Welcome to the For the Gospel podcast, where we're all about providing sound doctrine for everyday people. I'm your host, Costi Hinn, and on today's episode, I want to talk about cussing, crude language, and the importance of Christ-likeness in the life of the believer. I've been meditating on the book of Proverbs and this particular topic over the past few weeks and New Testament commands regarding the way that I talk and the way that we talk in general and use language. And I see a lot of wisdom in the Word of God regarding the way that we talk. Of course, I'm personally convicted by this. I'm sure you are too. And it's something that the Lord uses, meaning his word, to sanctify and to sharpen and to mature us in our usefulness, if you will, for his glory. When you look across the book of Proverbs, you will find dozens of wise sayings and Proverbs regarding the way we talk. I think of Proverbs 4.24 that we should avoid all perverse talk and steer clear of corrupt speech. One of the most popular passages in our home, at least, and certainly that's applicable to ministry, is Proverbs 1019, which reminds us where words are many, transgression is really unavoidable. Too much talk is going to lead you into sin. And so it's sensible and it's prudent and wise to be careful with too much talk. Most certainly, truth will stand the test of time. True words will remain, but lies will be exposed. That's Proverbs 12:19. And from a wise person's mind will come wise speech. And the words of the wise can be very persuasive. They're like honey. They're sweet to the soul, Proverbs 16, 24 tells us. And Proverbs 29, 20 is really convicting. It says there's hope there's more hope for a fool than somebody who who speaks without thinking. The constant drumbeat of Scripture is that we should think very deeply about the way we talk. We should think very biblically, very prudently about the kind of words we use. I think of a quote that I've heard time and time again that profanity is the use of strong words by weak people. There is an argument to be made, most certainly, that uh people who are weak or people who are careless or people who are immature lean on profanity to make their point, while people who are wise and strong and more careful and more thoughtful think about the kind of words that will convey a point without causing somebody to miss the point because your words are too crass. But there are some arguments out there by people or by pastors who would prefer to leave the use of foul language in their toolbox as an option. And obviously, this is not akin to heresy or going to cancel out someone's salvation, and most certainly none of us are without sin in times past. Or perhaps for you, this is an ever-present struggle in which uh words slip off the tongue that you wish you could take back, and certain kinds of words that you're asking the Lord to help you with. But the justification of such language does have two primary approaches, two primary arguments. I want to deal with both of those. I think both of them are not very good arguments or don't stand. I don't hold to these arguments at all. And then I want to share with you some wisdom from the Word regarding speech and cussing and crude language and how we might consider what Paul says as our command here and now. Argument number one using cussing or crude language is a tool for shock value, or or and it's not unlike God's language in Ezekiel 23 when he calls Israel a whore and makes reference to human body parts. Now, some would defend the use of unwholesome speech and crude language by calling it a tool for shock value. And that certainly is not meant to say that they use these words habitually. I've heard pastors make this argument and they say, well, this isn't, you know, language for everyday life. But because God uses strong words in the Old Testament, we shouldn't be so offended when even pastors use crude language or cuss today in the pulpit for a purpose. The argument for this comes from Ezekiel 23, verses 19 to 20, and it refers to our holy God, who is perfect and righteous in all his ways, saying that his people, Israel, were like whores or harlots, prostitutes. The different translations translate it in different ways, and I quote, lusting after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys, and whose omissions were like that of horses, or was like that of horses. This is graphic, this is sexual language, and some people will say, look, Costi, lighten up. God uses strong language, it's in the scriptures. He used that type of picture to describe Israel. What's wrong with a pastor using crude language or crass language to describe something that is disturbing in the church? Well, I don't find this convincing because cussing, crude language, and filthy talk is not on par with meaning it's not even, it's not equal to God saying Israel is playing the whore and acting sinfully. First, let's break this down. God is the one saying it. He is perfect and righteous in his ways, so we cannot possibly think that we can walk that line in the perfect way that he does. You are not God, I am not God. So I don't use what God says through the prophet Ezekiel as permission for me to say whatever I want. Second, God does not use any language that is slang or crude for that time. He gives a word picture of what everybody knew prostitutes and lustful people would operate like, and then he makes a comparison. None of this, again, gives credence to someone using filthy slang or cussing today, let alone insulting somebody with a personal attack and calling them names. Again, we're not God. We're not Ezekiel speaking for God, and we're not perfect in our motive, our emotions, and our methods. When Ezekiel is proclaiming these things, he is proclaiming perfect revelation from a perfect God through his human mouth. There is no fallibility to it, there is no error. Why? Well, because as we've talked about in previous episodes, he was a true prophet, true prophecy is always accurate, true prophecy is thus saith the Lord, and you know it's coming from Yahweh. One can convey strong truths in a number of different ways, with words that pack a punch, and yet not cause people to miss the point by using foul language and then using God's description of Israel to justify it. Third, on that note, God in the Old Testament is the same God in the New Testament, by the way. There's no like different God in the Old Testament, and he's changed and more gracious and mellow in the New Testament. He who uses strong words to call out the wicked in the Old Testament is also the same God who commands that his church let no unwholesome talk proceed from their mouths, Ephesians 4 29. In Ephesians 5 1 through 6, under the superintending power and authority of the Holy Spirit himself, who is God, Paul the Apostle writes this, therefore be imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. This is the way you should be living. Then he says this, but sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you as is proper among saints, and then let there be no filthiness, nor foolish talk, nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. We cannot say that God allows the use of our cussing or filthy language and then contradicts himself with a command not to do that. If one tried to make that argument, we could certainly say that faithful hermeneutics requires, we view the New Testament commands as a direct applicable word to the New Covenant Church. So we want to be very careful taking God's prophetic words to Israel in the Old Covenant as a prescription for us here and now in the New Covenant to speak with crude language. That would never make sense. That's not sound hermeneutics, which is just a word for interpretation of the Bible. A second argument outside of Ezekiel 23 for cussing or using strong language, either in our daily life or in the pulpit, stems from Philippians 3 8. It's a passage in which Paul says, Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I count them, meaning that which he has lost, as rubbish. Hang on to that word, as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. He says, Look, having anything compared to having Jesus, eh, forget it. It's nothing. It's trash, it's garbage. And I'll unpack that further because, and I honestly used to think this and teach this, Paul is using the SH word to describe that rubbish, that this is our English, you know, cuss word. I remember that in my first year or two of true conversion and doing some teaching in my church at the time, I saw one particular article that alluded to this being the SH word. And I just ran with that. I remember putting uh four asterisks in my sermon manuscript. I told people it was that word, and even now I just cringe thinking, you know, what lessons we've learned and how grateful I am that that sermon is not still around. Now, some will make the argument that this is the SH word. This is just saying that. What's the big deal? Uh some would say this passage gives credence to us cussing or using that word in the pulpit, um, but it does not. For starters, Paul is not trying to cuss. He's not viewing in his mind that he's even using a cuss word. He's trying to convey a contrast in strong visual terms, and he uses the language they had in that day. He did not use a word that was widely considered, you know, strictly out of bounds. And so when we would try to make the leap to cussing or using the SH word to describe that in today's terms, do that in the pulpit and see what happens. 99%, or maybe even 100%, of the people in our churches would likely miss the point, react negatively, or be in total shock that we used the SH word because it's uh not really a common word we use. It's a cuss word. It's considered crude, it's considered too far, it's not considered acceptable in Christian language, generally speaking. Therefore, we can use very strong words still, and we can understand Paul's point, and I'll get to that even further here in a moment, while using the acceptable language of our day to express the point the biblical text is making. On the topic of using this passage to justify cussing, Pastor Mike Ricardi, who really is uh you could call him Dr. Mike Ricardi, the guy is either last time I talked to him not long ago, he was finishing up his PhD. If you have it already, Mike, I'm sorry, Dr. Ricardi, but you will have it shortly if you don't already. I know that, uh, breaks this all down saying, arguing that Christians may use profanity on the basis of Philippians 3 8 does little more than reveal one's ignorance. That's strong. The notion that uh scubalon, the Greek word there, which comes from the Greek word scubala, was basically a Greek curse word as a myth. So right away Ricardi comes out swinging. Using that to justify profanity is ignorant, and it being a Greek curse word was a myth. This is scholarly work here from Ricardi. He then says, I've always found Phil Johnson's comments on this matter to be helpful. Then he quotes Phil Johnson, who says the word is more like the English term excrement. In fact, it has a broader range of semantic meanings, more akin to the English term waste. It's fairly common in secular Greek literature, and while it describes the worst kind of filth from the sewer, there's no stigma of inappropriateness attached to the word itself or the use of the word. Just like the English expression filth from the sewer avoids the cultural stigma of the S word and some of its borderline variants. Since Paul expressly forbade the use of language that was deemed taboo, to insist that he himself did that in Philippians 3 is, in Johnson's words, exegetically irresponsible. This is an important point. Likely just weeks or months after Paul wrote Philippians 3.8, uh, Ricardi points out that he writes Ephesians 5.1 through 6. You have to remember, by the way, and this isn't a quote from Mike, and I'll get back to his statement shortly, but you gotta remember what's called the prison epistles. I'm teaching through Ephesians right now at the church I serve at, Shepherd's House Bible Church in Chandler, Arizona, and in studying and preparing for the Ephesians series, I came across what is called the prison epistles. So you gotta think, Paul is writing these prison epistles, which would include, you know, Philippians here, and these are closely related or close together in the timeline of his life. So picture not long from when Paul wrote Philippians 3 8, and he uses the word rubbish or excrement or waste. He says in the letter of Ephesians, therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us, and offering and a sacrifice to God is a fragrant aroma. But immorality or impurity or greed must not be named among you, as is proper in the saints, and then remember what he says, and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, no coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. He comes on strong. Then he finishes that section there in Ephesians five, verses one to six, saying, Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Those empty words, he says, include those which would seek to persuade Christians that Paul was using foul language in one of his letters, while expressly forbidding it in another letter he wrote just weeks later. In reality, the etymology for the word scublon comes from the Greek phrase, which means that which is thrown to the dogs. This is refuse. And what Ricardi points out is really helpful for faithful students of the Bible. This all makes very good sense contextually in light of the fact that Paul has just called the Judaizers dogs in verse two. Do you remember that in Philippians uh three, verse two, where he says, Finally, well, verse one, finally, my brethren rejoice in the Lord to write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it's a safeguard to you. So he's warning them and safeguarding them. Then in verse two, beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision. So just verses later, in the same context, he uses a picture of what would be thrown to the dogs as that which he considers everything to be compared to knowing Christ Jesus. Dirty words, Ricardi says, were available to Paul, and he chose not to use a word that was quote filthy, coarse, or foolish, but rather a strong word that conveyed severity without breaching the brand the bounds of propriety and wholesomeness. So no, Paul did not use foul language in Scripture. Let's stop perpetuating that myth. And let's repent, Ricardi says, of the notion that God would ever sanction the violation of the commands of Scripture in order to make the scriptures clear to others. We cannot serve the interests of heaven by using the language of hell. I am very thankful for my friend Mike Ricardi. I'm very thankful for those helpful words. I understand that there will be many arguments in Christian scholarship, and I understand that there'll be many people who may just not agree with uh Ricardi's summation or what I have put forth here. I will say that it's vital that a Christian does not let the culture or even the peer pressure from other Christians drive the bus on this one and influence the way you talk. The culture may be changing and the world may be changing, but we do not need to invoke the tools of the world to win the world. We do not use the language of darkness to bring about the kingdom of light. And so I pray we would all consider the importance of Christ-likeness in our speech, both as pastors in the pulpit and as imitators of God in our daily life. Thanks for listening. If this podcast has been a blessing to you, would you be willing to leave me a review on Apple or wherever you listen and share how the podcast is impacting your life or your family? I would be so grateful. And just so you know, those reviews help the podcast platforms to make our show more visible. That's just how it works in online marketing. And so if you'd be willing to drop me a review and click the five stars if it deserves it in your mind, uh that will continue to put our podcast uh front and center on various platforms and help more people have access to sound doctrine in their life. And lastly, don't forget, my wife Christine and I have a children's book that is coming out. It is titled In Jesus' Name I Pray, TJ the Squirrel Learns the True Heart of Prayer. Yes, I came up with a story with her about a squirrel. He's really cute. The illustrations are phenomenal. Guy Wolock did a great job. This is for kids ages four to eight. So if your 12-year-old doesn't think it's that cool, I'm not surprised, but it's perfect for getting in the minds and hearts of your young children. And you know what? Have the 12-year-old read it to the young ones. Uh, if you're a parent or a grandparent, I'd encourage you to pick that book up. You can pre-order it on Amazon or wherever books are sold. And if you do that, uh go to the show notes here and click the link to the Harvest House page, type in your uh your code or your purchase code, and they'll send you over some free download coloring pages for your kids that you could use and enjoy to teach them about the true heart of prayer and what it means to pray in Jesus' name. I'll be back next Monday with another episode. For now, keep on living for the gospel.