i'm afraid of worms, roxanne, worms!

real live preacher had an interesting post on the use of words. most of the post was pretty graphic, and i would imagine aside from getting emails about this particular thread, he had gotten some in the past because he stated:

People send me email regularly, asking how a preacher can use such language.

USE LANGUAGE? USE IT? USE WORDS?

I don't know what to do with a question like that.

Sometimes I try to explain.
Sometimes I say, “I don’t know.”
Sometimes I say, “Why don’t you leave me the hell alone.”

my response, i'll admit was a bit flippant: my question to him wasn't *how could you* -- it was *how could you not?*

i am wondering, now, if i should ask him to delete my comment because it was pretty much a knee-jerk reaction: we are all human, we all think like humans, we all say things that are not so pretty. words can cut like a hot knife through butter or can be like a salve on a sunburned heart. words matter.

if they didn't, then why would the book of james be so centered and focused on them and the use of the tongue? and why would the psalmist pray "let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer?" (i didn't even have to look that one up - i've certainly prayed it enough...)

and in all seriousness and all fairness, the commentor above my flippy remark put it quite eloquently

"Fear not, they're just words." (from the commentor above)

Is that all they are? Then, by that logic: so is hate speech at a KKK rally. So is the Bible for that matter. At what point do we reign in our tounge? Does the book of James matter (1:26, chpt. 2)? If we believe that God's words are just words (I thought they were life as well?) then we do not truly belief, we only practice an empty religion.

It is true that at face value, words of themselves are just words, but words ultimately express concepts and concepts express the mind and the heart. Given our propensity to commit evil, why should we think that words are only words?
Brad Huston • 5/12/05; 11:15:54 PM #

they aren't *just* words. it is abusive language when someone curses all the time. sure, some words emphasize better than others, but what does using them say to our neighbor, whom we are to love as we love ourselves?

however, aren't there times when you need to hear the spirit of what is being said and not simply the coarse language? there have been times (in recent memory) when i have been crying out to God, from the posture of being on my face, and i will readily admit the words coming from my mouth weren't pretty; however, they were already in my head and in my heart, so why would i cheat God in prayer by lying about what was in me, for real? here's the big money phrase: He already knew.

profanity can either add to what you are saying or can take away from your point the same way bad grammar can. it's all about context, too.

what do the words of your mouth say about you?