Actually, this IS about the use of the occasional expletive. I just finished reading a post over at Internet Monk about "dirty words" and what the Bible has to say about their use.
Thoughts on Ephesians 4:29, 5:4
I highly recommend you go read this. Here's a portion of it:
Finally, Paul is obviously making each one of us responsible for how we use language. To the extent that we would use a word in private that we would not use in public, we bear responsibility. There ought to be standards for public speech in the Christian community, and I understand that Christians will differ on what those standards ought to be. I was ridiculed for suggesting that it is not incongruent with public Christian speech to have a PG-13 rule in an internet tavern. This is decision where Christians would differ, and as Romans 14 says, we each will stand before God to give an account.
Jesus said that words would be part of the subject of judgment. The Pharisees' use of words were part of the why Jesus condemned them. Jesus used specific words as examples of wrongful use of language. James, the Lord’s brother, has serious teaching on the use of language (the tongue) for all Christians.
There is no way to make Paul's teaching to say less than what it says. To the extent that the world, or the church, hears what we say, our language must be appropriate. A verbal libertine is as bad as any other libertine.
At the same time, I do not believe Paul's words were meant to produce people who recoil in offense at common vernacular or the normal language of informal conversation among friends. I do believe that when a word of thanksgiving, upbuilding and grace is called for, the Christian should know what to say, and what to never say.
Not too long ago, I was busy making some comedy videos for my church. The first one played, and got lots of laughs... but then later I got a note from the pastor saying that someone had complained because one of the actors in my video said "What the heck is that??" and they thought it was terribly inappropriate language for church.
I was completely astounded and wondered if the anonymous complainer ever left their house; they'd probably fall over in a dead faint if they walked into my workplace and got called an "effin' b*tch" or something similar. I was also very deflated and did not complete the video series because I knew that if "heck" was such a foul swear word to someone, the other comedy sketches would probably not meet with approval either (even though they were completely clean in my world).
Of course, I also privately thought it was rather lame of the pastor to pass that sort of thing off on me; he knew that was utterly ridiculous and he should've told the complainer so himself. But I'm also keenly aware of the way pastors are. Easier to tell them, "Okay, I'll pass that on to her," instead of looking at them in the eye and telling them, "That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard and you need to get a life." [shrug] I know how it is.
Spencer's post addresses the heart of the real issue of "bad words" and does it very, very well. Go ye, therefore, and read it.
UPDATE... Mel of Actual Unretouched Photo reminded me of one of her posts about language that I read a couple of months ago and completely agreed with as well... while Spencer is coming at the issue from a theological, Scriptural standpoint, Mel addresses it by making a practical comparison. I remember reading it then and thinking it was an apt description.
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