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Shut Down by a
Sneer
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by Sam Williamson
Six weeks ago, I flew back from a Hearing God
retreat in Seattle. I sat next to a young
man—thirty-ish—who was returning home from a job
interview. He scoffed at the interview process,
saying he was interrogated by a bunch of “suits.”
“Suits?” I asked, “Surely no one actually wore a
coat and tie.”
“Naw, they were just puffed up buffoons, hot air
balloons, all show and no substance.”
We talked more about his life. He started college
studying English, but his professors were idiots,
so he dropped out. He currently worked at Lowes
stocking shelves, but his passion is stories. He
was even writing one. He thought he could help a
computer gaming company in Seattle with his plots
and characters. But those interviewers didn’t
really “get” him.
He jeered at the airplane coffee because it was
only Starbucks, not “real” gourmet; he turned down
the snack because it wasn’t gluten free; he
scoffed at my Surface Book laptop because it
wasn’t a Mac; and he ridiculed the movies because
they were all “make-a-buck” sequels.
The Sneer
Adam and Eve enslaved the entire human race when
the fell for Satan’s sneer. Satan’s first words
were, “Did God actually say you shall not
eat of any tree in the garden?” He wasn’t looking
for information. He was sneering and inviting Eve
to join him. His question was a jeer: “What
kind of God would prohibit that? Really? Yikes!”
They fell for a smirk. We too get shut-down merely
by a jeer. When Christian kids go off to college
and lose their faith, it’s never because they
heard a well-reasoned argument against theism;
it’s because they cowered under a chortle:
- “You seem a smart kid. Do you really
believe in a God who let the holocaust
happen?”
- Professor Bultmann once said, “It is
impossible to use electric lights and the
wireless … and at the same time to believe in
the New Testament world of spirits and
miracles.”
I want to say, “Really? You mean, God could
exist if stone age man never invented the wheel,
but once modern man invented a light switch, it
killed him? The radio is your proof of no God?”
(Sometimes we just have to be cynical about the
world’s cynicism.)
Sneers and sarcasm never engage in discussion.
They just look down from their lofty heights of
arrogance. By dehumanizing anyone who
disagrees—and with no reasonable conversation or
cause—they despise everyone else.
The Downward Spiral of The
Jeer
The first verse of the book of psalms describes
the downward- regression of evil: it begins by
“walking in the counsel of wicked,” and soon it
“stands in the way of sinners,” and it ends up
“sitting in the seat of scoffers.”
This perfectly describes the world we live in. We
began by listening to the “common sense” worldly
wisdom to solve our problems; soon we participate
in the godless way of life (not necessarily
atheistic, just deist, like God doesn’t matter);
and we end up scoffing and sneering.
We’re cynical. As ten-year old kids, we loved the
zoo. By the time we’re fifteen we jeer at those
gullible kids fascinated by striped horses. As we
grow older, we snicker at people who drink Folgers
coffee, we chuckle at folks who eat at Big Boys,
and we disdain movies with a happy ending. We’re
too smart for all that.
We are derisive, critical, and sarcastic about the
world. We don’t write a book, volunteer at a
charity, or take an entry-level job. Instead, we
mock authors who write “half-assed” books and
laugh at friends who are becoming “suits.”
We all fall for the jeer, and we all look down on
others. As I inwardly considered that young man on
the plane, I felt my face begin to form a sneer. I
was smirking! G. K. Chesterton once wrote,
The world will never starve for want
of wonders; but only for want of wonder.
The only cure for my sneering nature is to wonder,
to wonder at a God who would choose me, a scoffing
cynic, to be his very own treasures, flawed as I
am. Because he did choose me, and you: not because
we were good, nice, smart, or successful. He chose
us simply because he loves us.
It kind of makes me wonder.
Sam
Sam Williamson has published
numerous articles and has written two books.
He has a blog site, www.beliefsoftheheart.com,
and can be reached at
Sam@BeliefsoftheHeart.com.
Hearing
God in Conversation: How to Recognize
His Voice Everywhere, by Samuel C.
Williamson, published by Kregel
Publications, 2016, available from Amazon
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photo: arrogant guy sneering, from
bigstock.com - Photo ID: 256149106
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