What I found was a hodgepodge collection of bible verses quoted at me in youth group.
- Colossians 3:8 - "But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth."
- Matthew 5:10-11 - "And he called the people to him and said to them, 'Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.'"
- James 3:11-13 - "Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom."
- Matthew 12:36-37 - "I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
This is the argument against profanity? Funny, in that Colossians verse, it looks like "obscene talk" is the last thing addressed, at the end of a laundry list of things to avoid saying. And Matthew 5? I'm pretty sure there are things coming out of mouths that defile much more than profane language.
Here's the deal: I don't think these verses are talking about fuck, shit, damn, ass, or bitch. They're talking about some important stuff, but it's not "bad words."
When I was in The Lord's Bootcamp before spending 5 weeks in Egypt, we had a team leader whose name I cannot remember give us a lecture on "Christian Swearing." She explained to us, between our sessions on puppetry and digging ditches, that even the words darn and dang are profanity. She said that what mattered was what provoked the words, and what we were feeling in our hearts, and just because we substituted a tamer word, we aren't off the hook for what our heart was saying.
It brings me a little bit of twisted satisfaction knowing that this little talk inspired me to say fuck more. Cause she was right. It doesn't matter what we say, it matters what our intentions are. Because I know that for me, my darns and shoots for a substitution for my fear that if I swore, I would be unworthy, whether that be unworthy of the love of my family, of being a pastor's kid, or of god's love.
There are a lot of things that can come out of a person's mouth that can defile. A lot of these things are not swearwords.
I think today, I can take more responsibility for what I say because I swear. It reminds me that a lot of hurtful things can come from innocent words. After all, can a spring spit out both fresh and salt water? Probably, but I don't imagine the fresh water will stay fresh for long. I don't think I could say kind and hurtful things long before my kind words become hurtful.
And, in the end, I think that I am willing to be held accountable on the day of judgment or whatever for my profanity, because when I said fuck, I said "fuck what he said, you're worth more than that," and when I said shit, it was "I'm going through some really tough shit right now."
I think if jesus had seen all these verses thrown in the faces of young people to curb their tongues, he would have said "fuck this" too.
