The day is still vivid in my mind. I was in third grade when we were lined up after P.E. to get a drink at the water fountain. One of my classmates “skipped” the line and went toward the front. I yelled at him to stop skipping, which prompted the response of a raised middle finger at me with the two corresponding words associated with that action. I didn’t know what to say or what to do. So I did what any third grader would do: I went home and asked my mom what that meant. I grew up in a home that did not use profanity. It wasn’t a common language I heard from my relatives. It wasn’t something I had heard on television or in music; today’s words are acceptable even to the youngest in our society. Unfortunately, the lid of innocence was removed that day, and I’ve heard many, many vulgar obscenities and shamefully said them since that day in third grade.

The use of what we now consider to be profanity, “cuss words’ if you will, has a long history and is not specific to any particular time or culture. The concept of taboo language and using vulgar or offensive words can be traced back to ancient civilizations. Texts, such as plays by Aristophanes in Greece or specific passages in religious scriptures, contain instances of what might be considered strong or offensive language.

How can a Christian respond to the vulgarity and profanity that has found its way to permeate our society? Does the Lord give us any instruction? Is it okay to use these because they are “just words” that someone said was vulgar? We know that Christians are to be different from the world, “What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:15-18). How we dress, the places we go, and even the words we use should differ from the world. Our actions reflect the Lord whom we serve.

But is profanity “just words”? Notice the commands of the Holy Spirit through Paul, “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.” (Ephesians 4:29). The word for “corrupting” means that which is decayed, rotten, or bad, as in the decaying carcass of a dead animal. Paul indicates that words come from the mouth and are terrible. Words that do not build up but tear down, as my third-grade classmate tried to do when I pointed out his infraction: cuss the one you disagree with, that will bring them off their moral perch. The corrupt language Paul mentions is the opposite of what he instructed Christians to do in Colossians 4:6, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

As Christians, we should keep in mind that which comes from the mouth, profanity, and vulgarity, is because that is what we have put in. The consumption of movies, television, music, and social circles that constantly use swear words will eventually become part of our vocabulary. When we use these words, Jesus said we are defiling ourselves, “It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” (Matthew 15:11). The word for “defile” comes from the Greek meaning to make common, to make unclean, to render “unhallowed.” The “colorful” language we choose to use leaves us unclean before the Lord, separating us from the Lord in eternity.

As Christians, we should remember that as we use our words to praise God, we cannot use words that degrade our fellow man, “With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.” (James 3:9, 10). “This is a mild appeal, leaving it to themselves to understand that such conduct deserves the most severe reprobation.” (Brown, 2023).

Words matter. The words that society knows to be vulgar and profane should not be used at any time, but especially by a Christian. We are called to a higher standard of living, “On account of this, the wrath of God is coming. In these, you too once walked when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.” (Colossians 3:6-8).

By: Justin Odom

WORKS CITED

Barnes, A. (2023, December 30). E-Sword. Colossians 4:6.

Brown, J.-F. (2023, December 30). James 3:9, 10. E-Sword.

Orlando, A. (2023, June 14). Retrieved from Discover Magazine: https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/the-history-of-swear-words-where-the-and-do-they-come-from#

Profanity. (2023). Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profanity