It used to be less common; using foul language.
It used to be...or perhaps I thought it was. That is, until I watched one of my favorite childhood movies "The Goonies". I was excited to watch it after so long a time, and watch it with my children too. I remember fondly the "Hey you guys!" pirate scene, the siren call to adventure even if you're a dork, the happy ending. So, I turned on the movie and within minutes I turned it right back off. I couldn't believe all the horrible words coming out of the mouths of those little boys. I was stunned! How did I not notice all that cussing when I was a kid?
Maybe cussing had been more common than I previously thought.
I used to cuss a lot. The year I had the gangsta-wanna-be boyfriend who listened to rap with explicit lyrics (what was I thinking??!)... I swore a lot that year. That was my senior year in high school; the zenith of my teenage trying-to-be-cool mindset. The next year I went to college at a Christian University (Corban University) and had to rewrite the script I had been speaking by for years. Nobody there cussed...at least not out loud, and not around me. The kids going to this school were here to prepare for a life of Christian ministry and Christians don't swear.
Well, that's what I thought anyway.
So, I stopped cussing. After a while I began to like the non-cussing Christina, so I continued to not cuss because, well, I didn't want to.
Now, as a recovered cusser, I have to be honest and admit that when I hear someone cuss it unnerves me. No, that's too soft a word. It puckers my soul. Think of taking a big, long suck on a lemon dipped in vinegar then rolled in salt. That's how it feels to my soul when I hear cussing.
Just today I was walking into a store behind a pair of ladies. They were stylishly dressed, hair done nicely...just pretty, really. I wasn't evesdropping, I promise, but I was overhearing these women talking about social issues and the environment, when all of a sudden one of the women dropped the "F" bomb. It's called a bomb for a reason you know; it destroys! This woman's foul language totally destroyed my first impression of her as a classy girl and transformed my view of her into something different.
Its like going from this:
to this:
Now, don't get your unders snarled. I am NOT saying that girls who swear ARE trashy; I am saying that when we swear (and don't forget that I am a card holding member of Cussers Anonymous) it transforms the way we are seen in the eyes of others.
My junior high aged daughter has dropped a couple of bombs recently, in part because that's what she hears the kids say all day, and also because she wants to fit in. When she swears the other kids see her as one of their own.
She doesn't belong to them though, not really, she has pledged her life to Jesus Christ and she belongs to Him; but when she cusses she looks like she's traded teams.
This is the transforming power of our words.
If you watch British TV, Downton Abbey for instance, there is a big difference in the way the separate classes spoke. The serving class and the upper class were distinguished by, not only their dress and bearing, but also by their use of language. In the same way, the manner in which we choose to speak distinguishes us from the world who does not follow, love and obey God - or not.
We who call ourselves "Christians" are representing the person connected to that name. I don't think you would have heard Jesus Christ propping up a parable with a few well placed cuss words. Yeah...no.
Philippians 1:27 tells us to "live you life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ" and I strongly believe that includes our language. It's more than cussing, it's also the content of our conversations. Is Jesus' character and personality coming out in what you say? Paul told the Ephesians, "coarse and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks." Apparently potty talk was an issue in the first century too.
Speaking of Downton Abbey, there is a line that Mr. Carson says in season one, episode two that has always struck a chord with me: "You must remember that a good servant at all times retains a sense of pride and dignity that reflects the pride and dignity of the family he servies. And never make me remind you of it again.
It used to be...or perhaps I thought it was. That is, until I watched one of my favorite childhood movies "The Goonies". I was excited to watch it after so long a time, and watch it with my children too. I remember fondly the "Hey you guys!" pirate scene, the siren call to adventure even if you're a dork, the happy ending. So, I turned on the movie and within minutes I turned it right back off. I couldn't believe all the horrible words coming out of the mouths of those little boys. I was stunned! How did I not notice all that cussing when I was a kid?
Maybe cussing had been more common than I previously thought.
I used to cuss a lot. The year I had the gangsta-wanna-be boyfriend who listened to rap with explicit lyrics (what was I thinking??!)... I swore a lot that year. That was my senior year in high school; the zenith of my teenage trying-to-be-cool mindset. The next year I went to college at a Christian University (Corban University) and had to rewrite the script I had been speaking by for years. Nobody there cussed...at least not out loud, and not around me. The kids going to this school were here to prepare for a life of Christian ministry and Christians don't swear.
Well, that's what I thought anyway.
So, I stopped cussing. After a while I began to like the non-cussing Christina, so I continued to not cuss because, well, I didn't want to.
Now, as a recovered cusser, I have to be honest and admit that when I hear someone cuss it unnerves me. No, that's too soft a word. It puckers my soul. Think of taking a big, long suck on a lemon dipped in vinegar then rolled in salt. That's how it feels to my soul when I hear cussing.
Just today I was walking into a store behind a pair of ladies. They were stylishly dressed, hair done nicely...just pretty, really. I wasn't evesdropping, I promise, but I was overhearing these women talking about social issues and the environment, when all of a sudden one of the women dropped the "F" bomb. It's called a bomb for a reason you know; it destroys! This woman's foul language totally destroyed my first impression of her as a classy girl and transformed my view of her into something different.
Its like going from this:
My junior high aged daughter has dropped a couple of bombs recently, in part because that's what she hears the kids say all day, and also because she wants to fit in. When she swears the other kids see her as one of their own.
She doesn't belong to them though, not really, she has pledged her life to Jesus Christ and she belongs to Him; but when she cusses she looks like she's traded teams.
This is the transforming power of our words.
If you watch British TV, Downton Abbey for instance, there is a big difference in the way the separate classes spoke. The serving class and the upper class were distinguished by, not only their dress and bearing, but also by their use of language. In the same way, the manner in which we choose to speak distinguishes us from the world who does not follow, love and obey God - or not.
We who call ourselves "Christians" are representing the person connected to that name. I don't think you would have heard Jesus Christ propping up a parable with a few well placed cuss words. Yeah...no.
Philippians 1:27 tells us to "live you life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ" and I strongly believe that includes our language. It's more than cussing, it's also the content of our conversations. Is Jesus' character and personality coming out in what you say? Paul told the Ephesians, "coarse and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks." Apparently potty talk was an issue in the first century too.
Speaking of Downton Abbey, there is a line that Mr. Carson says in season one, episode two that has always struck a chord with me: "You must remember that a good servant at all times retains a sense of pride and dignity that reflects the pride and dignity of the family he servies. And never make me remind you of it again.
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