Does that title shock you? Well, it does shock me a bit. But also, to be honest, after that first moment of shock subsides, it makes me smile. It's kind of funny. It's irreverent, and I find irreverent humor refreshing at times. Is it sacrilegious or blasphemous? I don't think so. I can see that the above statement would offend some people. I think it would grab other peoples attention, though, and draw them in. I think it has a certain effectiveness within their audience, which is the point of it.
My impression is that the blogger who wrote what I quoted in the title above was striving to describe themselves and their corner of the blog world, and that statement was exactly their honest credo in regards to their blog. When I came across that statement on their blog it gave me pause for three reasons: the small initial shock, the sly humor that melted my shock into a wry little smile, and the fact that on two different Christian discussion boards I was 'hearing' a conversation about cussing and Christians. (Someone on those discussion boards even linked another blog article, see here.) It got me thinking about my own opinions about profanity and the Christian lifestyle. I think there is this trend within Christian circles today to want to really shrug off the perceived old-time, stuffy religious attitudes and postures in an effort to prove how relevant Christianity [still] is. In this definition relevant equals hip, and hip equals the practices of those who are generally respected as movers and shakers within our culture. As I stated earlier, I don't think that the author of the quote I used in the title had that intention at all, but it got me thinking about all of it.
I came to Christ within a church that was strict and traditional in many ways. The lines between my sinful pre-Christian self and redeemed post-Christian self were clearly drawn, and gladly forsaken, it's important to note. I delved into my new-found faith with zeal and love. Back then as I began to read the Bible on my own, my convictions over that juxtaposing of former and latter self seemed to be backed up. I really did feel like I was a new creature when I came to believe in God, and I was so pleased when I read somewhere in the Bible something exactly along those lines (see here). I also read other scriptural verses on ethical conduct of all kinds. I also recall reading a passage about avoiding coarse language and joking (here), to be separate from worldly practices (here), all making a very strong argument for the necessity of a Christian to avoid cussing. For me it was a no-brain-er.
Now I live in a post-modern world that is super aware of its post-modernity (here and here). Things are emerging and emergent (!!??!!), what's a person to do? Cuss just to prove they are not a phony? Pepper their communication with four letter words merely for the sake of liberty? God forbid! Or should we still be pressing toward and seeking to attain our more humbler, noble Christian selves? The latter is exactly what I think, and what I am trying to do in my own life. I think we Christians should all be tearing away all the ugly, sinful, unChristian and worldly layers, no matter how big or small the sin. We ought not to celebrate or otherwise revel in our vices and flaws, not winking at them or excusing them, we should be always concerned with peeling them off. When we think we have mastered one fault, flaw or sin - through Christ's Grace and help - then we should go on to the next one. For me the difference between a religious attitude and posture and reverent and humble attitude is that humility does not draw attention to oneself but to Christ - flaunting my liberty is different than actually having liberty.
Now I will leave you with my own opinion and not a biblical stance, because the Bible stance I referred to above is clear. I wrote this on another post: Someone said, "Profanity is the effort of a feeble mind to express itself forcibly." Mark Twain said, "When angry, count to four. When very angry, swear." Can we all agree that cussing is so common it has lost some of its meaning, and then agree to do it infrequently so that it will actually be shocking again, or dare I even say appropriate in the rarest of situations? Remember when Rhett Butler told Scarlett O'Hara, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn"? It became the most remembered and quoted line in movie history, and because it was so shocking and so perfect for that situation. If we are going around daily and making such statements they are no longer effective and meaningful. If you want to express yourself forcibly, and let's face it, there are some unusual occasions where we could argue that one might need to, then make sure you clean up your vocabulary and only let the foul language fly when very, very upset on the rarest occasions. How much more shocking would it be, on those angry and painful occasions if you didn't curse? Think about it. If you find yourself very, very upset often, that is symptomatic of another problem you need to let God work on.
No comments:
Post a Comment