The moniker on the t-shirt was attention-getting, maybe even provocative. It was supposed to be.
“I love Jesus but I cuss a little.”
I wasn’t completely sure what the person was intending to convey. It could have been any of a number of things:
- An admission they weren’t perfect, but were striving to live more each day for the Lord.
- A declaration that they didn’t see anything wrong with cursing (and probably that Jesus doesn’t either).
- An acknowledgement that Jesus doesn’t approve of their cursing, but they were going to do it anyway.
If I had to choose, I’d say it was probably more in line with the third option. Otherwise, why include “but…”?
To me, this didn’t sit well. Not because using profanity is a sign someone isn’t truly saved. But because, in this case, it’s a public admission of something in your life that Jesus is not Lord of.
And this is a slippery slope. It’s one thing to acknowledge you’re not perfect, and that God’s grace is working in your heart to make you more like His Son.
It’s another to have something you won’t willingly turn over to Him, and to be bold enough to say so – almost as a badge of honor. “This is mine and you can’t have it.”
But what’s the big deal about cussing?
I used to think the same thing.
But two things changed my mind. The word of God and His spirit working in my heart.
When I was in high school, I once went to a party with several of my classmates, along with others from surrounding schools.
In telling a story, I let loose without hesitation a string of four-letter words, intending to impress those with me. One, a guy I had just met, looked at me in disbelief and said, “And you go to a Christian school?”
With those words, my heart sank. Because I realized I’d just damaged my witness.
It wasn’t long after that night I began noticing passages in the Bible that spoke to crude language.
Passages like these:
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)
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. (Ephesians 5:3-4)
And this one, that left me no wiggle room:
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. (Colossians 3:5-8)
It wasn’t an option. “[Y]ou once walked…but now you must put them all away.”
It didn’t happen overnight. It was a battle. But, eventually with God’s help, I was able to stop swearing altogether.
And the funny thing was that others began to notice.
People would change their language around me. They would apologize when they let a 4-letter word fly, even though I hadn’t said a thing to them.
Evidence of Grace
Over the years, I’ve seen the change in someone’s language as evidence of God’s changing their heart.
One of my good friends and a coworker for many years was a self-described “heathen,” who drank, smoked, and cursed continually. A week after he accepted Christ, he told his wife that he couldn’t really tell a difference in his life. His wife responded, “I sure can! You haven’t let a foul word come out of your mouth since!”
One of the first ways the Holy Spirt went to work on my friend was to wash his mouth out with soap.
Today, I hear so many in the church use profanity without hesitation. In some of my circles, I’m back to being the only one who does not use such language. Except this time, the rest of them are professing Christians.
And I wonder what kind of message it sends to unbelievers.
As I re-read the biblical passages that exhort believers to watch how they talk, I look at them not as legalistic rituals, but as a way to honor God.
The way we live our everyday lives says much about what we truly believe. Do we truly believe we’ll have to give account for every careless word we speak (Matthew 12:36)?
Do we truly believe the passages that tell us not to act like the world does, but to be different?
Are we willing to honor the Lord with something as simple as how we talk?
