Whats in a word?

    I am sitting here this evening, after a great birthday weekend with my wife and daughter, and I have something on my mind that is really and truly bothering me.No it's not anything that has or was done for me , it's actually something I have been trying to cope with for months upon months. You see, maybe I have some Radical idea of what being a born again believer is, or maybe I am just asking to much of Christians in general, but I am so tired of hearing those who A) have been saved for lengthy periods of time, some of who may even hold positions within a church somewhere, or B) those who claim to be holier than thou Christians that like to look down on others or tell others what they are doing wrong, use profanity. Especially in the church itself. I don't care if you are in the Sanctuary, the grocery store,the fellowship hall, the Sunday school class, outside in the church parking lot, the movie theatre, etc. I don't even care if you are in your own home, the use of profanity by a person who has been born again, especially those who have been saved for substantial length of time, is never acceptable. I can see someone who has just recently gotten saved slipping up and using profanity, as they have not matured in Christ yet and are still in the molding stage. But how is someone who is supposed to be a mentor to a new christian, going to stand in front of a newborn believer and guide them when they themselves are sinning with the profanity that comes out of their mouth.
             Some people would argue this point and even go so far as to tell me that cursing, or use of profanity, is not a sin. But brother's and sister's, I Disagree 100%. Ephesians 4:29 states "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, and that it may benefit those who listen".For you see the profanity that comes out of your mouth is sinning in a couple of ways:
                          1) When you use profanity you are not using words that are wholesome. Their is nothing wholesome about the "F" word, or any of its variations,  that seems to be one of the most used words in the English language today. There is nothing good about the "GD" word that man has added to their language as if it was the word EAT. seems like these words can be found in most action movies today and no one thinks twice about saying them. Stand in line at a grocery store or movie theatre or any store now days for that matter, and I bet you can count the number of times these words are used. These words are filthy, derogatory and have not one good meaning to them. Yet in our church and in our country they are accepted as forms of communication with each other and no one bats an eye.
                          2) When you use profanity , you are not building others up in any form, shape or fashion. What you are actually doing is tearing someone down. If you were to walk up to your wife or husband and tell them you though that they were a MF blank head, do you think they would say well thank you honey I love you too. No they would say what , who do you think you are , and an argument and possibly even physical violence may possibly ensue if the situation got bad enough. If you wanted to build up a brother in the church who just lost a job, you wouldn't walk up and call him a dumb you know what would you. No, you would walk up and tell him you were thinking of him and hopefully pray with them. This is exactly what we are told to do in the above verse, we are to use our words for the building up of our brothers and sisters as they need it according to their situation, not tear them down with profanity and make them feel even worse.
                           3) This reason is the biggest there is in my opinion. When you use profanity, you nullify our witness. That's right, if you have been talking to someone about Christ and then they hear you use a curse word or go into a profanity laced tirade, you have lost them. No matter what you have said in the past , your actions and words in the present have just destroyed you witness for Christ.And on top of that you never know who is standing around the corner listening.What if you were at home and got upset and went into a profanity riddled rant, and then 2 days later you are standing around and your 5 yr old gets mad and goes off into that same rant. What would you do?  You would probably get all over them, maybe whip them and then ask them "Where did you hear such language?" When they said "from you Daddy/Momma" would you still get mad at them? Would you tell them well I am an adult I can use that and you can? Or would you apologize to them and fall to your knees and ask not only them, but Jesus to forgive you for setting a really bad example?
            James 3:9-12 states " With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth came praise and cursing, my brothers this should not be". No truer words were ever spoken, and these words were spoken long before you and I were ever on this earth. We as a people have accepted profanity to be the norm in communications with each other today. But Brother and Sister I say it is time we break from what the world considers the Norm, and we take back our speech, and use it as God intended it to be. Without profanity, not tearing down but we use it to build up everyone we come in contact with. How big a difference would it make if you walked into work, home, school, Church, and spoke not one profane or immoral word. Would people wonder what was up. Yes they would, and then instead of not being able to talk of what Christ has done for yo because of your tone and verbiage, you could look at them and with conviction and power say Jesus has made a change in my life and he can do the same for you. Wouldn't you rather say that to someone. Wouldn't that make more of an impact in their life, especially if they hear the change in your words and see the change in your life daily.
              Some will say I am being old fashioned, and you know what , Their right. I am old fashioned, for you see Christ set the example 2,000 yrs ago and I believe that is the example we should follow today. The bible tells me in James 4:17 "Anyone then who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins". I don't know about you but I want my words to build up the kingdom of God. I want my witness to be one that I never have to worry about someone saying , have you heard how he talks, he sounds just like the rest of us, so if that's being a christian then I have been one all along and never knew it. NO I want my witness to be one that stands out and has people saying , tell me about this Jesus you serve because I want to know him like you do. I challenge you brothers and sisters to make a change in your speech. I have heard it said that it takes 21-30 days to make or break a habit, so I have a challenge for you . For the next 30 days I challenge you to make a conscious effort not to use profanity, no matter what. And if you do not see a change in the way people look at you or if you cannot tell a difference in your own life then I wont say I was wrong, I will just say you need more time. But I will say that I can almost guarantee that people will ask you what has happened to make you change the way you speak, and in that moment when they do, know that God has done a wonderful thing and you have the perfect opportunity to share your faith in God with someone who is hungry for what you have. Also you will be able to look a new believer in the eye and say God did this for me , and he can do it for you, all you have to do is give it all to him and let him do the work.
     I leave you tonight with this thought. What are people saying about your witness? Are they saying look at them, they have the power of God at work in their lives or are they saying, why do I want to be like him, He talks just like I do,and in some instances uses profanity maybe more than me.I pray you can answer that in a positive manner, but if not it's not to late to do something about it. Give it over to God and ask him to help you to break the bonds of that sin and then for 30 days pray and make a conscious effort and watch the Glory of the Lord at work in your life. If you don't know Jesus then make tonight the night you meet him and secure your spot in heaven.

    Bill Roy