The Fourth Stage of Desensitization: Snobbery

Okay, so maybe snobbery isn’t the best name for this fourth level of desensitization. It doesn’t sound…sinister enough. But don’t let my poor labeling fool you: at this level discernment snaps, making breaching this level in any part of your life very dangerous.

Often marked by a sneering disdain for the simple or childlike (hence the label “snobbery”), this fourth level has the arrogant audacity to re-label the world. Good has become evil. Evil has become good. The virtues of God and His Word are mocked; vices of the world are held up the ideal. Water is called poison and poison water.

This is exactly what Satan wants. By switching the labels he can deceive and destroy many people; for believing they drink life, they will in truth drink death. Moreover, since God gains glory when even His attributes (love, patience kindness) are honored, Satan thwarts glory from God and to himself through this reversal.

So by entering this fourth stage, you become an unwitting partner in crime—with yourself often being the first victim. For since complacency lulls us into a false sense of security, deactivating our normal security system of discernment, an alarm now fails to warn us of the one posing as a friend is our enemy.