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Monday, August 13, 2007

Christian Cussing is for the Foolish

The thing that prompted me to blog about cussing was discovering a fellow blogger having cussed on her blog. This bothered me tremendously, how could this happen to one who was looked upon as a lady? Truly, I was beside myself.

Growing up, I was VERY much aware of what a cuss word was and when I had said it, for some reason soap was always involved. To this day, I regard those same words as cuss words, not to be used. I'm shocked at how many Christians don't find anything wrong with cussing and use profanity regularly.

The Bible has more things to say about cussing than one thinks:

"Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification that it may impart grace to the hearers" Ephesians 4:29

One day at my work several men were cussing and carrying on, another man approached them and asked them to stop, as there were women around. I've always respected that man for that. How many adults would cuss around children? Not as many. But how many of them would cuss around other adults, lots. Does graceful speaking only matter to children, or to adults as well. Shouldn't we protect one another's heart as much as a child's?

Using cuss words doesn't bring edification to anyone, neither does negative speech....something else to think about.

"Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice." Ephesians 4:31

With anger often comes words we would normally not use. The Bible encourages us to put away evil speaking and anger. Using profanity to express anger, or bitterness, even pain, is wrong and needs to be quickly extinguished from our mouths, and our hearts.

"Let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints.....neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor course jesting, which are not fitting but rather giving thanks." Ephesians 5:3-4

I love this verse! Cussing is not fitting! We are saints, cussing is not what we do! Ask a wicked person if a Christian should cuss, they will say that Christians shouldn't cuss........but some do anyways. Lost people recognize that Christians are suppose to be different in their speech and actions. Are you different, or do you look like the World? Do you give thanks, or does your mouth give a stinky odor?

"So the Lord said to him (Moses), who has made man's mouth, or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? " Ephesians 4:11

The Lord said this to Moses after calling Him to go to Pharaoh. Moses was afraid he would not be able to speak right, but God assured Him that He would give him the right words. God has given us a voice to speak and to honor Him with that voice. If we were created to glorify Him and to honor Him, doesn't that include with our mouths?

"Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man." Matthew 5:11

Jesus spoke these words to His disciples when they worried about eating food that came from dirty hands. When I read this I thought of parents who only shop for organic foods for their families, and who disobey the five second rule, yet who don't even realize how dirty their own mouths are. What comes out of our mouths is what is on our hearts. We who allow filthiness out of our mouths have hearts that mirror that same image.

Lastly, "Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother."

My parents didn't enjoy punishing me with soap, but they knew it had to be done. Wouldn't it be disobeying them if I went towards what they disciplined me against? I believe so.

Are you honoring your Father with your mouth. Or are you cussing up filth?


12 comments:

candy said...

Great post! I agree..

Come to my blog later to see what I did with your name. Its not ready yet but soon.. :)

Theresa's Notes said...

Amen, and Amen again. Great post, I was not brought up in a godly home but I understand by Bible teaching, why we ought not to be cussing.

~~Deby said...

great post..I think I stumbled on the blog you might have been talking about ....and I too was apalled....great reply
Deby

Anonymous said...

WOWOWOWOWOWOW!
I hope that I don't stumble on that blog anytime soon.

Michelle Maddocks said...

Very well put - love your use of the Bible words to state what you're saying too. Edifying words!

Unknown said...

This is a great post! We work with college students, on a christian campus, and the words that they use, and say are acceptable, are shocking! I even had a girl tell me that if you are sharing the gospel with someone who uses foul language, it's okay to use foul language to reach them, because to them it isn't a sin. I tried to share with her some scripture that talks about what kinds of words should come out of our minds...and she just said, "I don't agree with you!"
Sad!
Great, God centered blog!
keep up the great work!
god bless!

theups said...

It makes me so sad when I hear fellow Christians using curse words. Why would someone whom the Lord has given new life to want to talk just like they did when they were dead?? Good grief!!

Be holy, for I am holy, says who? Says God. We are to be LIKE HIM and NOT like the world. Cursing sounds just like the rest of the world.

His,
Mrs. U

Jess Connell said...

I agree that our words are to be seasoned with grace and carefully chosen.

I wonder, though, if you spoke to the offending blogger about it, or if you just wrote her off and came here to vent? We are to be women who not only know what we ourselves stand for but are willing to speak up when we see something unbiblical or unfitting on someone else's blog.

I myself have posted links to things that I find hilarious that others might find offensive. If I truly ever offended someone, though, I would not only hope- I would expect- for someone to let me know about it and be gracious enough to let me see something from another angle.

I would just encourage you, if you haven't already spoken with this woman, to write her privately and ask her what her intentions were, and share with her what your reaction has been. You can share the scriptures here, and your understanding of them, and possibly help a sister to change something she may view as minor, rather than leaving her unaware.

I hope this comes across as I mean it- it is easy to sit back and criticize a sister. It is harder to get your hands "dirty" and actually help her remove the speck from her eyes. I hope you'll do (or have done) the latter.

Blessings,
Jess

Melissa said...

Jess,

I did say something about it to her. Short, but simple. She chose not to respond. Only the first little paragraph did I write specifically about her, the rest was all about Christians cussing in general. Therefore, I do not feel like I was being over overtly critical, but enough to conceal her identity to help get the point across to ALL Christian readers, but I did feel the need to include it because that's what really got me thinking hard about it. I believe it was done in a proper manner. To embarrass her, not my intent, that's why I didn't give a link to her. If someone knows who I'm referring to, did they say something too, or let it sly?

Thank you,

Melissa :D

Anonymous said...

jess, you sound a little defensive about this topic. Sounds like your feeling a little conviction, but not welcoming the conviction. Reevaluate your blog if you feel your blog may be offensive. This is me asking you because I don't normally visit your blog.

Jess Connell said...

Anonymous,
You're right in one thing- I actually did feel defensive when writing the previous comment- not necessarily for me, but for whoever it was who offended Melissa.

She made it clear though that she did go to the woman who had offended her, and share with her the concerns that she had. I just wanted to encourage that to happen, since there was offense.

I do think that in this age of personal convictions, where Christians run all over the gamut with some who feel complete liberty in an area that others may not, that we need to be certain that we aren't easily offended in the gray areas. (And I'm not saying that outright cursing isn't usually black and white.)

We also need to allow for people who are at different places in their journey with God than PRECISELY. WHERE. WE. ARE. I'm glad to hear that Melissa tried to go to this woman and reason with her. That's what needs to happen.

But all too often, someone who is perhaps a baby Christian and has faulty theology about something, or someone who just hasn't been dealt with by God in a certain area (whether something overt like cussing or something covert like how they think/talk about their children), it is easy for women to sit back and criticize and find fault with the one who is (in their eyes) "in the wrong".

Clearly, Melissa handled this rightly, so I'm certainly not talking about her. But I am talking about any of us- ANY of us, me included- who sit in judgment without offering grace or believing the best about a brother or sister.

Again, I don't know any of the particulars- whether this offensive word was what some Christians might deem a mild cuss word (I have an Irish blogger friend who may well cuss on her blog, as language has different meaning in different places-- I'm not sure as I don't read every single post), how the word was used (in a quote?) or any other thing about the situation- so it's not my defensiveness for this particular situation as much as a general feeling of protection for those who might offend without realizing it.

Jess

stephy said...

Eugene Peterson said that morality is idolatry. Something to think about in striving to obey God.