Mockery is an occupational hazard

For a Christian, mockery is an occupational hazard. You are all but guaranteed to receive insults, threats, and even physical violence from the unbelieving world. Sadly, this is a memo many Christians have missed, and so rather than take the Bible as it is written, there are various changes they make in order to make Christianity seem less foolish.

But as I said, Christianity is going to look foolish to the unsaved. In fact, if you're changing Christianity so it looks less foolish, you're not actually making Christianity look less foolish, you're presenting a completely different religion. Christianity as it actually is would still look foolish. You're presenting Christianity as it isn't. Effectively, you're making a queen look like a whore in order to entertain the tramps.

Picture it this way: There are many charities out there designed to bring clean drinking water to impoverished cultures. There are villages in the world where even children have to carry huge jars of water on their heads from the river. These charities seek to change that, but sometimes, they are met with resistance. These people don't always understand why the water they've been drinking for generations is bad for them. Germ theory, to them, is an alien concept. They just don't understand that these tiny organisms make them sick. Effectively, germ theory is foolishness to them.

Now, if instead of saying there are germs in the water, but we say that there is an evil witch doctor living in the rainforest who cursed the water so that anyone who drinks it gets sick, germ theory still looks foolish to them, but germ theory remains the truth.

In the same way, you might be able to tickle people's ears by telling them Christianity is compatible with their beliefs, but when you actually have to change Christianity to make it do so, you're standing in direct rebellion to God with the people you're "witnessing" to.

As Christians, we have a choice: Do we listen to God, and look foolish in front of His enemies, or do we listen to His enemies, and look foolish in front of God? To me, this seems like a no brainer. Why do I care what the enemies of God think of me? Let them drink their filthy river water. I'll take the fresh spring that flows from The Word any day.