I need to clear up something….The Bible states that “a good name is to be chosen above material possession that the world had to offer.” Apparently a few people have misinterpreted something that I talked about some time back. In my small group I was talking about language, not Chinese, Swedish, Japanese, German, or Pig Latin. The language that I was discussing was of the foul, expletive nature.
I brought up the fact that the when a person gets saved the church expects us to “clean up” our act. That cleansing process requires a person to stop drinking, smoking, abstain from sexual activity, and stop using foul language. For my discussion, I wanted to focus on foul language. Why do we as Christ-Followers deem the “S’ word or the “D” word, etc… as foul language? More importantly, Why do we view these words as sinful? My goal in this discussion was to cause Christ-followers to think about the things that we view as sin opposed to the things that are sin. Quite honestly, the words themselves are not sinful. You cannot find scripture that say these words are sinful. However, the context, and the heart, are sinful. Let’s revisit one of my favorite pericope’s in Scripture, I Cor. 10:22-23:
Looking at it one way, you could say, “Anything goes. Because of God’s immense generosity and grace, we don’t have to dissect and scrutinize every action to see if it will pass muster.” But the point is not to just get by. We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well.” (msg.) Another translation says, “We should seek the good of others first. It is very easy to just live our lives and enjoy the journey that God has for us. The problem is when we get selfish in our journey. Apparently a few, and I mean a few, people have decided that foul language is acceptable in their journey.
I need to warn you, that is selfish. That is not seeking the good of others. The ministry of Jesus was selfless. No, He does not want us to live under the bondage of religion. Yes, He wants us to have freedom. That freedom stops the moment you start infringing on the good of others. The moment you become so cavalier that you think that you can do and say anything that you want, you have missed the point. You have become the antithesis of what a Christ-follower is, and should be.
For the record: I do not believe that it is OK to use foul language. It is socially unacceptable, therefore, it is wrong, it is sinful. Why? It’s that whole others seeking thing. So, to those of you who have taking the stance that foul language is OK. I want to applaud you for allowing yourself to define your boundaries. I want to applaud you for having the guts to find your way on this journey. However, I apologize to you for not communicating my heart in a manner in which you misunderstood me. I am also correcting you. This is not acceptable behavior for men and women of God. You are way to amazing to allow your language to keep you from fulfilling your potential. You have a destiny on your lives and you need to embrace it. To quote Spider-man: “With great power, comes great responsibility.” You have a responsibility to God and to those around you. Your responsibility is to attract people to the Creator. So, while you are enjoying your journey, keep focusing on the “others.”
Igniting Change…
2 responses so far ↓
bryan // December 19, 2006 at 3:56 pm
good thoughts buddy. i’m not sure what the context is for these discussions you’ve been having, but i like where you’re going with it.
i agree that it is a heart issue, after all what comes out of our mouths is what is in our hearts. this is why i agree that there is nothing inherently wrong with some of these words that have been deemed cuss words. it is what is going on in our hearts as we use these words. Actually, it is what’s going on in our hearts as we use any words, not just cuss words. I believe that gossip and slander and lying words can be much more evil than banging your finger and saying dammit. but there’s obviously much more to it.
for instance, if you are retelling a story to a good friend about some roadraged driver who shouted obscenities at you, and you quote him word for word, including the F word, have you just sinned? What about if you replace the 4-letter word with the word “Eff” (He told me to “go eff myself”), is it still wrong? or is it now ok? What if all you say is…”he told me to go blank myself”. we all know what you mean, we are all thinking about the F Word, so is is still wrong?
The conclusion that i draw from this is that there is nothing inherently wrong with the F Word.
If i get pissed at a driver who cuts me off, and anger rises up in me, and i scream “What a freaking moron! i hope you crash and die!” is that any better than saying the F-word instead or ‘freaking’? i dont think so. in both cases we’ve become angry, let our anger control us, and we’re not loving.
I think where most Christians feel the guilt with cussing is that in our heads we have words we deem acceptable and some we dont. this list varies for all of us. And if we get angry to the point where we use one of our unacceptable words, we feel like we have lost control. i think there’s some merit to this, but i need to explore it deeper.
the other important issue is context. Who am i around, where am i? I am called to be an ambassador for Christ, so around those who dont know Him, I am going to be more careful about what comes out of my mouth. Around Erica, i might sometimes use obscene words just being silly if its just the two of us. this doesnt feel wrong (which doesnt make it right of course), and she knows in my heart that i am not angry, being malicious, or hurtful. i’m just making her laugh, and vice versa. in those instances it’s nothing more than another word with harmless intentions behind it. or is it? i dont know.
i think i will unpack this all more and make a long blog post about it. for my benefit of course….thanks for makign me think arthur.
Nate // December 27, 2006 at 2:29 am
i can’t wait to finally be in texas to have these deep mind bending talks with you on a weekly basis.