What’s the big deal with certain words?  Are they really wrong?  Who says those words are wrong?  Who makes those rules?  Are they really wrong?

I’ve been thinking about this for a while now.  Mark Driscoll (one of my favorite pastors/preachers) got me thinking on this. So even yesterday, I was at a seafood restaurant with my parents, and we got onto the Driscoll discussion.

Wouldn’t ya know it, at the same time, MSNBC comes out with an article on it.  So I just wanted to post my own thoughts along with theirs but mostly with God’s!

Ok, now let me be real and honest. First, I honestly never cuss out of anger, rage, humor, or anything like that. The only times I’ve said a cuss word in over 10 years is to repeat a conversation. Since I’ve come out of a more fundamental independent background, I feel so weird and dirty even doing that. Second, I do not go by the psychological therapeutic logic of MSNBC (the article represented later in this article). I’m merely just pointing out what the world is thinking and saying today on the topic of naughty words. Third, I do think that our language is a matter of our heart (Matthew 12:34). We need to think about what we’re communicating with our hearts when we use such words. Fourth, Paul says that we shouldn’t let any kind of corrupt (bad, evil, unwholesome) language come out of our mouths that have been united to Christ (Ephesians 4:29). Fifth, He also goes onto say that there shouldn’t be any dirty talk or dirty jokes come from our lips, but only thanksgiving to God (Ephesians 5:4).

So, why are the specific words we call cuss words so forbidden?  Why those certain words?  Well, if you think about them, hell is the worst place to go, damned by God the worst thing to be, sex is one of God’s most precious gifts pointing to Christ and His church and shouldn’t be made as an animalistic act, caca is the grossest stuff to come out of our God-imaging bodies,, and the name that is above every name is demonic to be taken lightly (Jesus Christ).  Why do people say them?  It seems to me like their sinfulness can’t think up any worse words to say that have already have meaning. They say them to relieve the guilt and shame of their already sinful lifestyles. If they don’t have to take these words seriously, then they talk themselves into not taking their consequences or meaning seriously either.

MSNBC tries to explain, “What makes the words cultural expletives?”

“Swear words are almost always about sex or religion in every language,” says Jay. “It depends on what the [cultural] taboos are.”

In countries where religion is more powerful, phrases such as “Sacred mother” or “Holy mother’s milk” are typical. In Asian cultures, there are more ancestral allusions.

“For the normal person, swear words have an arousal level that other words don’t have,” says Jay. “That’s based on the fact that they’re forbidden and we’ve been punished for saying them. To break the taboo is to release the energy.”

How much is America using the language bombs?

“While not everyone swears, field studies indicate that those who do utter 80 to 90 taboo words per day, out of an average of 15,000 to 16,000 words we speak daily.”

That means one half a percent of societies talking today is a cuss word. In other words, one word out of every two hundred are bombs dropping sailor style. To be even more clear…we speak about 150 words per minute, so every one minute and twenty seconds cussing America is using the expletives.

MSNBC is also proposing that the swear words are on the rise with the economy on the brink. Here’s why they say people mouth’s are going to the potty…

“Healthy ways to cope with stress are to work out, play the piano, knit or cook or go to church,” says Irwin. “But if you call me up and give me bad news right now, I can’t run out and play the piano or start knitting or go to church. What I can do is hang up and say [a bad word]. In the moment, it’s a very viable choice to release pressure very quickly so the lid doesn’t blow off.”

One interesting thought to sift through…is cussing really all that wrong? I know Christian teenagers who admit to struggling with it, I’ve heard famous pastors drop one here and there while in the pulpit, and I’ve even been cussed at after a sermon by a person who was telling me that I did a good job!

Isn’t it interesting that our society sees it as wrong? Movies are rated and warning labels are attached for “strong language.” Society seems to see the difference in regular wording and the taboo tirades! When someone is let’s off an expletive tirade and then they find out you are a Christian, they will almost inevitably apologize as if you are the presence of God before them. Here’s what MSNBC thinks…

“Obviously there’s a wrong time and wrong place for swearing,” says psychotherapist Irwin. “You don’t want to swear in court or around children or on TV. You don’t want to swear at a business meeting or when you’re asking for a raise or when the police pull you over for a ticket. And you never want to be verbally abusive.”

Outside of that, though, Irwin says she’s a big fan of swearing as a way to defuse anger — unless cussing is all a person does.

“If you can’t get through one paragraph without swearing, then you need to get a dictionary and starting expanding your vocabulary,” she says. “It might also be a red flag that you have some anger issues that you need to get a grip on.”

Now, I’m not stupid, I know many of my students fall into this sin of bleepity bleepin cussing. I’ve seen it in their texting, on their social network profiles, and they try to tell on each other at times. I know they won’t do around me at all. They’re smarter than that. But my prayer is that they won’t do it around God who is everywhere at all times. I pray that their mouths would constantly bring Him praise and thanksgiving, and not sinful, wicked, rebellion that leads to all kinds of filthy, sinful dirtiness, and shame. I want their mouths to glorify Christ, point others to Christ, sound trusting to Christ in hard times, and reflect the holiness of Christ in all circumstances!