Our dog helped me the other day with some theological insight. Well, Mocha ( our Aussie) may get partial credit for this but the real thanks belong to God. And thanks to my son Daniel’s advice, as part of my plan for improving the quality of my Christian life, I have been listening to the Scriptures while I walk the dog, get crucial exercise and enjoy the quiet stillness of a pre-dawn morning. For me that represents the opportunity to invest myself in 10 chapters of the Psalms every day. It’s amazing to see what God does when you give him the time to act in your life. In one of those moments the other day, before the sun came up, God enlightened my mind and I heard him say,
He [the wicked] loved to curse; let curses come upon him. He did not delight in blessing; may it be far from him. He clothed himself with curing as his coat, may it soak into his body like water, like oil in his bones. May it be like a garment that wraps around him, like a belt that he puts on every day. (Psalm 109:17-19)
Years ago, I discovered just how pervasive cursing and corrupt language can be to the human heart. Having grown up in a home with parents who did not curse, I also wound up with good friends, not perfect mind you, but kids who didn’t swear. In fact most of the people who crossed my path didn’t curse either or if they did, made sure they didn’t do it in my presence. In fact, the foulest language that I ever heard my father utter was, “Where in the Sam Hill” did you go without telling me? I always wondered, who was “Sam”, and where was his “hill”? But when I entered the military, my world changed literally, overnight. Immediately, I was plunged into a world of profanity and crude language. Between my comrades and commanders my days and nights were filled with a steady stream of GD and the more popular F— you. I found it particularly significant that among those who cursed most, they found it nearly impossible to complete even one sentence without filling it will expletives. And yet it was my own behavior that stands out as a signature moment for me. I hadn’t been in the Army all that long, but shortly after I arrived at my final duty station I was hanging something on the wall over my bed, and as usual when I take up the tools of the trade, I hit my finger with the hammer and without thinking, out popped this word. I just remember being startled and thinking, wow, how did that happen? It was a epiphany of sorts, a not so subtle reminder that if a person subjects himself long enough to the filth that is common to the world’s talk, he will find himself mimicking it, almost without thinking about it. And that’s what the Psalmist noted the other day when he perceived that what we love, we find a way to acquire, what we delight in, we find a way to wear, and once we have worn it, it becomes part of us– so much so that it begins to soak into every crevice of our lives. In fact, it is as pervasive as acid.
It’s likely I don’t have to tell you that the Scriptures have plenty to say about what comes out of our mouths. Beyond the Psalmist’s perceptive insight, the Apostle Paul told the church at Ephesus to remove the filthiness, foolish talk, and crude joking from their conversations, which by the way comes immediately after his admonition against sexual immorality and the impurity that he says, should not be named among you (Ephesians 5:4).
So, what then does that mean for us? My wife and I have noted over the years, not only a deterioration of the public discourse, but a specific decline in both the content and the coarseness of Christians’ conversation and talk in and out of church. Now we have come to expect this from the world but increasingly the loosened lips is coming from the mouths of those who confess Jesus as Lord. I’m not so far removed from my junior high youth group as to forget my then “cool youth director” who after telling us a particularly crude joke, dismissed his poor choice by saying, “well I think God just wants us to have fun.” Really? I remember well the young man sitting next to me who was not a regular participant in our youth group and maybe not a believer who said, “Well if that’s how Christians behave, why am I wasting my time here?” Yep, so now I’m now an old guy, but I traffic regularly with young people in my ministry as a professor in two Christian colleges, and I regularly hear variations of the following but not limited to: “Now that’s just a Fricken Bad deal”, or a classic among the younger and older crowd, ” he really “pissed me off.” Have we even thought about what these really mean?
Now don’t get me wrong, I struggle with all the common challenges associated with godly speech; including “oh my gosh, dang it, and all the little vocal nuances we all face when surprised, startled, or find ourselves confronting something difficult or unprecedented. But the Scripture is “right-on” when it says that we will give an account for all that we have uttered and are responsible for salting the world with seasoning that befits the grace that has been proffered for us. And that is a garment that will always look nice on us. After all, talk is cheap, but it shouldn’t be degrading to God and bankrupt our Christian life either. Thanks, Mocha for allowing me to see it…:-)
Press on
MJC
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