God Is Not Mocked

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My personal takeaway from the display seen at the opening ceremonies
of the Olympic Games, and know it’s not what many of the self-righteous
Christians among us may expect… 

First off, this is the primary verse that comes to my mind

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Galatians 6:7-8 
“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked,
for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption,
but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
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Do we wonder why the world is in turmoil, full of hatred and corruption? 

The world has lost their fear of God, but that fact is much easier to absorb than the inverse—because today, many who would claim the name of Jesus are, in reality, only followers of the “religion of Christianity,” for they also have lost their fear of God.  They practice a form of religion that is devoid of relationship.  It too is a dramatic form of mockery toward God, and it factors in to what we saw at the Olympics, as well as what is observable in the culture all around us.


A little about mocking God…
The idea of mocking God is displayed in showing Him dishonor, disrespect, or simply ignoring Him altogether, as if He can be made little—into an afterthought that trails far behind our own personal desires and agendas to become gods in our own right.  At its core, mocking God is grounded in a defiance, insolence and contempt for Him.  It is certainly reflected in a spiritually deteriorating culture. 


We should know that mockery is dangerous.  Scripture is succinct in addressing mockery and those who would practice it.


Right out of the gate, Psalm 1:1 identifies those who practice mockery/scoffing as being wicked, and they are like chaff which will be blown away by the wind, because their way will perish.


Psalm 74:10 calls them enemies and foes of God.


Psalm 74:22 and 119:51 refers to them as fools and those who lack respect for God (prideful).  It’s a fitting definition, because most fools are saturated with insolence and pride.  They are always the loudest voices.


Proverbs 1:22 tells us that mockers hate knowledge, and Proverbs 15:12 and 31:1 reveals that they are unteachable creatures who detest their words, actions and behaviors being called out (rebuke).


This mockery has been easy to spot for a long time now, but know that it’s been building for decade upon decade, and sadly, in 2024, it’s reached a level of tolerance where it’s now celebrated during the open ceremony of the Olympic Games.  But there’s a greater underlying cause for that tolerance, and it should be called out for what it is.


Mocking God is a choice made in ignorance (and note that word “ignorance," for I’ll return to it soon).  Mocking is a conscious decision to pursue and practice evil.  Mockers of God, as defined in Scripture, are people without a spirit of obedience, teachability, discernment, wisdom, worship, or faith.  They’re easy to spot, they play the victimization card well, and they can be hard to deal with.  Because of this, their behavior often goes unchecked by Christians who are intimidated, fearful and content to stand in silence.  


What is truly unfortunate, and what exacerbates the problem even further is that Christians who do speak up, often speak only from a standpoint of condemnation and hatred instead of from a standpoint of loving discipleship.  In a world so desperately seeking inclusion, so many Christians are quick to exclude—step up and only condemn— when we should be stepping up to love, disciple and “be Jesus.”  


Is it possible that the behavior of the world is a symptom of the lack of obedience of Christians who are also mocking God with their silence or their hatefulness?  One is a bad as the other, my friends.  A lot of the world may live in ignorance of God simply because those who claim the name of Jesus fail to live for Christ or act as Jesus did among those who needed to see His love and passion for their life, even through their sinfulness.  I thank God that Christ saw through all of the sinful rebellion in me and found a place of love and compassion for my soul.


It is easy for us as believers to point the finger at those outside the church who mock God. But the most subtle mockery of God, and the most dangerous, comes from those of us sitting in church. We are guilty of mockery when we behave with an outward show of spirituality or godliness without an inward engagement or change of heart.


Charles G. Finny (1792-1875) wrote about the effects of mocking God:
"To mock God is to pretend to love and serve him when we do not; to act in a false manner, to be insincere and hypocritical in our professions, pretending to obey him, love, serve, and worship him, when we do not. . . . Mocking God grieves the Holy Spirit, and sears the conscience; and thus the bands of sin become stronger and stronger. The heart becomes gradually hardened by such a process." 


God warns that mockery of what is holy will be punished.  We should think on that as we live.  We should think on that as we act.  We should think on that as we speak and post on social media.


Proverbs 3:34 says, “Toward the scorners He is scornful, but to the humble He gives favor.”


We live in a world that is full to the very brim with self, pride, violence, hatred and open Godlessness.  It’s a world with little space for humility, and among those who suffer from a lack of humility are condemning Christians who are quicker to point the finger at another and accuse than they are to take the hand of the same and love and lead.   


For those of us who are appalled by what we saw at the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games, our distaste for that vile scene is understandable, yet, for the student of Scripture, it shouldn’t come with a large degree of shock—for these things are promised, and those people who participated in that ceremony are the very ones that God has placed on this earth for us to love and disciple.


Christ died for all so salvation would be available to all.  Our individual call to evangelism on this earth consists of the performers at the Olympic ceremony as well as those who sit beside us in church.  We all need Jesus, for Jesus loves all.  Think on that fact before we burn our influence and testimony to ground calling out someone who only sins differently that us.  


Our response should include a thorough examination of our own mockery towards God in things that we consider “much smaller” than a world stage—again, things like our words, actions, and behaviors.  Our influence on the world begins at home and in our own circles.  It begins at work, at school, at church, at ballgames and on social media.  Simply being appalled by the obvious Godlessness is picking the low-hanging fruit, for we need to examine the entire tree from the root up.  
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