Clash Culture Mindset
Today, those values have been replaced with what I call a “clash culture mindset”. This mindset implicitly trains us to find points of disagreement with others, to seek them out, and then to clash over them. We see this exemplified all over the place: in the news, on social media, and in face-to-face interactions.
This is not how Christians should act as followers of Jesus Christ, and yet a lot of us in the church are just as guilty of clashing with folks as are non-believers. We think that being a good Christian entails telling it like it is, clapping back at the haters, or hitting somebody upside the head with some truth. But when Christians do this kind of thing, we wander away from the biblical model of wisdom, the very model of Jesus Christ, and we damage our evangelism and apologetics in the process.
Don’t believe me?
Proverbs 9:7-8 says: “He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself, And he who reproves a wicked man gets insults for himself. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, Reprove a wise man and he will love you.”
Jesus said something very similar to His disciples. In Matthew 7:6 He said, “Do not cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and then turn to attack you.”
In other words: Not everyone deserves an answer. Only those who desire wisdom deserve an answer.
To be a scoffer, according to the Book of Proverbs, is to be someone who shows contempt for others. Scoffers don’t listen, particularly to correction. Scoffers are not teachable. They run away from wisdom. And it’s not just scoffers the Bible says we should avoid. The Book of Proverbs says to stay away from mockers, scorners, and fools as well.
Why Do Scoffers Scoff?
This may be a difficult message for you to read. Maybe it’s difficult because you think that the reason people reject God is due to their ignorance; and so if they could hear the right argument or consider the right evidence, they’ll finally become a Christian.
That is not true!
The apostle Paul explained the real reason why people reject God in Romans 1:18-19. He said that people “suppress the truth in unrighteousness because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.”
See, it’s not that people reject God because they don’t have enough information to make a decision. People don’t believe in God because they don’t want to believe. That’s the dirty little secret about fallen humanity’s heart!
People do not go to hell because they are victims of a lack of information. They go to hell because of their rebellious disobedience. That’s why, when they are corrected from their folly and hear the truth about God, they hate it.
Jesus Christ, the very wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:23), understood this about people, and He lived out the biblical principle of Proverbs 9:7-8 in His daily life.
The Model of Jesus
Consider the time the chief priests and the scribes questioned Jesus’ authority in the temple: “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority” (Luke 20:2)? It should be obvious that this is not a sincere question of authority. Other parts of the Gospel reveal that the chief priests and scribes were seeking to find fault with Jesus so they could arrest Him.
Jesus knew all of that, and so this is how He responded: “I will also ask you a question, and you tell Me: Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men” (Luke 20:3)? The Bible says that the priests and scribes struggled to come up with an answer that was advantageous for their purposes; so they simply shrugged their shoulders and claimed ignorance, to which Jesus replied, “Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things” (v. 8).
Consider the time that Jesus was arrested and brought before Herod. Luke 23:8 says, “Now Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus; for he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some sign performed by Him.” Did it say Herod was hoping to hear the Gospel? Did it say that he wanted Jesus to teach him about God? No. Herod wanted to see Jesus perform a magic trick! This is how Jesus responded: “And he questioned [Jesus] at some length; but [Jesus] answered him nothing” (Luke 23:9).
Somebody who doesn’t know better might look at that and say: Jesus missed an opportunity to preach the Gospel! No, He didn’t! Jesus was living out the biblical principle found in Proverbs 9:7-8. Not everyone deserves an answer. Only those who desire wisdom deserve an answer.
Those of us who follow Christ must follow His example and stop engaging every single person. It’s a bad habit that only leads to frustration and exhaustion. Why? Because today’s clash culture mindset has turned a large number in our society into the very people the Bible tells us to avoid engaging: scoffers, mockers, scorners, and fools.
What Do Scoffers Look Like Today?
Practically speaking scoffers constantly change the subject on you, they resort to name-calling, they deny your arguments anyway, or all of the above.
It doesn’t matter if everything you said was flawless! They feed off the constant clashing, the adversarial back-and-forth that eventually leads to nowhere because they have already decided that nothing you say will change their mind.
This wipes out 90% of Facebook and Twitter! You realize that, right?
What Do Folks Who Desire Wisdom Look Like Today?
Practically speaking, someone desiring wisdom is willing to consider what you have to say without interrupting, without spewing venom in return. They are someone willing to ask genuine questions without trying to “win”, or without resorting to intellectual dishonesty. In my opinion, the best indicator that someone you’re engaging desires wisdom is when they admit that they were wrong. This is someone who perhaps in small ways already reveals a heart willing to submit.
That’s who you should be looking to engage in today’s culture.
Conclusion
The only way you’re going to determine who displays biblical wisdom and who displays the qualities of a scoffer is by talking to everyone. And loving everyone by spending time with them. But you must understand, it is your biblical responsibility to determine whom you’re talking to. To engage only those who desire wisdom and to avoid those who do not.
This is what it means to look like Christ in today’s culture.
https://wisedisciple.org/podcast-ep...ash Culture Mindset,Christ in today’s culture.
Today, those values have been replaced with what I call a “clash culture mindset”. This mindset implicitly trains us to find points of disagreement with others, to seek them out, and then to clash over them. We see this exemplified all over the place: in the news, on social media, and in face-to-face interactions.
This is not how Christians should act as followers of Jesus Christ, and yet a lot of us in the church are just as guilty of clashing with folks as are non-believers. We think that being a good Christian entails telling it like it is, clapping back at the haters, or hitting somebody upside the head with some truth. But when Christians do this kind of thing, we wander away from the biblical model of wisdom, the very model of Jesus Christ, and we damage our evangelism and apologetics in the process.
Don’t believe me?
Proverbs 9:7-8 says: “He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself, And he who reproves a wicked man gets insults for himself. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, Reprove a wise man and he will love you.”
Jesus said something very similar to His disciples. In Matthew 7:6 He said, “Do not cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and then turn to attack you.”
In other words: Not everyone deserves an answer. Only those who desire wisdom deserve an answer.
To be a scoffer, according to the Book of Proverbs, is to be someone who shows contempt for others. Scoffers don’t listen, particularly to correction. Scoffers are not teachable. They run away from wisdom. And it’s not just scoffers the Bible says we should avoid. The Book of Proverbs says to stay away from mockers, scorners, and fools as well.
Why Do Scoffers Scoff?
This may be a difficult message for you to read. Maybe it’s difficult because you think that the reason people reject God is due to their ignorance; and so if they could hear the right argument or consider the right evidence, they’ll finally become a Christian.
That is not true!
The apostle Paul explained the real reason why people reject God in Romans 1:18-19. He said that people “suppress the truth in unrighteousness because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.”
See, it’s not that people reject God because they don’t have enough information to make a decision. People don’t believe in God because they don’t want to believe. That’s the dirty little secret about fallen humanity’s heart!
People do not go to hell because they are victims of a lack of information. They go to hell because of their rebellious disobedience. That’s why, when they are corrected from their folly and hear the truth about God, they hate it.
Jesus Christ, the very wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:23), understood this about people, and He lived out the biblical principle of Proverbs 9:7-8 in His daily life.
The Model of Jesus
Consider the time the chief priests and the scribes questioned Jesus’ authority in the temple: “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority” (Luke 20:2)? It should be obvious that this is not a sincere question of authority. Other parts of the Gospel reveal that the chief priests and scribes were seeking to find fault with Jesus so they could arrest Him.
Jesus knew all of that, and so this is how He responded: “I will also ask you a question, and you tell Me: Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men” (Luke 20:3)? The Bible says that the priests and scribes struggled to come up with an answer that was advantageous for their purposes; so they simply shrugged their shoulders and claimed ignorance, to which Jesus replied, “Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things” (v. 8).
Consider the time that Jesus was arrested and brought before Herod. Luke 23:8 says, “Now Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus; for he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some sign performed by Him.” Did it say Herod was hoping to hear the Gospel? Did it say that he wanted Jesus to teach him about God? No. Herod wanted to see Jesus perform a magic trick! This is how Jesus responded: “And he questioned [Jesus] at some length; but [Jesus] answered him nothing” (Luke 23:9).
Somebody who doesn’t know better might look at that and say: Jesus missed an opportunity to preach the Gospel! No, He didn’t! Jesus was living out the biblical principle found in Proverbs 9:7-8. Not everyone deserves an answer. Only those who desire wisdom deserve an answer.
Those of us who follow Christ must follow His example and stop engaging every single person. It’s a bad habit that only leads to frustration and exhaustion. Why? Because today’s clash culture mindset has turned a large number in our society into the very people the Bible tells us to avoid engaging: scoffers, mockers, scorners, and fools.
What Do Scoffers Look Like Today?
Practically speaking scoffers constantly change the subject on you, they resort to name-calling, they deny your arguments anyway, or all of the above.
It doesn’t matter if everything you said was flawless! They feed off the constant clashing, the adversarial back-and-forth that eventually leads to nowhere because they have already decided that nothing you say will change their mind.
This wipes out 90% of Facebook and Twitter! You realize that, right?
What Do Folks Who Desire Wisdom Look Like Today?
Practically speaking, someone desiring wisdom is willing to consider what you have to say without interrupting, without spewing venom in return. They are someone willing to ask genuine questions without trying to “win”, or without resorting to intellectual dishonesty. In my opinion, the best indicator that someone you’re engaging desires wisdom is when they admit that they were wrong. This is someone who perhaps in small ways already reveals a heart willing to submit.
That’s who you should be looking to engage in today’s culture.
Conclusion
The only way you’re going to determine who displays biblical wisdom and who displays the qualities of a scoffer is by talking to everyone. And loving everyone by spending time with them. But you must understand, it is your biblical responsibility to determine whom you’re talking to. To engage only those who desire wisdom and to avoid those who do not.
This is what it means to look like Christ in today’s culture.
https://wisedisciple.org/podcast-ep...ash Culture Mindset,Christ in today’s culture.
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