Part 6 of the Power of Giving Thanks
Here's an interesting scripture to consider - "But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God." Let that sink in. "For this you know...." "For" meaning because - for this reason. It links what follows with what preceded it. "Immoral, impure or covetous man, who is an idolater" is equated with immorality, impurity, greed, and is characterized by filthiness, silly talk, or coarse jesting. And, the alternative to those characteristics is giving thanks. Just as in Romans 1, giving thanks keeps us from sin, and the lack of it opens the door to immorality and idolatry.
In what follows, the point is not to create rules or New Testament "thou shalt nots" for right or wrong language. Rather, by understanding what is unacceptable and characteristic of an evil heart, we have a basis for examining our own hearts. If these things are common parts of our vocabulary, replacing them with an attitude of giving thanks to God will change us from within, making God our focus and bringing honor to Him.
So, watch your language. No, I mean watch your language; listen to what comes out of your mouth. Is it filthy? (The Greek word here means deformity or ugliness, obscenity. Could "deformed" words be literal? Would that include cleaning up our swearing by substituting gosh, golly, and gee for God and Jesus? Maybe. Certainly it means offensive, ugly, unacceptable speech. In other words there is a standard. Whose standard? Who's to say what is right or wrong or offensive or unacceptable? You know. No one has to say what the standard is. It used to be much more obvious. Words that even coarse men used when alone or in each other's company, they would avoid (or apologize for) when in the company of women, or Christians whom they respected. Now, even women and children let fly with such language, and woe to you if you're offended. But they still know it's offensive.
The next phrase, silly talk, is foolish talk, moronic words (from the Greek, morologia - moros meaning "dull, not acute," and logos meaning "word"). Is this immature talk? Is it telling jokes? Is it just foolish speculation about things? I honestly am not sure what ground this might cover. Maybe it's just ridiculous things like being discouraged and down on yourself when in reality, you're a child of the King, joint heir with Christ, and an overwhelming conqueror because of His overwhelming love for you.
The word for jesting actually has a positive sense in which it refers to wittiness. The root word carries the idea of turning or changing. It's the "turn of phrase" that can bring a chuckle or get a point across. Paul used it when standing in chains before King Agrippa: "I wish to God... not only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these chains." However, it is also the insult that is clothed in politeness. It's the lewd comment or rudeness phrased in such a way as to seem innocent. (A lot of our modern comedy falls into this category). You may not come right out and say something crude, but yo say what you want in a way that suggests something crude or vulgar. The resulting mental image in the listener's mind is the same. Is it any less wrong to actually say the words than to suggest them in such a way as to generate the same image?
Having standards for behavior, or rules or laws or commandments, won't keep us from sinning. The standard is there to let us know what is right and wrong. Giving thanks to God, and continuing to do so until it becomes an attitude of our heart will also make it a normal part of our speech. It will override the attitudes of anger and immorality that are often evidenced in our language. This really is a heart issue, not a mouth issue; but what comes out of our mouth is evidence of what's in our hearts. And, as lesser drugs can lead to harder drugs, stepping off into the sinful pleasure of a little coarse language opens the door to "immorality, impurity and covetousness."
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