76: Cussing Christians

Ready4Eternity

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I'm Eddie Lawrence, and this is the Ready for Eternity podcast, a podcast and blog exploring biblical truths for inquisitive

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Bible students. Can you be a faithful Christian and drop

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F -bombs? While most believers would say no, a growing number are arguing yes.

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Today we're examining why their justifications don't hold up. In the not -so -distant

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American past, even those who were not religious refrained from swearing in the presence of women and children.

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As our nation has grown more secular and profane, so has our use of language.

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Some women and children have worse potty mouths than men. God's people have never been immune to the corrupting influence of society.

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Consequently, it's becoming more and more common to encounter cussing

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Christians. God expects us to leave the bad habits and sins of the world behind when we become his disciples.

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God has always commanded his people to be different from the rest of the world. Peter, in 1

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Peter 1, 16, quotes Leviticus 11, 44 -45, saying,

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It is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy. Likewise, Paul said,

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For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.

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1 Thessalonians 4, 7. You see, cussing Christians are a contradiction.

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God expects us to allow the Holy Spirit to transform us to become more like Jesus.

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And this includes our mouth. The New Testament is very clear about what kind of language a

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Christian is supposed to use. 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.

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Ephesians 4, 29. Let there be no filthiness, nor foolish talk, nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

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Ephesians 5, 4. But now you must put them all away, anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

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Colossians 3, 8. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

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James 3, 10. I tell you that on the day of judgment people will give an account for every worthless word they speak.

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Matthew 12, 36. The Bible clearly says there should be no such thing as a

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Christian who uses foul language. A cussing Christian is a contradiction of terms.

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Even those who claim no religious affiliation of any kind know that coarse language is not appropriate.

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One doesn't have to be a follower of Jesus to know that some words and phrases are tasteless and improper.

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It seems to me that it is only foul -mouthed Christians who attempt to justify filthy language.

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So what are the justifications? There are three main arguments used by Christians who want to use profanity.

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Number one, words are not inherently vulgar. Number two, using the language of society opens doors for evangelism.

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And number three, the Apostle Paul used profanity. Let's look at these one at a time.

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First up, words are not inherently vulgar. Christians who want to justify using profanity sometimes argue that words are not inherently bad or dirty.

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As a result, they assert that it's the consensus of society that determines whether words are offensive or not.

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After all, words that are vulgar now weren't a generation or two ago and the opposite is also true.

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Therefore, using four -letter words isn't really that big of a deal. Now, it is correct that words are not vulgar in and of themselves.

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And it is also true that societal consensus defines profanity.

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But what we have to underscore is that society does deem some words to be offensive.

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A case in point is language warnings for movies, music, and TV shows. These ratings warn viewers and listeners they are about to encounter coarse language.

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The world doesn't deny this fact. It's only foul -mouthed Christians who feel the need to justify bad language.

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It's undeniable that there are words which even non -religious people find offensive.

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Therefore, those who wish to be obedient to God will avoid words and phrases that society considers corrupt and filthy.

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Justification number two. Using the language of society opens doors for evangelism.

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Others argue that in order for a Christian to have street cred, we need to be able to fit in and identify with those we want to evangelize.

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Therefore, we need to drop a few four -letter words to create evangelism opportunities.

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But this is exactly the opposite of what Jesus told his followers to do. You are the light of the world.

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A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.

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In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your

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Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5, 14 -16.

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Jesus' approach to evangelism calls for us to be the best examples we can possibly be, not to lower our standards.

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If using salty language helps us to evangelize, why stop there? Why not also use illegal drugs, hire prostitutes, shoplift, and commit other sins so that we get even more street cred?

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It's not worldly, sinful behavior that draws people to God. The world needs to see that God's people possess something special.

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They need to see that our relationship with God has made our lives better. If all we can offer them is what they already have, then we really have nothing to offer at all.

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For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.

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Ephesians 5, 8. And finally, justification number three,

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Paul used profanity. There is a common misunderstanding that alleges

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Paul used a Greek word which is equivalent to the English four -letter word that begins with sh and ends with t.

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This is in Philippians 3, 8. The word in question, as you're about to hear, is the word rubbish.

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Take a listen. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing

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Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain

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Christ. Philippians 3, 8. Hence, the claim is that Paul used this word for shock value because it helped him make a point.

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Consequently, the argument goes that if Paul could use crude language, then so can all

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Christians. What word did Paul use and what exactly does it mean?

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The Greek word in question is skubala, and it's variously translated as dung, rubbish, refuse, or garbage, depending on which

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Bible translation you look at. Like most words, skubala has a range of meanings, and one of those meanings is indeed excrement or manure.

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BDAG's definition is useless or undesirable material that is subject to disposal, refuse, garbage, and various senses, excrement, manure, garbage, kitchen scraps.

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But is skubala ancient profanity? One of skubala's meanings is, in fact, manure.

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But does this mean skubala was a vulgar word in the ancient Greek language? Dr. Gary Manning Jr.

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has performed an exhaustive search of ancient Greek literature and has concluded there is no evidence to support the idea that skubala was a swear word.

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I did a search of two exhaustive databases of ancient Greek literature, Perseus and Thesaurus, Linguae Graecae, to see if skubala functions as a swear word in Greek.

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I discovered that nowhere in all of ancient Greek literature is there a clear example of skubala functioning as a swear word or even as a rude word.

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I could not find a single place where it was used as an insult, invective curse, or interjection.

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In fact, the normal use of skubala in ancient Greek scholarly literature makes it almost impossible that it was a swear word.

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In a follow -up project, Dr. Manning researched ancient Greek papyri.

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The papyri tended to be authored by everyday Greek -speaking people, as opposed to poets and philosophers.

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The use of skubala in the papyri was consistent with its use in Greek literature.

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There is no evidence that skubala was ever used as a crude word.

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Links to Dr. Manning's articles are in the show notes. They're short and easy -to -read articles that you might find interesting.

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Dr. Manning's conclusion is consistent with that of Dr. Moise's Silva. Some have thought that Paul here deliberately uses language that is vulgar, or at least crude, perhaps comparable to English, crap.

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However, the use of the term by various writers does not indicate such a nuance. The rendering of the

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NIV 2011 is probably on target. I consider them garbage. The idea that skubala was an ancient swear word has no support whatsoever.

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The bottom line is that skubala was not an offensive word in ancient times.

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If the influence of armchair scholars who perpetuate the skubala myth wasn't bad enough, there are so -called pastors who think having a potty mouth makes them cool and relevant.

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Well -known men such as Mark Driscoll, Tony Campolo, Jeff Durbin, and Thaddeus Matthews unapologetically swear from the pulpit.

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Pastors who use profanity are not pastors at all. Let me say that again.

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Pastors who use profanity are not pastors at all, at least not by the

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Bible's definition of a pastor. Pastors are self -controlled and respectable, according to 1

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Timothy 3 .2. And they're supposed to be examples to the flock, according to 1

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Peter 5 .3. They serve under the chief shepherd who is Jesus.

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Can anyone with any measure of sanctified common sense imagine

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Jesus swearing? The chief shepherd doesn't swear, and therefore the under -shepherds mustn't swear either.

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Goethe said nothing shows a man's character more than what he laughs at.

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Likewise, nothing reveals what's in our hearts more than the words which come out of our mouths.

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You brood of vipers, how can you speak good when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks,

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Matthew 12 .34. Let's face it, cussing Christians just need to kick the habit.

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Habits are hard to break, but every word that we utter is 100 % under our control at all times.

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There is no place in a Christian's life for vulgarity. As a result, we shame ourselves when we use foul language, tell dirty jokes, or share profanity -laced memes on social media.