Sarcasm

My extended family was always very sarcastic.  I grew up being really good at sarcasm.  My own parents didn't use sarcasm with us, which was good, but I was able to develop the skills anyway.  I'm not alone.  We live in a sarcastic society these days.  A lot of people speak sarcastically without even thinking about it.  Its second nature.  So much of humor today is also set in sarcasm, so when we try to be funny we often resort to sarcasm as well.

There is a problem with this.

I have worked hard to stop the sarcasm in my life.  I'm not always 100% effective, but I have cut it way back to almost nothing.  Why?  Because it is a rotten way to communicate, especially for someone seeking to live in Christ.  Jesus said, "Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one." (Matthew 5:37).   He was talking about not needing to take oaths to prove you were telling the truth.  In other words, mean what you say.   When we use sarcasm, we do not mean what we say, that's the point of sarcasm.   "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear." (Ephesians 4:29).   I think you would be hard pressed to honestly identify a time where a good sarcastic comment is what is needed in a moment to give grace.  Sarcasm bites, pokes fun, expresses disdain, but does not have as its purpose, building up and giving grace.

Now I don't mean we can never make ironic statements for humor's sake.  But in our personal communication with others, we need to put the sarcasm away and speak honestly, lovingly, and uprightly. "Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person." (Colossians 4:6).  Once again, we see that our speech is to be with grace.  A good sarcastic zinger fails that test.

Sarcasm is not how my wife and I communicate at all with each other, and certainly not how we talk to our kids.  I'm sure my kids will learn sarcasm in time, but so far they are not exposed to much of it.  That's one family legacy I'm happy to leave behind.