Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended (Proverbs 22:10).

Let me be completely honest with you, here:  I can sometimes wish for the return of witch trials, burnings at the stake, and formal edicts of excommuncation from the Church.  I know that these are things for which I'm supposed to be embarrassed and ashamed, as a Christian -- and, to an extent, I am.  But after a number of years in leadership, I can understand the appeal of a quick and final solution to heresy, subversion, and mockery of "everything I stand for."  Witch trials don't have to be fair; they just have to be quick and kill a lot of witches.  Burnings at the stake are also quick, painful for the "bad guys," and bright in the message they send to any other would-be mockers.  And formal edicts of excommunication make everything very clear, very easy; they're just said and done, irrevocably.  If only there were a way around all the public scrutiny, the legal repurcussions, and -- oh, yeah -- the sinfulness of such unmitigated judgment!  It seems like it could be so nice to be able to quickly and immediately quelch all strife in the church, ending all quarrels and insults with a flick-of-the-wrist sentence...

But then we've got reality and godliness (stinkin' godliness!) to consider.

It's tough to figure out how exactly we can apply the wisdom of Proverbs 22:10, without going to extremes and impuning ourselves in another area of folly.  What does it really mean to "drive out the mocker?"  What's that supposed to look like, in today's context?  How can it be done in a spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?  How can it be done in a way that embraces the candid wisdom of Proverbs 22:10, while still incorporating the wisdom and character of Jesus?

I think it's worth considering the idea that we all have a little bit of "Mocker" in us.  We all tend to approach our interpersonal relationships with a subconscious sense of thinking that our way of thinking about things and doing things is the "right" way -- and all other ways (whether culturally-motivated, personally-motivated, or circumstantially-motivated) are "dumb" or "wrong."  And when we notice this -- even if it's something as trivial as the way that another person keeps their house -- we tend to pick at it, tease about it, and well, mock it.  "Yikes, what an ugly color she was wearing tonight!" or "Who's ever heard of eating that kind of food for that meal of the day?" or "Can you imagine being married to that guy?!?"  Over time, this voice inside my head can get so loud that it starts leaking into my conversation with other people.  Sometimes it even gets so far that it directly mocks and challenges the "offending" person.  But that never comes to anything good -- because the same process of mockery has been happening all along in that person's head, too!  We are, by nature, sinful people:  a lot more thoroughly and more profoundly marred by our sin than we actually think we are.  And one of the ugliest and most persistent ways that this shows up is the little Mocker inside each one of us.

In Jesus, thankfully, we've been given a new beginning.  We've been granted the hope to change, as we let him control our lives more and more.  And, my interpretation of Proverbs 22:10 is that we need to subject this internal, personal, sinful tendency towards mockery to the prosecution, execution, and excommunication from our life in Christ.  We need to ask Jesus to take over (become Lord) of our thoughts, words, and opinions -- and then, in so doing, drive the Mocker out.  As this happens -- as we each submit ourselves to this process of sanctification -- then out goes the strife; the quarrels and insults are ended.  And we find that we can live in peace with each other.

Yes, yes, I do believe that there are times in Christian community where we may be forced to deal with someone who is unwilling to let this tendency towards mockery be displaced by Jesus -- and in those instances we need to respond wisely, going through conversation and presenting the person with personal choices for adapting his lifestyle or essentially driving himself out of the community.  This is essentially applying Proverbs 22:10 on a more literal level (though please, let's not do it with witch trials, burnings at the stake, and formal excommunication).  It's a difficult, long-term process.  And it actually never ends (at least not forever).  We'll never be done with strife, quarrels, and insults until we've each dealt with the little Mocker inside each one of us.  But when it comes to him, turn your heart over to Jesus and let him deal with that little Mocker as harshly as possible.