Part 1
Today’s post is a little strange. A little out-of-the-ordinary. Today, I’m re-publishing one of my very first posts.
Why?
Because I believe it is really important. I believe it needs to be heard/read again.
And also, it got sort of buried under all my new posts.
So here, I present to you, What are We Saying, Part 1. Enjoy! 😄
Good day to ya’ll! Today, I will be addressing something that has been bothering me personally for a while: swearing among Christians. This will come in three parts, and is dedicated to my Dad – for not being afraid of criticism.
In June 2020, I had the privilege of attending a summer CYIA (Christian Youth in Action) training camp. During my week there, I learned how to teach a 5-day club – where you tell kids about Jesus. I enjoyed it immensely and learned a lot!
But at the same time, I was surprised by the amount of bad language used by the teens (all people I’d known for years) attending. Especially when parents were not present.
A lot of the words I heard over those 7 days are not considered today as serious swearing. In fact, many have become little more than common adjectives to describe the way you feel, something you don’t like, etc.
This event brought some questions to mind, which I will address in this and the next few evangelistic blog posts.
HOW ARE WE DIFFERENT?
How are professing Christians different from the people around them, if they are doing the same things as most everyone out there (swearing as an example)?
I know that the view on swearing was much different not too long ago – say 150 years or so. People would avoid you if you said the four-letter D-word! It was a bad word, and saying it damaged your reputation.
But . . .
We have let down our guard so much that today it is seen as normal.
WHAT GOD THINKS
One day soon after the CYIA camp, I randomly picked a book off of my shelf and started reading.
The story started with a teenage boy reading a book with a lot of cursing in it. When his father found out, he told his son to look up Leviticus 24:23. I looked it up myself and was surprised by the revelation. This is what it says:
And Moses spake to the children of Israel, that they should bring forth him that had cursed out of the camp, and stone him with stones. And the children of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses.
God told Moses to stone to death anyone that had cursed! He is pretty serious about cursing then.
Personally, I think God led me to pick up that book. It was amazing how well it fit with what I had been thinking about!
WHAT IS SWEARING?
Some people think that changing certain words slightly makes them no longer swearing (this is called a minced oath. Look it up if you’d like!). This is not true. People know what you mean – and so does God. You aren’t going to escape notice by changing a few letters!
For example; the F-bomb. There are several variations to this, among them the combination of fry and stick to ‘make’ the word frick. I’m sure that now I’ve got you on the right track you can think of some more (but good for you if you can’t!).
WHAT IS SIN?
At CYIA, we tell kids that: “sin is anything we think, say, or do, that breaks God’s laws and makes him sad.” and then continue talking. We never really take time to think about what we’re saying. So, let’s look at this more closely!
- Sin is anything we think – for example, thinking you’re better than someone else (Romans 3:23), or thinking bad about someone. Even thinking about hurting someone (even if you don’t act on that thought) is sin.
- Anything we say – bad words, mean words, etc.
- Or anything we do – stealing, lying, hurting people, etc.
- That breaks God’s law – the Ten Commandments.
- And makes him sad – it makes him sad because he loves us, and the punishment for sin is separation from him.
Ummmm . . . wow! I’m not sure if my friends really ever thought about that. Here we are, teaching kids about sin, the punishment for it, and the God sent his son to die for our sins . . . and then as soon as we’re home . . . we’re back to normal actions – cursing included for some people!
I’m not sure what else to call that than hypocrisy.
Not sure what hypocrisy is? Here’s the definition:
Hypocrisy is a noun that means “the practice of
claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which
one’s own behavior does not conform; pretense.”
(Webster’s 1828 Dictionary)
So, saying one thing and doing another. What I just described above fits the definition pretty well, don’t you think?
But . . . this brings to mind – doesn’t God forgive our sins – swearing included?
Find out in What are We Saying, Part 2!
God Bless,
~Janet 😀
All scripture taken from the KJV.
