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| King James Version of the Bible (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.
Psalm 19:14
King James Version (KJV)
In recent weeks on my main blog Tossing It Out I have been offering a Monday series on the topic of swearing and the use of profanity in conversation. This series came about as a result of some conflict during the Blogging from A to Z Challenge from bloggers who like to engage such language into their blog posts and were upset that the A to Z organizers had asked them to label their blogs with adult content warnings.
Several bloggers--including some who proclaimed to be Christians--expressed that they had no problem with hearing others use profanity or for some even using it themselves. Some of them stated outright that the Bible doesn't say anything about profanity being wrong while others asked where in the Bible the admonition against profanity was made. A few conceded that there is clear censure of using the Lord's name in vain, but didn't see any problem with other types of crude language.
I don't think any of these people have been reading their Bible very closely if at all. As is often the case, many people will cite what the Bible says based on what they think it should say, what they want it to say, or what they've heard others say that the Bible says. So where does the Bible say that speaking and even reading certain types of language is wrong?
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Philippians 4:8
New International Version (NIV)
One can find many instances in the Bible that not merely suggest, but pretty clearly state what our language should be. It seems to be the vogue of our age for many to take Bible verses and inject them with more liberal interpretations. Some might say that those verses were written in the olden days and no longer apply to our modern times. What do you think?
Here's a final thought on this: Words mean something. Words have histories, inferences, and connections. When something is said a mental image is created. That's what words do. If we are saying something we are planting seeds in our minds and the minds of others. Even if the Bible didn't say anything about the use of indecent language, sheer logic should tell us there is a problem connected with the use of such language.
These days it seems that logic is often the offensive term.
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Ephesians 4:29
New International Version (NIV)
