They Will Make Fun of You

Scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 2 Peter 3:3

When I was using, enslaved to my pills, I developed a kind of contempt for those who were living in recovery and for those who abstained from mind-altering chemicals. I was drowning in my addiction and so, I didn’t want to feel worse, exposing my addiction by associating with those living in recovery. I certainly didn’t go to AA meetings. That would have made me feel terrible. To make me feel better about my own mess, I criticized the sober – at least in my mind. They’re just self-righteous squares. I don’t want to be like them anyway. Maybe I was jealous, or maybe I just wanted to continue down my own road and loathed them for living differently than me. Either way, I scorned them in my mind.

Now, in recovery, I can’t say that I really care if anyone feels that way about my sobriety. I was so miserable in my addiction and I’m so joyful in my recovery, that it just wouldn’t matter if someone looked down on me for it. I don’t want to be self-righteous, and I don’t want to make others feel uncomfortable if they consume alcohol. There are plenty of people who can have a drink. I’m just not one of them and I don’t really worry about anyone mocking me for that.

This, I think, was Peter’s point in today’s passage. In it, he reminded his audience that there will always be those who mock Christ and his followers. Enslaved to their own self-destructive nature, they will ridicule anyone who doesn’t live like them. You think sex should be saved for marriage? How quaint. What a killjoy.

Here is where I need to apply some of that “I don’t care what anyone says” attitude. I find that I am sometimes oversensitive to what the world thinks of my faith. I occasionally worry that others will see me as a religious nut. Peter’s reminder though, is that there will always be those who make fun of me for trying to live free from my self-destructive nature. If I’ve found new life in Christ, then I should just be joyful about that, not worrying about what anyone else says. I should live in such a way that others see the transformation of God in my life. If they’re interested, great. I can help point them to the path of life. If they mock me though, that just isn’t any concern of mine. I don’t need to be judgmental or condescending. I simply must pursue the life for which God created me, not worrying about what anyone else thinks or says.