Can Christians Cuss to Prove a Point?
00:00:00.000 | [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:00:05.080 | In episode 97, we focused on cussing.
00:00:07.520 | And it was one of the most played episodes of 2013,
00:00:10.040 | over 30,000 plays to date.
00:00:12.720 | Cussing is a big issue in life and increasingly in the church.
00:00:15.840 | And recently, Philip Yancey, a best-selling author,
00:00:18.780 | read several memoirs and nonfiction books
00:00:20.640 | written by authors he called hipster Christians.
00:00:23.600 | And at the end of his experiment,
00:00:24.980 | he said the common essential ingredient in all of the books
00:00:27.600 | he read by those so-called Christian hipsters
00:00:30.040 | is the presence of cussing, words forbidden by the FCC
00:00:33.080 | from being broadcast on network television.
00:00:35.280 | This is not new, of course.
00:00:36.640 | Just back in 2009, Derek Webb released a song
00:00:38.960 | about the AIDS epidemic with the S-word in it.
00:00:41.960 | It was bait to get Christians angry about the cuss word.
00:00:44.880 | So the conversation could get spun around to ask, well,
00:00:47.560 | what makes you more angry, a four-letter word
00:00:50.080 | from a Christian artist or 50,000 people
00:00:52.240 | dying of AIDS every day?
00:00:54.560 | Now, AIDS is obviously a massive tragedy today.
00:00:57.400 | But the language raises a legitimate question.
00:01:00.200 | Pastor John, as someone who aims to provoke people
00:01:02.280 | with strong language yourself, is it ever appropriate
00:01:05.080 | for a Christian to use cuss words in sermons, books, music
00:01:08.080 | albums, or online, or anywhere in order
00:01:10.520 | to provoke others towards what appears
00:01:12.960 | to be a noble and good ends?
00:01:15.640 | And maybe first I'll ask this.
00:01:18.080 | Is this a new phenomenon in the church?
00:01:21.160 | Well, it's not a new technique to use
00:01:23.840 | crude or offensive language to upset an audience
00:01:28.400 | and then spank them that they are
00:01:31.080 | more upset by the language than the injustice that
00:01:35.280 | was being lamented.
00:01:36.960 | So Tony Campala did this 40 years ago.
00:01:39.600 | I remember it.
00:01:40.680 | And I felt then, and I feel now, that it's manipulative.
00:01:46.200 | I don't like it.
00:01:47.400 | For those who think it's a good idea, they should ask this.
00:01:52.460 | Would you approve of addressing a crowd
00:01:55.680 | of liberal, leaning Christians by referring
00:01:59.400 | to the sinfulness of being a practicing fag or queer?
00:02:07.160 | And then when they get really furious over that language,
00:02:11.440 | which they should, you say, oh, see,
00:02:16.320 | you're much more worried about being politically correct
00:02:18.840 | than you are about the fact that this really is
00:02:21.020 | a sin that sends people to hell.
00:02:22.640 | In other words, you turn things around,
00:02:24.440 | you realize, oh, hmm, maybe we shouldn't
00:02:30.000 | assume that provoking an audience
00:02:32.680 | with really inappropriate language
00:02:38.360 | is a good way forward.
00:02:40.880 | I think, frankly, that the use of that language for those
00:02:45.120 | who struggle with homosexuality is utterly out of place
00:02:48.720 | and unnecessarily demeaning.
00:02:52.560 | I would say the same thing about the S word and the F word
00:02:56.320 | in trying to provoke conservatives
00:02:58.640 | to see that they're more upset about language
00:03:02.160 | than some calamity that you happen to be talking about.
00:03:05.280 | But let me step back.
00:03:08.160 | I think it's going to be more helpful to just step back
00:03:11.080 | and see how does the New Testament address
00:03:13.880 | the issue of offensive language?
00:03:15.760 | Because it really does, significantly.
00:03:18.440 | And here's four passages of scripture.
00:03:22.800 | Number one, Ephesians 429.
00:03:25.480 | And what I'm going to look for is some commonalities
00:03:28.000 | in these four texts that point us to principles of how
00:03:31.520 | to think about this.
00:03:32.920 | Ephesians 429, let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths,
00:03:37.760 | but only what is good for upbuilding
00:03:39.340 | and fits the occasion to give grace to those who hear.
00:03:41.960 | Ephesians 5.4, let there be no filthiness, no foolish talk
00:03:46.880 | or crude joking, which are out of place,
00:03:50.680 | but instead, let there be thanksgiving.
00:03:53.680 | Colossians 3.8, but now you must put away all anger, wrath,
00:03:57.880 | malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.
00:04:01.960 | Or 1 Corinthians 13.4, when Paul's talking about love,
00:04:05.200 | interestingly, it says love is patient and kind.
00:04:08.160 | Love does not envy or boast.
00:04:09.620 | It is not arrogant or rude.
00:04:13.560 | And the old King James Version does not behave itself
00:04:17.840 | unseemly.
00:04:20.160 | Now, here's what's interesting about those passages.
00:04:23.880 | None of them, in none of them is language condemned
00:04:29.760 | because it's against a particular law.
00:04:33.600 | Notice the categories, corrupting talk, filthiness,
00:04:37.320 | obscene talk, rude, or behaving itself unseemly.
00:04:42.560 | If you can read Greek, every one of those phrases,
00:04:45.840 | all four of them, corrupting talk, filthiness, obscene talk,
00:04:48.320 | rude, all are built on the same Greek stem,
00:04:52.080 | [SPEAKING GREEK]
00:04:57.080 | And this [SPEAKING GREEK] is a root
00:05:02.640 | that isn't built on a list of acceptable words
00:05:07.280 | and unacceptable words.
00:05:08.480 | Like, oh, the way we live our lives
00:05:10.000 | is there's some God-approved acceptable words
00:05:12.520 | and some God-approved unacceptable words.
00:05:14.240 | Well, there aren't.
00:05:15.240 | I don't think that's the case.
00:05:16.960 | What that phrase refers to is--
00:05:19.480 | I looked this up in the major Greek lexicon--
00:05:22.520 | behavior that flouts social and moral standards,
00:05:27.760 | shamefulness, obscenity.
00:05:30.960 | So instead, the issue is, are we transgressing or fighting
00:05:39.200 | against certain social norms as Christians?
00:05:44.200 | And then we ask, is it good for upbuilding?
00:05:46.840 | Is it good that fits the occasion?
00:05:48.880 | Is it giving grace?
00:05:51.120 | This is the cultural norm that we should be striving for--
00:05:55.680 | upbuilding, giving grace to those who hear.
00:05:59.760 | So a huge part of Christian ethics, including language,
00:06:03.840 | is not derived from finding a list of God-approved words
00:06:07.000 | and God-unapproved words.
00:06:08.360 | There is no such list.
00:06:10.040 | Most of our behavior, including our language,
00:06:12.240 | is, does it build up in faith?
00:06:14.840 | Does it build a passion for Christ?
00:06:16.680 | Does it give grace to those who hear?
00:06:19.960 | And our vocabulary is a testimony
00:06:22.400 | to this way of thinking about language.
00:06:25.600 | Think of dozens of words that have
00:06:27.720 | been created and adapted to express what is fitting--
00:06:33.000 | not what's wrong, but what's fitting.
00:06:35.280 | I mean, here's a list.
00:06:36.200 | I just thought of a few--
00:06:38.120 | disgraceful, dishonorable, indecent, indelicate,
00:06:43.240 | offensive, hurtful, unkind, dirty, salacious, scandalous,
00:06:50.200 | shameful, reprehensible, impolite, crude, lewd,
00:06:55.480 | licentious, unsuitable, improper.
00:06:58.280 | Isn't it amazing that the English language
00:07:01.120 | has words like that in it?
00:07:02.560 | What do those words mean?
00:07:03.720 | Those words have-- those words don't have anything to do with,
00:07:06.760 | oh, where's my list, you know?
00:07:08.120 | Where's my list of actions or attitudes or words
00:07:12.880 | that I can say?
00:07:13.760 | Those words aren't about lists.
00:07:15.040 | Those words are about the creation of a culture,
00:07:19.040 | the maintenance of a culture.
00:07:20.720 | And Christians should be striving
00:07:23.520 | to create and maintain a Christ-permeated culture.
00:07:28.880 | So the question I would urge is, have you
00:07:32.760 | let the texts--
00:07:34.840 | the ones that I've referred to up there--
00:07:38.880 | have you let the texts sufficiently
00:07:41.440 | inform the kind of Christian culture
00:07:44.680 | you would like to cultivate in your children, in the church,
00:07:48.520 | in the workplace?
00:07:50.000 | And my guess is the people that are playing fast and loose
00:07:53.160 | with what's offensive in using obscene or offensive language
00:07:57.680 | would do well to rethink their habits.
00:08:01.800 | Yes, thank you, Pastor John.
00:08:03.360 | And for more on cussing, see the popular episode
00:08:05.560 | titled "On Cussing" in the Ask Pastor John archive,
00:08:08.600 | which is most easily found in the updated Ask Pastor John
00:08:10.920 | app for the iPhone and the Android.
00:08:12.760 | Be sure you've updated your app in the last month
00:08:14.760 | or so to get all of the new features.
00:08:17.080 | The episode on cussing is episode 97,
00:08:19.440 | number 97 in the episodes.
00:08:21.920 | Tomorrow marks the 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade,
00:08:25.680 | and we will talk about the longstanding implications
00:08:28.280 | of this court ruling on the unborn.
00:08:30.680 | Until then, I'm your host, Tony Reinke.
00:08:32.360 | Thanks for listening.
00:08:34.400 | [ Silence ]
00:08:40.400 | you