Do as I say, not as I do. Hmm, or not. (This may be the off ramp for some of my social media ‘friends’)

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” Ephesians 4:29 (ESV)

When our kids were little, we would identify words that were not okay and ‘ugly’ to say. One of those words was ‘stupid’ and I can remember when that word would be uttered by myself or Megan, we would stop our kids in their tracks. They would look with shock and say to one another, “dad said the ‘S’ word.” To which apologies for saying this wrong word would be uttered, sadly laughter would occur off to the side and a half-hearted commitment to ‘watch my mouth’ acknowledged.

“You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.” Matthew 12:34-37

As a kid in the 70’s, yes the 1900’s 70’s, there were bad words that we decided made us ‘cool’ and then cuss words too awful to say that were rarely if ever spoken. Chief among these was the F-bomb. Too terrible to vocalize. Too disgusting to verbalize. THE word that would no kid that I knew would audibly allow from their mouth. The word that now freely flows from the mouths of our “leaders” in government, education, entertainment and presents itself quite often in social discourse. The word whose shock and awfulness now blends into conversation as seamlessly as apple pie and the Pledge of Allegiance did when I was a kid. (For those of you who might be younger than 40, look up apple pie and patriotism. This used to be a “thing.”)

Amidst this current political theater of yet another partial governments shutdown, the Minority Leader of the House said, “the Republicans done e’ffed up in Texas.” A celebrated musician said “F___ Ice,” as she received her Grammy for song of the year. Crowds protesting against this, against that, against the protest, protesting protest, protesting the spelling of the word ‘protest,’ protests quickly losing common sense and the disavowed ‘common courtesy,’ all unified by one single, purpose defining, life identifying, values erasing, humankind eroding word, the F-bomb!”

I am blessed to sit in several Christian men’s groups and events. These groups are an oasis from a broken World. These groups made up of a broken and sinful men diligently pursuing righteousness because of a loving Savior who paid the price of our sins. I have been experiencing a slow fade of guarded words used becoming a trickle of the d-word, the s-word (no, not “stupid,” stupid!), and on and on and I wonder, where does this end? Unchecked, it does not end well.

“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” Galatians 6:7-8 (ESV)

I remember my sweet mother would only allow us to use words like ‘stinker’ or ‘passed gas,’ when describing a bodily function. C’mon, as my wife told me during a very early dating event, “everybody does it.” If my sisters or I slipped up and said the ‘f-word,’ (f a r t – still too terrible to audibly say or properly write), the response and corresponding punishment would be fierce and absolute. That fly-swatter hurt…for a while.

I guess one of the greatest compliments that I ever received was during a lunch with some men, one of them cursed and quickly looked at me and apologized. Wasn’t necessary, but really appreciated. You know, as he and I have grown so much closer, the comfort to curse in front of me has also grown and the feeling of a need to apologize, gone. I wonder, is this reflective of my own sin becoming more evident? I believe so. He is an amazing, encouraging and loving brother. But that mouth.

I guess I am rambling this morning. As God’s Church, we are instructed to stand out in word and deed. It seems we’re getting better at the deeds at the sacrifice of the words. My family had a saying posted on our refrigerator the entire time that I lived in my parents home that said, “If you won’t write it, don’t say it.” Good guidance 100 years ago, and still good policy today.

“And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.” Colossians 3:17 (NLT)

Let’s get out there and be the L-bomb. “And they’ll know we are Christians by our Love…” and by our mouths.