I received this comment on one of my posts today. I thought it was a fair question, so I decided to respond to it here. Enjoy…
I pretty much mostly think I agree with you. Too many of us humans make mountains out of molehills AND molehills out of mountains, unfortunately. Just a question here, not a challenge.. ;) The verse about not letting any unwholesome talk come out your mouth comes to mind. Thoughts?
Depends on what ones interpretation of the scripture is when it uses the word "unwholesome." I believe that when I use my words to rip apart another or to speak lies, then I'm speaking in a way that is truly "unwholesome." But if I say something smells like _____ OR if I hit my thumb with a hammer and say ____Then I'm just speaking. I do believe we can use cuss words to hurt or violate people and that is also very unwholesome, but really, it's not the words we use, it's the manner in which we use them. The Bible clearly backs this way of thinking up in James 3 when Scripture says that with our mouth we praise God and with that same mouth we curse men who are made in His image.
Swearing has become a taboo in Christian circles because we feel it is unclean and therefore must be ungodly. I get it. I was raised in the south and taught to not swear. Even though I do drop a bad word here and there, I don't consider myself out of control with it. I never use these words when teaching scripture to Christians because it's only going to take away from what is being said. But I have used, what many would classify as "bad words" when speaking to people (who knew I was a pastor and felt uncomfortable talking to me) because they were worried they might slip up and swear. I've used it to bring humor to a sad or tough situation. Trust me, when a pastor drops a swear word it can really bring some interesting walls down. I've used a "bad word" to gain trust and access to hurt people who needed help… not rules. I don't use them in places I don't feel comfortable, butI do use them when I deem it appropriate.
I think Jesus said it best in Matthew 23. He was talking to the religious leaders and He called them blind guides. He said that they swallowed camels but choked on gnats. This whole debate began a few post back when I pointed out that a certain Christian group bought advertisement in Time Square on New Year's Eve to take a shot at "liberals." I voiced my feelings about how this comes across to the non-Christian world. I used a name to describe these people's ACTIONS. Look, all of us have had moments we did or said things that made us look like real assholes. I know I've done that more than my fair share, still do. So I used a word that both Christians and the world around us would understand. I was given many alternate suggestions of words I should have used. Jerks, unwise, uncool, and meanies all were offered as a replacement for my choice. But why soften the truth? It is what those, we are attacking in the name of Christ, will call us. Why can't we grow up in this area of our faith and maturity? Can we stop acting like we are six year old girls in a Sunday school class.
Listen, I'm completely fine with Christians who believe they should never swear. If that's your conviction, then I applaud and champion your right to live as you feel God has led you. Just understand that others have the right to walk in their own convictions as well. And let's also try to look at the language of our generation. Most of us have translations of the Bible that are more current and easier to understand. We understand that as generations pass, so evolves the use of words. Language is altered and word meanings can even completely change with the passing of years. A little over one hundred years ago, there was an entirely different group of cuss words that offended Christians. Try using "mewling quim" or "Buck's Face" today. Almost sounds fun loving, but they were seen as BEYOND offensive to the church crowd in the eighteen hundreds. I also find it humorous when people say that people who swear are just too dumb to know how to use words correctly. It's a nice bumper sticker for religious people, but it's completely inaccurate. I have an IQ in the triple digits and I adore some swear words. They can say so much, so accurately, in just one word in one moment. I also have heard MANY kind, wonderful, and yes…intelligent people use words that would be deemed as "swear words." Words do not reflect our heart or intelligence… the way in which we use them does.
But I digress, and let's now return to the topic of the billboard at Time Square. Messages like these only work to make it harder for Christians to reach and dialogue with the world around us. It makes us look like nothing more than a political party, rather than people who are here to show the love of Christ to our generation. All my post was meant to do was point out that overall, "Western Christianity" is looking smaller and more narrow-minded with ad's such as these. I was simply voicing that Christianity in this country are starting to look more like we only care about the agenda of gaining power in political realms. At best, we seem to want nothing more than to force our own version of God's truth down the throat of America even if much of it is not based in scripture or God love. I believe the backlash over one bad word proved my point a thousand times over. We just can't deal with the real issues so we open wide and swallow the camel. But we are wonderful at needing the Heimlich Maneuver for a tiny bug. One person accused me of "attacking Christians" because of it. I'm sorry but that's just not true. What I am attacking, and will continue to, is an ideology that seems to be developing without much opposition from other Christian leaders. A way of thinking that believes judging and poking the world around us will make them run to Jesus. I'm confronting a way of thinking that must be opposed from the inside of Christianity… not from outside. I love Christ, always will. I love His people, as well as those who haven't discovered His love yet. But as long as I'm around I will always reserve my toughest words for those of us in the faith. I for one, am tired of groups like Westboro Baptist, AiG, and Christian Political parties speaking for me in the eyes of the world. They seem to be fine saying their outrageous stuff with seemingly no regard for how many non-Christians it alienates… so I too will speak my heart with the same freedom and unvarnished candor. Mine is just polar opposite from them.
Some will hate me and some will love me… and some won't care either way. That's been happening my entire life and so I'm banking on it. Look, I'm a card-carrying member of the Christian faith too and I believe we are off track in some fundamental and hypocritical ways. It's easy to discount people with my point of view because we don't seem to fit into mainstream Western Christianity. Its easy to say we are to "in the world" to see things correctly. It's easy to say we are swayed by culture. And it's easy to not like how some of us are delivering the message. But what if…just what if… we are seeing things a little clearer than the religious zealots? What if some of us are seeing that the emperor doesn't have on new clothes… he's naked? What if, what many Christian groups are doing is counter to what Jesus said to do? It's a bad fight to pick because currently "Christianity" is an industry in America that brings in billions each year. That's billions with an "s." Who thinks they could go change a well-powered and funded machine like that? Well…. A few of us will at least try.
The bad news for some, is that there are people who still believe in the vast good Christians could do if we stopped attacking the world around us and instead served and loved on them. I have even worse news for some of my traditional and fundamentalist Christian brothers and sisters out there…. There are more Christians like me then you may want to believe. More Christians that believe we should show love and kindness instead of hate. More Christians that believe the church should get out of the political business and back in the helping people business. More Christians that say bad words while doing great deeds. Yeah, our numbers are really growing…. perhaps that's why church attendance is declining.
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