, I've hadlots of sarcastic jabs my
direction so I have learned touh, smile and nod and oh, that's
so funny.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
Either show some grace that later, either show
some grace or come up with asarcastically sarcastic remark,
equally coming back.
Yeah, right away.
Yeah, yeah, as long as it's assarcastic or better.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
You know games even well, in this context, I know
the listener uh, specificallybrought this up in the sense of,
you know, backhanded commentsbeing, you know, exclusion and
then, um, sarcasm.
All of these things kind ofgive people negative feelings
and make people feel bad andobviously that's not anyone's
intention, hopefully that's notyour intention in using sarcasm.
(33:31):
And so one of those things isjust tread lightly and be
careful and then if you haveoffended someone, fix it.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
Sarcasm is like my garam masala spice.
It's good when I'm makingchicken tikka masala, but
sarcasm is not salt that goes oneverything.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
It's bad on Cheerios oh.
Speaker 3 (33:53):
Yeah, that was a good analogy, kyle.
Thank you for an excellentdiscussion.
I don't know if I can say thatseriously.
Kyle great episode, Greatepisode.
I really enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
Hey, thanks Me too.
Episode.
I really enjoyed it.
Hey, thanks me too.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
No, but it was a good discussion of sarcasm and I had
never thought that in depthabout it as a tool to use for
communication, and so now I havemy heuristic formed about
sarcasm.
Thanks, Kyle.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
Appreciate that To you, our audience.
We thank you for listening andif this episode or any episode
we've done in the past, has beenhelpful, we'd like to know that
.
We appreciate your feedback.
Look us up on Facebook andfollow for the latest updates on
upcoming episodes.
Like, subscribe.
See you guys later, see younext time, let's see, let's do.
(34:49):
Contemporary english version.
I wish everyone who isupsetting you would not only get
circumcised, but would cut offmuch more little sarcasm from
paul that reminds me of therobin man in tights.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
I'll have two, right the moil, he's all I want one.
He he said I'll have two.
That's a little extra.
Speaker 3 (35:16):
Isn't sarcasm with God?
Would that be like LieutenantDan when he's in the midst of
the storm?
Speaker 1 (35:23):
no legs at the top.
Speaker 3 (35:24):
Is that all you got?
Come on God, Lieutenant Dan,you got legs and he was mad.
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