Concepts v. Word Lists

October 27, 2005 · Filed Under theology

The comments thread of the “Cussing Lite” posting at WorldMagBlog has yielded one particularly interesting entry.

A top ten list for the sins of the tongue:

1. Profanity: Dragging sacred realities, words and ideas through the gutter. Pulling what is lofty and divine down to lowly realms (Exodus 20:7).

2. Obscenity: Offending the modesty of others, glorifying indecency and being lewd (Ephesians 5:4).

3. Vulgarity: Referencing or revealing bodily functions or private parts in public discourse. Crude talk or behavior (2 Samuel 6:20).

4. Gossip: Spreading news to discredit others, behind their backs of course. Being a tattle-tale or trafficking in rumor, hearsay (Romans 1:29 & 1 Timothy 5:15).

5. Careless words: Insensitive, useless, idle, tasteless, thoughtless, slanderous, or blasphemous speech (Matthew 12:36 — A VERY SCAREY SAYING OF JESUS!!!!!).

6. Coarse joking: Attempting to use humor to offend or insult decency. Foolish talk (Ephesians 4:5).

7. Grumbling: To murmur or mutter in discontent. Constant complaining. (James 5:9 & Jude 1:16).

8. Verbal Abuse: Hostile, violent verbal digs & assaults on others (Colossians 3:8 & 4:6). Also, name-calling (Matthew 5:22).

9. Flattery: Complimentary speech or attention to ingratiate ourselves with others, insincere or excessive praise and smooth talk (Proverbs 29:5, Romans 16:18, Jude 1:16). A form of self-flattery is boasting (Psalm 12:3).

10. Lying: Twisting truth, inflating issues, exaggerating situations, misrepresenting facts, being phony and uttering falsehoods (Proverbs 26:28, John 8:44, & Ephesians 4:25).

Words are not benign.

This is an interesting list, IMO, especially as it doesn’t just deal with the idea of creating a list of “bad” words that should be avoided. Rather, it deals with concepts & how words are used. That seems to me to be a much more productive & salutary approach.

And the commenter is quite correct in his observation that words are not benign. Nope, they have meaning. They are not, as many seem to argue these days, empty vessels to be filled in with whatever relativistic context we choose to give them (and which could then be rightfully changed by the next person, who, of course, brings their own relativistic baggage to the table…).

-ghp

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Tags: pietism, society, theology

Comments

One Response to “Concepts v. Word Lists”

ghp on October 28th, 2005 7:54 pm

You’re right, TK — I think that it’s pretty much the case for every show out there. And I do worry about that with my kids. Fortunately, most of the shows that they watch are pretty benign, although the attitude on some of them leaves something to be desired. That’s something that probably could’ve been (and no doubt was) said about the cartoons we grew up on.

I’m working from a stance that I think you alluded to in your comment. Namely, that proper parental oversight will provide ample “teachable” moments, when I can let them know what was wrong/inappropriate and why. It’s sort of a “lather, rinse, repeat” strategy, where I hope the shear repetition will help make the impression with them. I know it worked for my parents!
-ghp