You are free to use whatever language you want. It's a property of our free will. As with all "freedoms", is it
without boundaries, or best lived within boundaries?
My preference is usually to trust judgement rather than
having a rule. But I want to challenge our use of words like "f*ck"
and "sh*t" in our regular vocabulary.
First -- let me say that none of us are perfect on any level.
And I am quite fallible. So no one
should read this out of a place of judgement.
The Bible talks a lot about how we use our tongues. Jesus
specifically said that what comes out of a person’s mouth is reflecting what's
in their heart.
Luke 6:45 “The good man out of the good treasure of his
heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure
brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his
heart.”
Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupt word proceed
out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may
impart grace to the hearers.”
To this, John MacArthur has written the following:
“The word for ‘corrupt’
refers to that which is foul or rotten, such as spoiled fruit or putrid
meat. Foul language of any sort should
never pass a Christian’s lips, because it is totally out of character with his
new life in Christ.” The final portion
of the verse offers a worthy use of our tongue--"what is good for
edification.”
The book of James gives us three illustrations from nature to
demonstrate the sinfulness of cursing: “With [our tongue] we bless our Lord and
Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God;
from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things
ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both
fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine
produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh,” (James 3:9-12).
Except … it's totally savage these days ("cool"
for you old timers) to be a Christian who swears. It gives the "curser" an
"I'm into Jesus, but I'm not legalistic" badge.
But that concept misses the boat – akin to saying, “May I
sin more so grace may abound more”.
That’s the exact opposite of what the Apostle Paul tells us to do!
At its foundation, profanity is our weak attempt at displacing God by instead putting ourselves in a place of judgement over people and circumstances. Father Maney
writes that at its core, swearing is contempt – a mixture of rebellion, anger
and disgust – expressed from a position of superiority. It is the furthest
thing from that which we have been called, which is to live in gratitude and
contentment, humbly considering others better than ourselves. It’s not hard to understand why even subtle
levels of contempt are damaging—not only in marriages but in all human
interaction. If profane language has a privileged place in the lexicon of
contempt, then Christians have a unique mandate to avoid profanity. It’s not
that abstaining from pejorative language outfits us with some holier-than-thou
halo. It’s that we are called to live with a servant’s heart, affirming the
dignity of every human and the sacredness of existence.
So you say that Biblical proclamations about our language
were only about using G-d’s name in vain.
But as historical linguists point out, there are commonalities of
cursing that are true regardless of the age or language: They have to do with
what comes out of the body (fluids and solids), sex (and body parts that should
be modestly covered), and misusing the name of either deity or follow
humans. So, when we're reading "no
corrupt word should...”, it's really consistent in spite of entomology.
The bottom line? Swearing shows a lack of control -- whether
it's giving oneself over to anger, contempt or superiority, and is not what it
means to bring peace and love to the fore.
In essence: It's anti-Christ.
Next time we want to swear, we should carefully consider this line of
thinking -- and if it is really in alignment with what our Creator desires of
us.
FWIW.
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