Home christian living Is it OK For Christians to Cuss?

Is it OK For Christians to Cuss?

by Kelly Crawford

 

Can we talk about [Christians] cussing (especially my young friends)? I don’t think it’s my imagination that there is a trend among young people who proclaim Christ to think nothing of cursing. I did it when I was young, but I didn’t justify it as an acceptable behavior as a Christian; I knew I was not living a life that glorified the Lord.

It’s not a gray issue if we take God’s Word at, well the Word. We know that words are powerful:

“..on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak..” Matt. 12:36

We know that the Bible specifically addresses our speech:

“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.” Eph. 4:29

We know that culture generally agrees on what are considered profane words so the argument that a word is just a word, doesn’t hold water.

We know that if we belong to Christ, we were created to glorify Him and that includes a command to “find out what pleases the Lord” and to seek to be holy as He is.

And I’m not even talking about “slipping up” and using a curse word every now and then. I’m talking about what seems to be a general disregard for allowing the Bible to inform our speech, and even justification of the potty mouth.

I believe there are amazing young people around us with tremendous power to influence others and bear fruit in keeping with a life devoted to Christ. Let’s consider that whatever we do, “in word or deed” we are to do all in the name of Christ, giving glory to the One whose death on the cross made it possible for us to live as new creatures.

Deep breath, hallelujah, Amen.

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3 comments

D. August 14, 2018 - 1:53 am

We don’t have a ton of youth in our church, so my observation about potty language is more with the elderly. Like certain words they used growing up are somehow still okay to use. The one that really gets me is when they say, “__________!!! Excuse my language.”

I think to myself, “Why bother apologizing. Just don’t say it in the first place.”

How we need God’s word to inform our conscience, which is so easily seared and carried away by the world and our own sin.

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6 arrows August 14, 2018 - 2:20 pm

D’s comment about potty language among the elderly reminded me of something along those lines, but different. (Same age group, different circumstances.)

What I’m talking about is the elderly who are in the grasp of dementia, who clearly do not know what they’re saying. IOW, they’re a different subset of older folks who use profanity, but they’re not cognizant of the fact that they’re using bad language. They wouldn’t apologize or ask for others to excuse their language because they don’t know anymore that to utter such things is profane.

One of the saddest things I’m seeing more and more as my friends and I witness the decline into dementia with our aging parents is that some of these precious elderly relatives seem to be turning into people totally opposite in character than how they lived before dementia took hold.

Some of the gentlest people you’d ever want to know turn verbally abusive. Some of them curse a blue streak when they never used language like that before.

I don’t claim to have all the answers (I have few to none) about why that happens, but I strongly believe that with the elderly who utter profanities for the first time, their brains are spitting out words they’ve heard over the course of their lifetimes, even when they themselves never intentionally spoke like that.

It’s their diseased brain “talking,” IMHO, using the language of careless people whose words permeated the deep recesses of their minds.

Some of these dear, vulnerable individuals would be horrified if they knew their mouths were speaking in such a way.

We can’t stop the world from speaking as they will, but we certainly, as Christians, can choose to exercise restraint in the language we use, so that we don’t use “corrupting talk” (that’s a good passage from Ephesians) and plant words in the minds of those who are or will someday be vulnerable. (I’m thinking especially of very young children just learning language and the elderly who are losing or have lost their ability to communicate mindfully.)

All of us, youth and otherwise, need to remember to show honor and respect to God and to those He places around us. Purposeful bad language is disrespectful and dishonorable all around.

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Caroline August 14, 2018 - 9:46 pm

I am sixty years old and this school year will be my thirty-sixth as a public high school teacher. I am one of those strange people who doesn’t swear and can honestly say that I never have (aside from a few mild words in extreme situations that no one even considers swear words anymore). I was not a teenager or college student who swore. Weird, I know!
My mother was very strict about language (did not use inappropriate language either), and really reinforced how unbecoming it is to express yourself with ugly words. I am really bothered by the general acceptance of the ‘f’ word in everyday conversation. I teach two foreign languages, and I have a deep respect for language in general. It drives me crazy when people cannot express themselves well in their native language and when people use insulting words without even considering their surroundings or who they might be offending. I have no proof, but I always end up blaming social media to some degree for this dumbing down of language. I wish I knew how to reverse the trend. I do make it clear to students that it is offensive to hear some of the words that roll off their tongues so easily. They find me quirky, but generally respect me for letting them know I don’t want to hear certain words. Thanks for letting me complain 🙂

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