Thoughts on Language

Several years ago, I developed the belief that the use of strong language (cursing, vulgarity and obscenity) was not necessarily wrong, as long as it was not profanity (cursing God or using his name irreverently). Pretty soon that belief had developed to the point that I thought such language was generally okay. After all, the Apostle Paul used some pretty offensive language, at times, in his epistles. For that matter, God frequently used some pretty strong (and graphically offensive) language when speaking through his prophets. Since there are these examples in the Bible, and there’s no definite Scriptural command explicitly forbidding the use of such language, it must be okay. After all, they’re only words.

Then I grew up.

It seems so obvious to me now that I’m not sure how I missed it, but words have meanings. Words are not “just” words, because their meanings give them power. Vulgar, obscene, and curse words, by definition, mean vulgar and obscene things that are patently offensive and demeaning.

James speaks of the power of words when he says that the tongue “is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” A little later he says “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.”

While there are probably many things to which James is referring here besides the use of strong language, what he says is certainly applicable to that topic. Elsewhere the Bible refers to the tongue’s power, which obviously flows from its ability to form words, and instructs us not to say anything unwholesome, but “only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

Does this mean that Christians are never to use strong language? I probably wouldn’t go that far. It does mean that Christians cannot be cavalier with what they say; they cannot make the argument that “they’re just words.” It means that we have to weigh the necessity of using such language and ask whether it will really be helpful to the people who hear it. It means that I have to realize that such language is bound to be offensive or hurtful to someone, whether or not that is the intended result.

The real question here, as with so many things in life, is one of love. A Christian’s words -- my words -- should reflect above all a love for God and for other people. Strong language rarely does that, and often does the opposite.

A wise man, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, once wrote that the tongue has the power of life and death. I need to remember that.