GOD CANNOT BE MOCKED
These words are borrowed from Paul, the apostle, “Do not be deceived, God cannot be mocked.——” (Galatians 6:7)
The word ‘mock’ means to deride, to make fun of, to treat and to dismiss somebody or something in a contemptuous manner. Mocking arises when a person has an inflated view of himself and a condescending and disdainful view of the person being mocked. We see mocking in society around us all the time. The basis for mocking can be ability, physical appearance, mannerisms, race, belief systems etc.
Now imagine the situation where God is being mocked. This can take the form of a person directly attacking God or mocking those who hold on to God. There are several inconsistencies with mocking God. First, a person who does mock God first believes that God exists; otherwise he would have said nothing at all. Now having believed that God exists, man is faced with the fact that he is finite and then goes on to deride the infinite God, who by definition is eternal, all knowing and all good. It is again inconsistent for a finite man to have such an inflated view of himself that he can mock the infinite God.
Next we could look at somebody who derides one who believes in God. Is he saying that the one who believes is silly because God does not exist? Again, that is something a finite man with his limited knowledge cannot rule out. The best he could say is that he does not know (whether God exists), and if that is the case, not knowing should prompt him to explore for the truth and find out what he does not know. But surely that is tough work! Much easier to go on and mock those who disagree with you especially if you have an audience!
But what Paul is doing here is to go beyond making a philosophical statement to making a statement that has personal consequences to his listeners. You cannot wish away the existence of God, neither can you ignore the fact if God is God, he will hold the world accountable to the moral standard that he has imposed on this world. Paul continues,
“—–A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”(Galatians 6:7-9)
The exhortation is to make a daily choice- to either take the easy route of ‘pleasing the flesh’, or the difficult route of ‘pleasing the Spirit’. The former mocks God, feeds the ego and fixates on the temporal, while the latter submits to God, honors God above all else and awaits the eternal reward for doing good on this earth.
