But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words.”

   - Acts 26.25

Let who will laugh and scoff. I will not be silent, nor will I conceal the signs and wonders which the Lord has show to me many years before they happened - He Who knows all happenings since before the beginning of time.

   - Patrick, Confession, Irish, 5th century

We can thank Patrick’s detractors back in Britain for the fact that he wrote his Confession. His ecclesiastical superiors there were insisting he return home to answer charges that he was profiting financially from his ministry. These charges, of course, were just slander.

In writing to decline their call Patrick over and over acknowledged his “rusticity.” He was not very learned – a “high school drop-out” only barely instructed in theology and the priesthood – and he didn’t write very well, not Latin, that is. This fact he knew would draw scorn and derision from some who read his words, just as it had drawn derision from the pagan Irish he had evangelized so faithfully for 60 years.

So let ‘em laugh.

Patrick wasn’t going to be quiet about the Gospel and he wasn’t going to be quiet about the things God had done through his ministry. If his detractors didn’t like it, if they thought he “talked funny” or wasn’t very “intellectual,” well, that was their problem. After all, like Paul, he was merely explaining in true and rational terms the way God had used him in leading many to the Lord.

What about us? Can we talk with others about what God has done for us? Do we fear the laughter and scorn of our unbelieving friends and associates? Do we shy away from talking about what the Lord has done in our lives because we fear they’ll make light of our testimony or talk about us behind our backs?

Let ‘em laugh!

We know what God has done, we know His truth, and we must not be silent out of fear that others may heap scorn and derision upon us for our witness. Patrick didn’t keep quiet, and his faithfulness in the face of mockers and detractors sparked a revival that lasted nearly 400 years.

Might God do the same thing in our day?

We will never know unless, in the face of all opposition and all mocking and laughter, we refuse to keep silent, and speak up.

Psalm 113.1-3 (Armageddon: “Who is on the Lord’s Side?”)
Praise the Lord, O praise Him all who know His Name!
From this day forever, magnify His fame!
From the time each morning when the sun is raised
To its evening waning, let His Name be praised!
   Praise the Lord, O praise Him, all who know His Name!
   From this day forever, magnify His fame!

Do I worry about what others might think or say if I begin talking about You, Lord? Give me grace to talk about You anyway!