Another $H!#*&Y Blog Post...

God. Cussing. The Bible. Ready..... GO!

In my first post on this blog, I warned that I may be using a few choice vulgarities in my writing. Then I demonstrated such usage. I also mentioned God, and although not explicitly stating my faith in Christ, I am sure you guys probably assumed it. For some people, this seems to be a contradiction and a sort-of controversy. I thought about it for a few days, and decided this is just begging for a blog post. So here goes!

(also, this is way off topic, but I found a BK crown on my walk home from school this morning. I can honestly say I've never felt so empowered writing a blog as I do while writing this one bearing said crown right now.)

First, some background:

Growing up, I was always that kid who never swore. All throughout high school, I would see some of my friends swear and instantly judge/worry that they were drifting away from Christ. Even when repeating a line from a movie I had seen, I would 'bleep' it out by saying 'F-ing A' and the like. And who didn't love 'H-E-doublehockeysticks'? But I can distinctly remember sometimes after driving home from a hard nights work at Panera, and just sitting in my driveway, smacking my dashboard while yelling some obscenities in secret. It was more about the external appearance for me.

Then college came. I continued to be that guy who did not swear, up until the summer after my sophomore year. Something about that summer just opened up the new world of swearing to me. After talking to some of my christian friends who sort-of justified it, I decided to give it a try. I must say, it was pretty satisfying to be able to give myself free rein in an area which I had previously been so controlled. I loved the intense rush of such reckless abandon. It eventually progressed until it became kinda fun. Throw in an academically-hard junior year and then working on a marine base in Japan all summer, and here I am with my at-times borderline sailors mouth.

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So, whats my justification? In short, my opinion is that it is all about Heart and Context. Lets look at a few questions and I will share my opinions (yes, opinions) on the matter.

-What about the verses in the Bible that condemn swearing?

I mean aren't we supposed to be 'set apart'?

-Can God be glorified through the use of an expletive?

 Or could a well-placed expletive positively stir the soul?

So, lets look at the verses that seem to explicitly condemn cussing. The most often used verse is usually Ephesians 4:29, which says:

 "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."

A lot of people point to this and say that unwholesome talk equates to cussing. I have to disagree with this assertion. If you look at the context of that phrase, it is contrasted with 'what is helpful for building others up'. It seems to be saying that unwholesome talk is the opposite of what builds people up, which alludes to gossip, slander, insults, etc.. Where did we get cussing out of that? I feel like that might be more of our traditional-american-church's interpretation. The church was at first very against tattoos, rock music, piercings, etc.. and I think we all know now that these are all things that can be used for Gods glory.

Or Colossians 3:8, which says:

 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk [or filthy language] from your mouth. 

But why do we automatically assume that cussing is along the lines of filthy language? There are many, many other verses that allude to this, but they all seem to be equally as vague.

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We also have some philosophical dilemmas here. Is the homeless man (who has grown up in a rough environment all his life) at fault if he were to say ''Damn, I love this Jesus guy" or "I fuckin love Philippians!" In his heart, he means to praise God or His Word, although his diction is a bit abrasive compared to the traditional church. Is he sinning or glorifying God?

A long time ago, I read an article in Relevant Magazine that asks "Can Offensive Art Be Christian?' This article really got me thinking and examining my beliefs behind cussing. I'd really encourage you to read it. Now.

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Before I fully break down my cussing parameters, I think its also interesting to mention Philippians 3:8 here: 

"What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ."

Another article that I read talks about how that word 'rubbish' is the greek word Skubalon. It then begins to explain what this word means and represents:

"skubalon – In secular Greek this depressing word means rubbish and muck of many kinds: excrement, rotten food, bits left at a meal as not worth eating, a rotting corpse. Nastiness and decay are the constant elements of its meaning; it is a coarse, ugly, violent word implying worthlessness, uselessness, and repulsiveness... The only NT usage is Paul’s in Phil 3:8, “I count (estimate, evaluate) them as (nothing but) dung.” The coarse and violent word shows how completely Paul had ceased to value them." [New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology Vol. 1, Zondervan: 1980, pg 480]

Now, correct me if I am wrong, but isn't Paul saying that he 'consider[s] them shit, that I may gain Christ'? There's your Bible friends. (Also, off the record, I also can't help but think that Paul probably would use this word to describe the ship he was sailing on before he was shipwrecked, among other things.)

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Alright, this is getting long, lets get to the opinion part.

In my opinion, the use of cussing should be measured by two things:

1) Your heart behind it, and

2) The context.

Let me simply break down this first 'rule'. Look at these two statements:

"Crap!* I stubbed my toe!"

"Shit!* I stubbed my toe!"

In both instances, the * word is conveying something along the lines of: "an outcry of disgust from physical pain". But we don't actually say that, as the word crap/shit is a heck of a lot easier. Is one word more sinful than the other? If so, why? In my opinion, both words are fine.

But lets look at another situation:

"That guy is a moron*"

"That guy is a fuckface*"

In both instances, the * word is meant to belittle, insult, tear someone down, etc.. I would reason that BOTH of these instances are wrong. As Jesus said:

 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’  But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell." 

It seemed to be more about the heart here. 

In terms of the second 'rule' of context, this is just a common-sense rule. It would probably not be best to walk into a preschool to pick up your daughter while dropping F-bombs the whole way in. Duh. This rule speaks for itself I think. 

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By no means do I think we as christians should be known as 'cussers'. But who is to say that cussing can't push someone closer to God? If my friend comes to me (christian or not) and tells me her dad just got diagnosed with cancer, I am not gonna respond by saying 'Well thats just a darn shame!'. The situation is nothing short of shitty. Some words pack a bigger punch than others, and I don't think we should be so afraid to use them. This world can be a shitty place, and I think we as christians need to acknowledge this instead of only speaking about what we wish the world was. As that Relevant article so beautifully articulated: "We relegate our art [speech] to the way we wish the world should be and not how the world actually is."

Heres the link again. Seriously, go read it now.

There is also something to be said in terms of humor, because lets be honest, it's way funnier if 'I shat in a field on the first day of school' than saying 'I pooped in a field on the first day of school'. So long as you aren't seriously tearing a friend down, I think cussing is fine in all instances of humor. Caution needs to be employed in making sure none of your jokes or teasing go too far and hurt a brother, not so much worrying about cussing.

In conclusion, my opinion is that one should check their heart, check the context, and then possibly partake in a bit of vulgarity. Maybe it can be hearkened to alcohol in that sense. Or maybe I have just been writing so long that the desperate and terrible metaphors are coming out. I would love to hear your guys' thoughts on this topic, so please join the conversation.

I am a sellout. Selah.

Well, after much resistance, I have finally caved into the idea of writing a blog. The idea has always appealed to me, but I just feel like there are so many people writing blogs despite their 'target audience' not really caring. But I think I am finally okay with this fact; this will be more for me than for an audience. But hey, if you guys get something out of any of this writing, then sweet. Still though, I cannot help but feel like a little bit of a sellout...

The title of this blog is 'Selah', which is a Hebrew word that pops up in the Psalms every now and then. I love the word, in part because no one really knows what it exactly means. Mystery is one of the many spices of life. With that comes some sharp disagreement about what it actually means, but one of the best explanations I have heard goes something like this. I pulled this from the always-wonderful Wikipedia:


[Selah] ... is a difficult concept to translate. It is probably either a musical mark or an instruction on the reading of the text, something like "stop and listen". "Selah" can also be used to indicate that there is to be a musical interlude at that point in the Psalm. The Amplified Bible states Selah as "pause, and think of that".

I think that is beautiful, and a great way to describe what I want this blog to be: my outlet of introspection. In this crazy busy college life, I think there is something Godly and beautiful about stopping and reflecting on this life as it zooms on by. It also could mean to 'weigh ones life', to 'raise your voice' or a musical interlude. So it either means 1) to stop and reflect, 2) to yell a little louder, or 3) the biblical equivalent of a badass guitar solo. All are acceptable translations in my book.

 And since I am pretty terrible with transitions, here is a few little things you should know about this blog/me:

- It is going to be raw.  The main purpose for this is just to sort of spit out my thoughts and ideas into something tangible that I can come back to later, so expect messiness. Some of my thoughts will be pretty damn cynical and pessimistic, but then again some events in life sort of call for that. Or at least honesty in the heat of those moments. I'm going to yell and cuss, sometimes in outrage and sometimes in despair, and other times i'll be as chipper as can be. Maybe no one will pay much attention to it, but maybe that's for the better.

-It will probably be a bit stupid/cheesy. I go through my life with all these little flashes of insight that seem to come without any sort of logical cause. But that's how life is, right? Sometimes you get this ridiculous burst of perspective while shitting in a field (hopefully more on that later). God works in mysterious and sometimes really weird ways.

-There will be no real rhyme or reason to any of my posts. Some days i'll sit down and write something worth a bit of spiritual/emotional/mental insight, other days I might post a stupid picture of a childish meme. Come to think of it, those two camps pretty well describe 65% of my internet usage. Oh, and there will be poetry, cause poetry is bitchin. Hopefully you leave this page with some sort of inspiration, or at least a chuckle or two.

I guess that's all i can really think about right now. Huzzah for the grand blogging experiment, and for the increased risk of carpal tunnel it may lead to...