Words. They are a most useful means of communication. Even unspoken gestures and body language are translated by our brains as words or at least concepts that can be translated into words. What I have noticed, over the passing of time, is how effective the enemy of our soul has been at robbing the meaning of words. Of making the words of the divine profane. Profanity more than surrounds us; it permeates our culture and has infected the Body of Christ. We have acquiesced or outright accepted the Deceiver's ploy without a fight. It has touched your life and you are speaking far more profanity than you are aware. It is more than the proliferation of cursing and foul language. Most of us avoid the "F" word and give some passing cringe at the Lord's name being slandered or used in vain, but we are calloused or simply naive if we think that covers the subject. The profane saturates social media and flows freely from the keyboards and pens of those who claim to be followers of Messiah. As Matthew 12:36 reminds us, "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment." If this is so, then we need to take a closer look at our words.
To begin with, it would be well to get some words defined. Profanity or the use of profane words are words most followers of Christ would want to avoid. You know, those coarse words or "dirty" words mom told us not to say. Most English dictionaries simply say profanity is not showing reverence or saying things that are offensive. The Hebrew word translated profane is chalal. It means to defile or pollute, but at its core it means to treat what is sacred as common. As we see in Lev. 22:32 “You shall not profane My holy name, but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel. I am the LORD who sanctifies you," Don't treat my name, which is holy or set apart, as common. The LORD who sanctifies you and makes you holy is not to be treated as common. Number three of the Ten Commandments warns to not take the Lord God's name in vain. Don't treat it as common so that it is robbed of its holy meaning. It is not an empty word; it refers to the sacred and omnipotent Creator and ruler of the universe. The phrase, "Oh my god!" has lost all real substance. The sacred has become common. It is profane. The Greek, bebalos, has a similar meaning. to be unhallowed or common. 2 Timothy 2:16 calls us to, "shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness." Shun common, empty, idle babblings, for who really wants to give God an account of those things?
The point is simply this: Don't turn what God has declared or referred to as sacred or set apart for His purpose as common or as an empty word. Let's take a few examples. "Oh my God!" is not usually a cry of worship. The phrase has become common. It is profane. "Damn it!" rarely brings the image of the lake of fire or the final judgement of a Holy God. "What the hell!" Same issue. No vision here of a final separation from the God of love and mercy while suffering torment. (By the way I don't think God is fooled by "gosh", "darn", or "heck" as replacements. The world knows what they replace and doesn't draw them to revere a Holy God). I don't want to leave out "Heavens to Betsy". I am not sure what that means, but I am pretty sure my Grandmother talked of heaven that way. And how about the dreaded "F" word. How can that offend God? How about Hebrews 13:4 ,"Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge." God designed sex. When He "fearfully and wonderfully" made us, He put those nerve endings where He did on purpose. Sex is a holy thing. Something set apart for Marriage. Not for fornication or adultery. The "F" word is slang for the intimate union designed by God for a man and woman to share in marriage. The prolific use of the "F" word and other slang expressions for the act of love has made the act empty, has taken God's sacred meaning and made it common. Not sure what God thinks with American's obsession with male bovine feces but there must be other ways to express ourselves.
As followers of Messiah, the Son of God, and those who claim that Yahweh is the one true God, our language is riddled with profanity. Making the sacred common. One last word to consider is "awesome". Deut. 7:21 “You shall not be terrified of them; for the LORD your God, the great and awesome God, is among you." Thirty to forty times, depending on your translation, God, or what He does, is referred to as awesome. It means to be filled with awe at who He is and what he does. It is a remarkable word of worship and reverence. It is not about pizza or a car. It is not about the winning goal or how your girlfriend looks. We have made the word empty of its intended reverence. We have, in truth, made it a profane term. Robbed of its association with God, it is a popular use of profanity. Having made what was connected to One Holy just something common.
A final thought or two. Have you ever exclaimed, "Oh my Allah!" or "Mohammed Prophet!". How about "Oh Buddha" or hit your thumb with a hammer and yelled "My Vishnu, that hurts!". Why don't we treat the Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu deities with the same disrespect as the Jewish and Christian God? Could it be that the Devil doesn't care? He is the master deceiver so he deceives us into thinking God doesn't care. It's just slang. You know a colloquialism, I don't really mean anything by it. And that is the point. The words God gave to warn us and to draw us to Him have lost their punch, be it hell or damnation, there is no real meaning.Thus, there is no fear, there is no warning, there is no reason to repent or draw near to God. Our own profane use of words about sex, eternity, and honoring the Awesome God who loved us, died for us and delivered us from sin and death has left us with empty words. Just how vain do we take the name of the Lord our God? Maybe Commandment Three just doesn't matter any more. Or maybe it matters way more that you think. Just what will you say when you see the Lord and go through your "idle word" report?
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