Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis - Should Christians Cuss?

Episode Date: April 16, 2024

In this episode, Jonny Ardavanis answers the question: Should Christians cuss? He also responds to four common objections:1. Isn’t language cultural?2. Didn’t Paul say the “S” word in Philippians 3?3. Didn’t Jesus use harsh and extreme words to the pharisees? Watch VideosVisit the Website Pre-order Consider the LiliesFollow on InstagramFollow on Twitter

Hey folks, my name is Johnny Artivanis and this is Dial-In. In this episode, I want to address a question that is apparently quite controversial. It's a topic that has become more pervasive in recent months and years, and truly, I think there are certain people that may ask, what's the big deal? Why even address this topic at all? Others may share a concern and yet not know how to biblically articulate their position. The topic, the question that I am referring to is this, should Christians cuss?

Now, in this episode, I want to lay out a biblical framework for the tongue as a whole and then answer three or four common objections that people often provide to assert that cussing is either not that big of a deal or to say that it is actually totally fine. Now, without further ado, let's dial in. A couple of weeks ago, I posted a one-minute video answering the question, should Christians cuss? Since then, it has been reposted thousands of times.

And over the last few weeks across different platforms, the video has amassed a couple million views. Algorithmical prominence on social media, I'm told, is driven not only by shares, but by comments. And truly, on this video I posted, there were a lot of comments. There were some amens and quote, yes, I am working on this. But a large percentage of the comments to my surprise were from Christians who rebuttaled,

refuted, and laughed at the idea that Christians should not cuss, saying that I was making a mountain out of a molehill, and then stated some common objections for the acceptability of cuss or swear language in our Christian vernacular. Those common objections being, number one, language is cultural. It doesn't really matter. Secondly, that Paul says rubbish in Philippians, and that word for rubbish is the S word in our English language. Number three, Paul tells the Galatians that those who preach another gospel should mutilate themselves. So that means that extreme language is fine. And then fourth, one of the common objections when I posted a video saying Christians should

not cuss, they often replied and said, well, Jesus says you brood of vipers and you whitewash tombs. So intense language is fine. Now I'll respond to those objections in a moment. But before I do so, I want to lay out a biblical framework for the use of our tongue as a whole. Proverbs 18.21 says, life and death are in the power of the tongue. Now, what this means is that the topic of the tongue in scripture is not trivial. It's oozing with significance, actually eternal significance.

Once again, Proverbs 18.21 says says life and death are in the power of the tongue. Now, although God created the tongue to bring him glory and to encourage and edify those around us, man's sinfulness is often most clearly evidenced in the fallen manner in which they speak. And this misstewardship of our tongue isn't a minor blemish before God. It's offensive to him. In fact, Proverbs 6 lists six things that God hates, seven that are an abomination to him. And three of those six and seven things have to do with the way we use our tongue. The Bible functions like a tuning fork. It shows us where our lives need to be attuned to the character of God. Truly, as Christians living in a fallen world, we often are inundated, bombarded, and saturated with the things, people, shows, music, and propaganda of the world.

And at times, it's difficult to ascertain whether or not we are influencing the world for Christ or if the world is influencing us. So often in the New Testament, there are these two large birthmarks of a Christian. That is the hallmarks of those who have been changed and saved and loved by God. And amongst other things, the two topics that the New Testament writers draw frequent attention to for the Christian in the early church are, number one, what the new believer does with their sexual purity. The early church are, number one, what the new believer does with their sexual purity. The early church, like us, lived in a culture of gross sexual

immorality. And even though they were immersed in a sex-saturated culture, they were called, by the grace and power of God's Holy Spirit, to be sexually pure. More on this in a future series. But not only were they called to be sexually pure as a distinctive hallmark and birthmark of the Christian life, they were also called, secondly, to draw careful attention to the way that they speak. Jesus says, out of the heart the mouth speaks. And one of the prominent themes throughout the New Testament is that those whose hearts have been changed by God, they manifest and provide testimony to that internal transformation by the way they speak with their tongues. If you have studied

James, you know that James is the earliest book written in the New Testament, chronologically speaking. And James' goal in writing his epistle is essentially to describe the Christian life the way it really is. James knows that many people profess Christ, but not many people possess Christ. And as he describes what a Christian really is in reality, in all five chapters, he is going to mention the use of the tongue. And I'll explain why. James 1.26 says,

If anyone thinks he is religious, now stop there for a moment. This word for religious, I've mentioned this before, is used once in all of the New Testament and it's used right here in James 1 26. This word for religious literally means a worshiper. This word is for people like you trying to learn. This is a person, this religious person that is, is someone who is legitimately considering himself to be a lover and fear of God. This isn't just someone who believes in a higher deity. This is a person who goes to Bible studies, Bible college, listens to Bible teaching,

listens to podcasts, goes on mission strips, is active in trying to make disciples, that type of religious. So James says, if once again, James says, If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, this person deceives his own heart, and his religion is worthless. Sometimes we just need to receive the truth of scripture at face value. The Bible says that the person who professes Christ, but whose profession of Christ makes no difference in the way that they speak, that person's profession is worthless. In the same way the doctor tells you to stick out your tongue because it reveals things about your physical condition. James says the doctor is right. The tongue, though,

reveals your spiritual condition. It is emblematic of your spiritual temperature. Jesus says in Matthew 12, 36, well, actually starting in verse 33, for the tree is known by its fruit. And then he directly transitions into how that fruit evidences itself. So Jesus says, once again, that a tree is evidence or known by its fruit. And then he says this right afterwards, for the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. And then he says in 36 of Matthew chapter 12, but I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for in the day of judgment mouth reflects the root of the heart. You're going to give an account, Jesus says, for every careless word.

You know what careless means here? It just means idle, without intention, without premeditation. Why does Jesus make such a big deal about the words that we speak? Well, because words matter. Now with that in mind, I want you to turn your attention to Ephesians chapter four. In Ephesians chapter four, verse 29, it says, let no unwholesome word proceed out of your mouth, but only that which is good for edification, giving grace to those who hear. But Paul says again, let no unwholesome word. The idea of unwholesome words here include crass, crude, rude, and cuss words.

Unwholesome words means words that are not fitting, not proper, and watch this, not consistent with the character of the Christian. Here's a reality. Every single culture recognizes certain words that are explicit, words that are derogatory or crude. And the Bible says, and I love this because you can't get any more simple and clear than this. Let none of those words, let no unwholesome word proceed out of your mouth. Culture creates indecent language to satisfy its craving for crudeness and vulgarity. And it's not just cuss or swear words. If we move over to Ephesians chapter five, we see that Paul is going to tell the Ephesian church to be an imitator of

Jesus Christ, to be a mirror of the one that saved them and transformed them. And he is then immediately after telling them to be an imitator of Jesus Christ, going to transition into what that looks like. In verse three, he says that looks like fleeing sexual temptation. He says, be an imitator of Jesus Christ and then flee sexual temptation in verse three. And then watch this. And in verse four, he says, and let no filthiness or silly talk or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. And then he says this in verse five, for this, you know, a certainty that no immoral or impure

or covetous man who is an idolater has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. So it's not just cuss words. It's also this crude and crass and the sexual joking and jesting that we often use with our tongues. Paul says this doesn't have any place in the Christian life. Now I'm providing some broad strokes at this point. And the Bible says a lot about the way we speak and the imperatives in Ephesians are clear. And let me just frame it in a question. How many unwholesome words can the Christian say? What's the biblical answer? Not one. Now let me answer some objections and these objections, I'm just really gleaning and

deriving from the comments that I got on my video. One of them is the first objection that is, is that language is cultural. You may be saying, well, aren't all these cuss or swear words just cultural words? Where in the Bible does it say that Christians shouldn't say the S word or the F word? What's the answer? Well, the Bible doesn't say don't say the S word or the F word. What's the answer? Well, the Bible doesn't say don't say the S word or the F word. There are no list of words that Christians of all cultures and every epoch are required to memorize for the sake of eliminating them from our collective vocabulary. The truth is that a particular word has no inherent sinfulness beyond that which a culture or community assigns to it.

I like what one pastor says. He says, quote, I am confident that no American would find offensive an Afrikaans cuss word like blixom or donder. These are two words which South African pastors are permitted to use neither in the pulpit nor in private. He says, but both words offend good taste because Afrikaners find these words offensive. Now, that may be a mystery to us as Americans, but that culture assigns those words as offensive, unwholesome, crude, and crass, and cuss words. Now, that's exactly the point.

Every single culture has these words that are not of good taste. In 2005, the American Film Institute voted that the best movie line of all time is the one that Clark Gable gave as his character Rhett Butler in the movie Gone with the Wind. It comes at the heels of this whiny interaction he has with Scarlett O'Hara, who comes up to him and says, where shall I go? What shall I do? And Rhett, the character, Clark Gable's character, that is, responds in this cool and immortal way when he says, quote, frankly, my dear, I don't give a, and then he says the word, damn, end quote. Now, the Motion Picture Association's production code was amended a month prior to the film's

release. And for the first time, it allowed the use of borderline curse words under this condition. And I quote, if it shall be essential and required for portrayal in proper historical context of any scene or dialogue based upon historical fact or a quotation from a literary work, provided that no such use shall be permitted, which is intrinsically objectionable or offends good taste, end quote. Meaning that there are certain words that even in a Hollywood setting, they all understood to offend good taste and to be intrinsically objectionable. Now the determining standard of what is intrinsically objectionable or offends

good taste has proven to be a moving target over the last 100 years. What used toically objectionable or offends good taste has proven to be a moving target over the last 100 years. What used to be objectionable and offendable are now commonplace and heard in every single song and in every single movie. But our culture still understands that there are certain words that are distasteful, ignoble, offensive, and foul. This is why certain albums have an E in the corner that says explicit. This is why a movie can be rated R for language because it is restricted to mature audiences because even our pagan culture understands that there are certain words that are offensive and distasteful. So the Christian seeking to live as a follower of Christ in the world establishes this conviction. I am not going to use any language that the culture

recognizes as offensive or foul or unwholesome. Why? Because the Bible says, let no unwholesome word proceed out of your mouth, but only that which is good for edification, giving grace to those who hear. Now, I'm not going to go down the rabbit trail of someone who rebuttals and says, well, what about someone who says freaking instead of the F word? Or what about someone that says crap instead of the S word? Well, I think that's a different conversation, but I'll tell you this. A movie can't be rated R when someone says freaking and crap, but it can be for the multiple usage of the F and the S word.

Why? Because our culture has recognized those words to be crude, crass, and cuss words. Now, here's the second objection. Not only is it that the words are cultural, some people responded and said, well, Paul, secondly here, said the S word in Philippians chapter three. If you're unfamiliar with the passage, Paul is talking in Philippians chapter 3

about his religious credentials apart from Christ. It says in Philippians chapter 3 verses 7 and 8, But whatever things were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, Now that word for rubbish in Philippians 3, verse 8, is the word skubala in the Greek. And many have stated that skubala is the equivalent of the S-word. And use this verse as the justification for why Christians can ccuss and why it's not that big of a deal. But the idea that scubula is the equivalent of the S-word is simply not true at all.

Since that word scubula was used in a number of dignified scholarly works by doctors, historians, philosophers, and sages, there was nothing objectionable about the word at all. I did a detailed Greek language search about this word, and I found the following. There were medical texts by Arateas who said that when he was describing disease symptoms, ancient doctors sometimes mentioned the condition of a patient's feces, that being the word scubula. For example, Arateas says that jaundice is often accompanied by scubula that is white and clay now this would be the equivalent of you reading a medical textbook and finding that the doctor says yeah a patient had this type of s word that just doesn't make any sense people don't use

that language in scholarly medical works strabo an ancient geographer, says that Smyrna's streets lacked proper drainage so that when it rains, quote, the filth, and that word there for filth is scubula, lies on the surface of the streets. Now, I can't imagine a notable geographer using the word S in something that he is doing for historical purposes. Josephus, a first century historian, says this, at the siege of Jerusalem, starvation was so severe that some people went to search the common sewers and old dung hills of cattle and to eat the dung. And that the word there for dung is scubula. Plutarch, a philosopher in the first century AD, says that priests avoid touching excrement, that word being scubula, and things left over from food because such things are neither pure

nor clean, meaning that this word for scubula was used even in philosophical language to describe things that were not pure or clean. I could go on and on, but Paul was not alone in using scubula as a metaphor for something that was worthless or unclean in the moral or religious realm. Philo and Sirach both used scubala to describe undesirable qualities that should be abandoned. And Paul's interesting and somewhat different use of the word is to say that his desirable religious credentials, circumcision, pedigree, pharisaism, zeal, obedience to the law, were scubala, meaning worthless waste, in comparison to knowing Jesus Christ. So this argument that Paul says the S-word melts in the reality of historical context

that medical doctors, geographers, historians, philosophers, and many others use scubala in their scholarly writing. Now another objection, the third, is that Paul says in Galatians 5.12 that he wishes that those who were preaching another gospel would mutilate themselves. And so people often say, well, Paul says that those who preach a false gospel should mutilate themselves, so this means that we can use extreme language. Again, it's necessary to understand the context here. At the time, the Jews were telling the Gentiles that the only way they could be made right with God is through circumcision. But Paul was adamant that this was a perversion of the gospel. Paul says in Galatians

chapter 5 verse 11 that circumcision was a stumbling block for the Jews because it provided a merit-based system of earning their way to God by keeping the law and being circumcised in the flesh. So Paul responds, not by expressing a law and being circumcised in the flesh. So Paul responds not by expressing a crude and crass desire for the Judaizers to mutilate themselves or to castrate themselves, but rather his point is this. If the Judaizers are so insistent on circumcision as a means of pleasing God, why don't they just go all the way and castrate themselves as the supreme and ultimate act of worship and religious devotion? If, like the pagans, the Jews believe that human achievement can earn God's favor, why don't they just go all the way to mutilate themselves like the pagan

priests around them? MacArthur states, to add any human effort or act to God's gracious provision through the death of his son is to exchange the saving gospel of Jesus Christ for the damning falsehood of paganism. And Paul is responding and reacting to this saying, you've missed the entire point of the gospel. But at first glance, we may think that Paul's statement crosses a line, but when we consider other statements from scripture, it clearly doesn't. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 16, 22, if anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Or think of Jesus' statement

about those who cause children to stumble. He says in Luke 17, 2, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea then he should cause one of these little ones to stumble now paul's blunt speech might seem over the top but sometimes it is pastorally necessary to awaken someone from their sin induced stupor however it is important to note that paul does not end here by saying i wish those who preach

another gospel would mutilate themselves in the following following verse, we often miss this. Paul says this in Galatians 5, 13, the next verse, for you were called to freedom, brothers, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love, serve one another. Paul reminds the Galatians that they were called to freedom in Christ, not to return to this yoke of bondage to the law, but to have this freedom because Jesus has paid for their sin once and for all. And they are to use this freedom to serve one another. What type of service does he have in mind? Well, Paul says in Galatians 5, 14, two verses after this, he says, for the whole law is fulfilled in one word. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. In the past, pastors have used this section of scripture

to justify cussing from the pulpit. They say, well, Paul says that those who preach another gospel should mutilate themselves. I'm going to cuss to get my point across. Now here's the reality. Paul does use extreme language, but he is not cussing. He is not using crude language to draw a crowd or merely for shock value. His heart is to point people towards the gospel and to facilitate a greater love for Jesus Christ and a fervent love and service to the people of God. Paul is against adversaries of the Christian faith because he knows huge and deadly things are at stake. And he does have a real righteous zeal because God is being dishonored.

But he is filled with the Spirit. And even as he writes scripture, he is being guided by the Holy Spirit. Now, the fourth objection, which is actually quite common, is that people responded to the video I posted and said, well, hey, Jesus said you brood of vipers. Now, I'm not sure how people use this one as a valid excuse to cuss, but they do, so there you go. Jesus does use, indeed, some harsh words and provide sharp rebukes. In Matthew 12, 34, he does say to the Pharisees, you brood of vipers. In Matthew 23, 27, Jesus says, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you whitewashed tombs. In Matthew 18, verse 6, Jesus says, whoever causes one of these little ones to stumble, it would be better for him to

have a millstone hung around his neck. And if he were drowned in the depths of the sea. So there are words that Jesus speaks that are sharp, stingy, rebuking, and passionate. And there are at times a place for this in our Christian life. This is at times appropriate from the pulpit and in friendships and relationships. We are to call out sin and to do it passionately. However, we must remember that when Jesus did so, he was the perfect, spotless, sinless son of God. He never ever once had a wrong motive. He never once lost an ounce of self-control. His anger was always perfectly righteous and everything he did was rooted in love. It'd be difficult to say that about ourselves. Even his rebuke was rooted in compassion. His rebuke of the Pharisees and scribes was never simply to vanquish a theological foe, nor to assert his obvious intellectual prowess

over them, but to bid them and urge them to repent. In fact, Jesus is so compassionate towards the false teachers and the Pharisees and the scribes that he says in Matthew 23, 37, that he pleads over Jerusalem. He says, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her, how often I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. He is heartbroken over the lost. Even when he says, woe to you, and he calls them brood of vipers and whitewashed tombs,

he is heartbroken over their depravity. He's not just losing his cool. How heartbroken is Jesus? Well, in Luke 19, 41, it says that when Jesus drew near to the city and saw the city, he wept over it. Jesus never responded passionately just to blow off steam. He knew the plight of the lost

and he uses sharp and rebuking words only when necessary because he does not delight in the punishment of the wicked, but desires all men to come to repentance. Now, much more could be said, but I want to conclude our time. I focused on cussing in this episode, but as I've mentioned before, the scripture goes way further than just cussing. It has more instruction than merely the absence of foul, crude, crass, and dishonest language. The scripture puts it this way once again, let no unwholesome word proceed out of your mouth, but that's a contrasting statement,

but only that which is good for edification. That means building other people up, giving grace to those who hear. Colossians 4 verse 6 says, let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to give an answer to each person. In Proverbs 27.6, we are reminded of a certain reality. Yes, at times as a Christian, we offer correcting and rebuking words. And in Proverbs 27.6, it says, Faithful are the wounds of a friend. Meaning it's a good thing to call someone out in love

and to point them to Jesus Christ and to restore them. In Ephesians 4.15, we are to speak the truth in love. I hope this helps, and if it did, I would encourage you to share this episode with a friend. We do live in a world where foul language has become so normal. We have become so desensitized to something that the Bible has much to say about.

And this is one of the chief ways, as a Christian, you are to distinguish yourself from the world around you. This, by the way, is not legalism. It's just a plain understanding of Scripture. One of the ways we manifest the internal transformation of our hearts is by what we say and what we don't say with our tongue. There are times where I've been on an elevator or in a restaurant and I've heard someone speaking with an accent and I am so inclined to ask them, where are you from? Because the way they speak betrays that they're not from around here. And so I ask, where are you from? The same is true for a Christian, that the world around us hears the way we talk, what we say, what we don't say, and they're inclined to ask, something's different about you. You're not from around here.

Where are you from? And you can respond and say, well, my name is Johnny. I'm from Franklin, Tennessee, but I am a citizen of heaven. The way we use our tongues is the gateway to gospel conversations, and the scripture could not be any more clear about this. God gave us a tongue not to use unwholesome words, but to edify those around us to proclaim the gospel and to share the truth in love. Well, thanks for listening.

Stay dialed in.