NOTE (1/12/18): We’re all learning and growing.  Some of the stuff I’ve written in these old posts may no longer be exactly what I believe or think, or at least may not be articulated the way I’d do it nowadays.  I preserve them in an attempt it to be transparent about my journey, and in the hopes that readers may still glean some insight from the core ideas found here.  Thanks for journeying with me!

“Using foul language” is one of those things that Christians like to use as a holiness measuring stick.  But the last few years, I’ve been realizing that I think our perspective on this issue is skewed.  I’ve not yet come across a blog or article that says what I’m going to say here, and being in university where I am around “foul language” all the time, I feel it is necessary to share what I’ve been thinking and studying in the hopes that you too might see from a different perspective.

I’d like to start by making a point about the Bible.  And that is that Bible wasn’t originally written in English.  Seems like a no-brainer, but when we get verses like Colossians 3:8 – “but now you must put these all off: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips” (my italics added), Paul wasn’t talking about using the F-word.  Because there was no F-word.  There was no F-bombs, no H-E-double-hockey-sticks, there was no ENGLISH.  From this one simple fact, we can derive that society’s ideas of what constitutes as a swear does not come directly from the Bible.

That’s not to say that the Bible doesn’t give us an outline of the kind of language that we should use.  Check out Ephesians 4:29 – “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear”, or Ephesians 5:4 – “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving”, or 2 Timothy 2:16 – “But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness”, and Colossians 4:6 – “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

But it’s interesting that no one ever said “And ye shall avoid using these particular Greek words because they shall infect you with a horrible case of  spiritual suicide…And please turn off the movie if there are more than 10 f-words in it”.  Encourage each other?  Yes.  Build each other up?  yes.  But delete certain words from our vocabulary?  I don’t see it anywhere. From this, I would like to suggest that God isn’t near as concerned about words we use  as much as how we use them.

You can go back into the etymology of today’s “swear words” and find out what roots caused what words and where they all came from, just the same as you can go back and find where Christmas came from (Thought it was Jesus?  Think again).  I don’t believe it’s necessary, because language is transitory. What’s a swear today isn’t going to be in in 50 years.  Remember, even saying “darn”, “golly”, and “gee whiz” was pretty much a capital crime back in the day.  And saying something “sucks” or is “screwed” has scandalous connotations, doesn’t it? But most of us are fairly comfortable around those words.

Whoa.  Wheels turning yet?  A word isn’t “bad” in and of itself.

But what does that mean then?  Am I saying we should just say whatever we want?

Well, it depends.  Remember, we want to be like Jesus.  So let’s apply that principle to these words that society calls “swears” and see where we end up.  I’ll fill you in on some of my daily vocab habits so you have a reference point for how I process the language I use, but I really hope that you actually think this through for yourself rather than just accepting my word as your new “law”.

First off, I can’t imagine a situation where I’d ever need to refer to anyone as a bitch – cuz that sure as heck doesn’t build them up – so it’s not really a word in my vocabulary, nor is any other derogatory term for someone.

I also don’t talk about God or Jesus without actually talking about them.  That’s like curb-stomping Martin Luther King Jr.’s name or something…except let’s say MLK is actually your dad, and he actually sacrificed his life specifically for you.  Could at the very least use some respect.  (And why, may I ask, is Jesus’s name apparently so much more befitting for exclaiming one’s discontent than other “religious leaders”‘ are?  If people are trying to discourage the belief in a devil, I suggest they stop offering such blatant evidence of satan’s attempts to tarnish and deaden his worst nemesis’ name).

I also apply “damn” and “hell” to this “deadening” category – trying to deaden words that actually mean horrifying and devastating things seems kind of dangerous to me if not used in the proper way.  It’s like accidentally knocking down a “Beware of Dog” sign and continually walking over it unawares.  Cuz then what word can actually encapsulate what that thing means?

As for all the other words that we’ve red taped, I say, just freakin’ love Jesus and don’t worry about the rest.  I say, if you’re playing a card game of bullshit, stop palpitating and perspiring over whether God will punish you for your heinous crime.  Like, come on, really?  That word’s pretty much IN the Bible…Philippians 3:8, Paul says he considers all things “dung” compared to gaining Christ.  Not much of a stretch there.  Or Isaiah 64:8 – ever wondered what “dirty rags” really was referring to?  Used tampons, basically.  Or read Song of Solomon.  Don’t beat around the bush, use the word that’s right for the job.  The Bible is quite blunt about body parts and functions, it’s really just the layers of translation that have sanitized things for our consumption.

Though I am arguing to stop fanangling over such “rubbish”, I suppose I’ll say that, for the record, I don’t make a habit of “swearing” even by society’s standards, so I’m not writing this to justify myself.  Why, you ask?  Because, first of all, I think a lot of “swear words” don’t make any sense when used by most people, and it’s not one of my life goals to assist the English language into further disintegration and embarrassment (Such a stupid and complicated language should NOT be one of the most widely spoken…).  Secondly, because I don’t care enough.  Honestly, we’ve got bigger fish to fry and bigger battles to fight.  (Though the more I see Christians use word choice as a tool to measure one’s holiness, the more I feel like using “offensive” language just to break the elitism.  And Paul did say in 1 Corinthians 9:22 that he became “all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some”.  I say, spend more time around people who “swear” and decide for yourself what’s most important.)

Even if you disagree with me on this, which you are allowed to do, I hope you at least consider this one last point: I think there’s a lot more of the Biblical kind of “swearing” and “cursing” and “filthy language” found in the gossip, slander, griping and complaining coming from churches than there ever was from some people out in the world.  So if you’re going to try to clean up other people’s words, I say, remove the plank from your own eye first.  Let’s keep the main thing the main thing, keep the Gospel graceful and free, and live it real.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers and sister, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,m whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.