Profanity (3)
I've argued previously that profanity begins with a fundamental baseness of mind; a thought or word or life-style that violates the standard of loveliness, worthiness of praise , and positive virtue and excellence that is called for in such passages as Phil. 4:8. Commitment to moral excellence will entail abstinence from things base and vile.
But there is a more serious profanity of which we must be aware. It is that profanity addressed by Bruce in his comments the other day:
It's hard to improve on that so I think I'll deal only with specifics. We are guilty of being profane whenever we treat lightly or flippantly anything that God treats seriously or sacredly. This would include the following (to mention just a few):
1. His Name (phrases such as "O my God" or their euphemistic sounds-alikes should be avoided out of reverence for the Holy Name.
2. Vows made in His Name, and then broken, profane the Name by which they are made.
3. Flippant references to "hell" or "damnation". In addition to being literal curses which only God has a right to speak in anger, the words hell and damn should never be spoken except with strict and sober attention to what they mean and how serious they are (as for me, I'll risk really sounding extreme by adding that we'd do well to avoid the euphemistic substitutes of heck and darn while we're at it; why even kid ourselves into thinking we're not sinning, or at least being careless about something serious when we use such subsitutes?). When we use such words without strict attention to what they mean, at best we water down their holy meaning; worse we are guilty of profanity and cursing.
4. All careless, flippant, irreverent references to sex, God's holy gift in marriage. It's clear from scripture that sex is a holy gift not to be treated lightly (Ephesians 5:3,4) so any reference to it that is not made in a most careful tone of gratitude and wonder, is profanity. (Along these lines I've noted how many words people choose to use that mess around with the scatological and the sexual: cr-p, s--t, f---, frick-n, p-d off, scr-wed, s-cks, SOB, A--, A--h-le; need I go on?). Let us stand guard my friends, lest we defile what is pure, and render commonplace and normal what isn't.
2. His Church or Word or Law--any time we ignore or slander the church or disobey His law or disregard His Word we treat as common that which is very holy in the sight of God.
It should go without saying, but it doesn't, that one may be profane in all these areas without ever actually using a four-letter word. As Bruce has indicated, profanity is a state of heart before it is a set of words.
The call upon all of our lives to to treat as holy all that is holy; to love what God loves, honor what God honors, elevate what is meant to be high, and while we're at it, to just plain stay out of the profanity gutter.
But there is a more serious profanity of which we must be aware. It is that profanity addressed by Bruce in his comments the other day:
A basic dictionary definition of the word profane is to treat (something sacred) with abuse, irreverence, or contempt; or, to debase by a wrong, unworthy, or vulgar use. Having said that, let me take a stab towards a basic definition. We might say that profanity is expressing or reflecting in our words, attitudes that are contemptuous or irreverent toward God, or toward that which God regards as sacred or special.
It's hard to improve on that so I think I'll deal only with specifics. We are guilty of being profane whenever we treat lightly or flippantly anything that God treats seriously or sacredly. This would include the following (to mention just a few):
1. His Name (phrases such as "O my God" or their euphemistic sounds-alikes should be avoided out of reverence for the Holy Name.
2. Vows made in His Name, and then broken, profane the Name by which they are made.
3. Flippant references to "hell" or "damnation". In addition to being literal curses which only God has a right to speak in anger, the words hell and damn should never be spoken except with strict and sober attention to what they mean and how serious they are (as for me, I'll risk really sounding extreme by adding that we'd do well to avoid the euphemistic substitutes of heck and darn while we're at it; why even kid ourselves into thinking we're not sinning, or at least being careless about something serious when we use such subsitutes?). When we use such words without strict attention to what they mean, at best we water down their holy meaning; worse we are guilty of profanity and cursing.
4. All careless, flippant, irreverent references to sex, God's holy gift in marriage. It's clear from scripture that sex is a holy gift not to be treated lightly (Ephesians 5:3,4) so any reference to it that is not made in a most careful tone of gratitude and wonder, is profanity. (Along these lines I've noted how many words people choose to use that mess around with the scatological and the sexual: cr-p, s--t, f---, frick-n, p-d off, scr-wed, s-cks, SOB, A--, A--h-le; need I go on?). Let us stand guard my friends, lest we defile what is pure, and render commonplace and normal what isn't.
2. His Church or Word or Law--any time we ignore or slander the church or disobey His law or disregard His Word we treat as common that which is very holy in the sight of God.
It should go without saying, but it doesn't, that one may be profane in all these areas without ever actually using a four-letter word. As Bruce has indicated, profanity is a state of heart before it is a set of words.
The call upon all of our lives to to treat as holy all that is holy; to love what God loves, honor what God honors, elevate what is meant to be high, and while we're at it, to just plain stay out of the profanity gutter.
Labels: Sanctification, speech, tongue
posted by Tim Shorey at
1:14 PM
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