Last week I was invited to preach at my church while the pastor was away. Afterwards I received some criticism from a member of the congregation who appreciated what I said and my enthusiasm. He enjoyed the sermon very much but went on to say how he couldn’t disagree more with what I said. He then began to explain what he believed about the topic and I couldn’t help but find myself agreeing with him. As I listened to him continue I was beginning to realize that he didn’t disagree with what I said so much as the way I said it. Because of those few comments that stung a discord in him, he was able to disregard a lot of what I said that I think he would agree with in a different context.

This experience is becoming more and more familiar to me so I began to wonder at the power certain words have over us, and whether or not they should. For example, while I was growing up I was told not to cuss because cuss words were bad and bad people said them. So I didn’t. Any time someone I knew cussed I, therefore, thought of them as a bad person. The words a person used would define their character to me as a child.

As I have grown, especially in my knowledge of God and His character, I have learned that words are not good or bad in and of themselves. For example, back in the day, bags of manure were simply Shipped High In Transit (S.H.I.T) on ships so they wouldn’t get wet if water settled on the floor of the cargo bay. Sailors popularized this common abbreviation and thus the phrase, “you cuss like a sailor,” was coined. But when did this particular word become a cuss? And why when I heard it as an 8 year old did it have so much power over me and my opinion of people?

Society and culture form so much of what is seen as appropriate in life. But as a Christian I am called to live according to God’s word, and will, and not according to the culture of my time. But my Bible doesn’t say anything about cussing. It says, “Let no unwholesome talk or course joking come out of your mouth,” in Ephesians. So long sarcasm. But being sarcastic isn’t seen as being as bad as, well… being gay, for example.

I was speaking to a group of Christian college students last year at their weekly meeting. As an illustration of how I feel like the church should engage culture I used an example of a certain sect of Christians who usually attend gay pride rallies or events and hold signs that read, “God hates fags.” I was urging these young Christians that it might be more effective if Christians were still present at these events but rather with an attitude that communicated, “I know what it is to want to feel loved; maybe we aren’t so different.”

Afterwards I was again confronted by a critical student. A very angry girl approached me and said, “I heard what you said about ‘God hating fags.’” I said, “Yes?” unsure of where she was headed and a little afraid that I had misspoken my point at such a sensitive part of my talk. She went on, “well, I’m gay.” She stared at me with a look that felt like a challenge, “so what about it?” she wanted to know. I tried to sum up my point before she abruptly rushed away. Scared, I confirmed with some other students that I had indeed communicated that God loved gays and that Christians should love them as well. I was perplexed that this word had so much power over this girl. She heard “fag” and that was all she heard.

Giving her some space to calm down I met with her a few days later to ask her what she had heard. She had so much anger and hatred associated with that word she could barely articulate her thoughts. I listened carefully before I spoke these words, “you have given this one word so much authority over you that even when a Christian leader stood up and taught Christian to love gays, you missed it.” I don’t think that we should use racial slurs casually; they do carry a great deal of weight socially, especially to those whom they affect directly. But I do not believe that these words should have such a strong hold on us as believers of a sovereign God.

Because I believe that Jesus came to redeem all of creation, and that there is not a part of creation that is not apart from His sovereignty, I have no fear of “bad” words anymore. As I have explored the deep reaches of my brokenness and sin I have come to times in my life where even in prayer I have no other words to describe my great pain, confusion, or frustration other than words classified as “bad.” And yet I fear neither judgment nor condemnation. There is nothing that can separate us from the great love of God, not even cussing or racial slurs. What are these words or phrases separating you from?

Let us be people who respect God’s authority and who honor Him in the ways we communicate His love to each other and to the world.

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Rachel Foose is a Campus Minister with CCO at Penn State Altoona.  You can keep up with her at: http://foosers.blogspot.com.

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