When Should Christians Use Satire?
00:00:00.000 | Shane, a listener to the podcast, writes us to ask this.
00:00:08.080 | "Pastor John, with the growing popularity of Christian satire, for example, websites
00:00:13.520 | like the Babylon Bee, what are your thoughts on the use of satire to communicate Christian
00:00:18.920 | thought?"
00:00:20.720 | The dictionary defines satire like this.
00:00:24.080 | The use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like in exposing, denouncing, or deriding,
00:00:34.160 | vice, folly, et cetera.
00:00:37.840 | And then if you look for a definition of irony, which is used to define satire, the definition
00:00:45.080 | it gives is this.
00:00:46.760 | The use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning.
00:00:55.040 | So satire then is a way of exposing folly, foolishness, or error, or evil by saying the
00:01:06.840 | opposite of what the author really thinks in such a way that while claiming to support
00:01:15.120 | something, it makes it look ludicrous and therefore undermines the attitude or the activity.
00:01:23.960 | Now, in deciding on whether it is wise to use satire or irony, we should ask, does the
00:01:34.800 | Bible use it in a way that commends it?
00:01:37.640 | And if so, when might it be appropriate and when not?
00:01:44.040 | And are there other biblical exhortations that would put the brakes on it or guide it,
00:01:50.600 | minimize it, maximize it?
00:01:53.240 | So the answer to that first question is Job, the prophets, Jesus, Paul, they all used satire.
00:02:03.960 | They all used irony to expose the folly of the people they were dealing with.
00:02:10.160 | For example, Job 12.2, "Truly then, you are the people and with you wisdom will die."
00:02:17.220 | That's exactly the opposite of what he thought.
00:02:19.680 | Or Isaiah 44.14, this one is really, really good.
00:02:27.600 | The idolater cuts down cedars and he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow
00:02:34.300 | strong among the trees of the forest.
00:02:36.800 | He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it.
00:02:40.140 | Then it becomes fuel for a man.
00:02:42.260 | He takes a part of it and warms himself.
00:02:45.420 | He kindles a fire and bakes bread.
00:02:48.660 | Also he makes a god and worships it.
00:02:51.720 | He makes an idol and falls down before it.
00:02:55.040 | Half of it he burns in the fire.
00:02:57.840 | Over the half he eats meat.
00:03:00.000 | He roasts it and is satisfied.
00:03:02.820 | So he warms himself and says, "Aha, I am warm.
00:03:06.740 | I have seen the fire."
00:03:08.480 | And the rest of it he turns into a god.
00:03:11.060 | His idol and falls down in front of it and worships it.
00:03:14.700 | He prays to it and says, "Deliver me.
00:03:17.460 | You are my god."
00:03:19.500 | That's really powerful.
00:03:21.340 | And then Elijah, "And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, 'Oh, cry aloud to your god.'"
00:03:30.180 | Either he's musing or he's going to the bathroom or he's on a journey or perhaps he's asleep
00:03:38.340 | and must be awakened.
00:03:40.220 | That's just pure irony and satire and sarcasm in his case.
00:03:45.860 | And Jesus says to the scribes and Pharisees when they saw him eating with sinners and
00:03:51.540 | tax collectors, he said, they said, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
00:03:56.780 | And Jesus heard it and said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those
00:04:04.500 | who are sick."
00:04:05.500 | "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners," which was a very pointed indictment of those
00:04:13.220 | who were talking to him thinking they were well when they were in fact sick.
00:04:18.000 | And then Paul in 1 Corinthians 4, 8, he says, "Already you have all you want.
00:04:25.980 | Already you have become rich.
00:04:28.580 | Without us, you have become kings.
00:04:31.660 | And would that you did reign so that we might reign with you."
00:04:35.580 | Just saying the exact opposite of what he thinks because that's what irony does.
00:04:42.100 | It's not lying because the assumption is everybody knows exactly what I'm doing and they're being
00:04:47.740 | indicted by it.
00:04:49.780 | Now, in all of those cases, as I look at them, the people who are being exposed by the irony
00:04:57.660 | are those who are acting wrongfully in a fairly entrenched way.
00:05:03.900 | In other words, these are not poor, weak people who have simply stumbled and made a rare mistake,
00:05:13.460 | but are hardened people who go on and on in their error, do not respond to exhortation,
00:05:20.860 | which means, I think, that satire and irony are not going to be a Christian's first or
00:05:31.460 | main strategy of correction with people.
00:05:36.660 | Not people we're trying to win anyway.
00:05:39.660 | We know that Jesus said not to cast our pearls before swine, but we should be very careful
00:05:50.260 | before we put someone in the category of swine.
00:05:54.140 | We'll be very slow.
00:05:55.940 | Similarly, we should be careful before we pull out our sword of satire when dealing
00:06:02.860 | with someone's error.
00:06:05.620 | One of the difficulties with satire, and I just say this about myself in particular,
00:06:11.740 | one of the difficulties with satire is that it is so difficult to use without sounding
00:06:17.940 | arrogant.
00:06:18.940 | James Denny said, "It's very hard to show that Christ is magnificent and that I'm clever
00:06:26.240 | at the same time."
00:06:28.140 | It's been a very powerful word for me over the years.
00:06:32.140 | Some of us are so prone to be clever and biting in our criticism that satire fits our natural
00:06:42.740 | sinfulness way too easily.
00:06:46.020 | I would put myself in that category.
00:06:48.340 | For myself, I find I need to read other sets of scriptures, other passages more often,
00:06:56.900 | like these.
00:06:57.900 | 2 Timothy 2.24, "The Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to everyone, able
00:07:05.860 | to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness."
00:07:12.740 | Or James 3.17, "The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason,
00:07:22.100 | full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere, and a harvest of righteousness is
00:07:28.700 | sown in peace by those who make peace."
00:07:32.620 | Or 1 Peter 3.8, "Finally, all of you have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a
00:07:40.580 | tender heart, a humble mind."
00:07:44.460 | So that's what John Piper needs to hear over and over again, because I am wired to be sarcastic.
00:07:51.620 | I daydream about how to say things with pointed, ruthless effect.
00:08:00.020 | So I need those verses all the time.
00:08:03.260 | So my conclusion is that in the rough and tumble of truth speaking in a world of evil
00:08:10.180 | and folly, there will always be a place for irony and satire to do its work of exposing
00:08:16.740 | error and evil and folly.
00:08:19.180 | Nevertheless, I think the use of it is very limited in bearing the kind of fruit that
00:08:24.500 | love longs to see in transformed lives.
00:08:28.460 | God grants repentance, it seems to me, and I base this on 2 Timothy 2.25, God grants
00:08:36.860 | repentance more often in connection with brokenhearted appeals rather than clever indictments.
00:08:44.620 | Thank you, Pastor John.
00:08:46.380 | That's a good word for all of us, and thank you for the question, Shane.
00:08:50.700 | If you have a question that you just can't quite figure out or some issue that's confusing
00:08:53.860 | you, email us at askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org.
00:08:58.940 | Of course, you can find our audio feeds, our episode archive, and everything you need to
00:09:02.380 | know about this podcast at our online home, desiringgod.org/askpastorjohn.
00:09:09.260 | Well does the Bible call for musical worship or not?
00:09:12.660 | And does it call for musical worship leaders on Sundays?
00:09:16.140 | These are questions from a worship leader and it's coming up on Friday.
00:09:20.180 | I'm your host, Tony Ranke.
00:09:21.460 | Thanks for listening to the Ask Pastor John podcast with longtime author and pastor, John
00:09:25.860 | Piper.
00:09:26.860 | We'll see you next time.
00:09:27.540 | Bye.
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