Swearing isn’t cool.
When a boy in my fifth grade class used the f-word during recess, I knew that what he said was bad. Still, my 10-year-old brain was enamored by the sound of the cuss word.
But just because something feels good doesn’t mean it is good.
Any Hillsdale student is sure to recall their freshman convocation day. It wasn’t just a time for tears. It was also a time for Aristotelian philosophy. During my freshman convocation, Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn said the good is when something or someone is what or who they are meant to be.
The Bible records two times when Jesus cursed. In Matthew 21:19, Jesus said, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” when he saw that the fig tree he had come to get fruit from was fruitless.
Jesus thought the tree was bad because it was not producing fruit — the very thing the tree was meant to do. This passage has a much deeper meaning, however. When Jesus cursed the fig tree, he was effectively saying that people who do not produce the fruits of the spirit will also be cursed on judgment day. The fruits, as any faithful Christian is sure to have memorized, are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, according to Galatians 5:22-23.
What fruit are you producing when you swear?
In another instance, Jesus was angered by the religious teachers of his day and said, “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?” in Matthew 23:33.
That’s rough. Imagine being called a serpent and a “brood of vipers” — an expression used in that age to describe someone full of malice.
Jesus was upset — to put it mildly — that the religious leaders were leading people away from God even though they were claiming to do the opposite. Jesus likened the religious leaders to serpents. Yes, the same serpent who rebelled against God and tricked humans into eternal separation from their creator.
In this passage, Jesus referenced the first instance a curse was mentioned in the Bible. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were cursed out of Eden. Curse words are curses. But only God has the power to curse because only he can give life and take it away.
Christians should not take swearing lightly. Jesus, the son of God, cursed in the most extreme circumstances. He didn’t curse for fun or because he thought it was cool. Jesus cursed when a human soul was at stake. He cursed people when they rebelled against their creator and he cursed at his creation when it did not live up to its intended purpose.
Is a stubbed toe really worth a cuss word?
Although research finds that cursing releases emotions which in turn allow people to deal with pain, there comes a point when cussing gets excessive. Ultimately, if you repeat a word too many times, it starts to lose its meaning. I’m sure that, after a while, frequent use of swear words diminishes their numbing powers.
The next time you are about to curse, remember Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples.
After Jesus’ arrest, people came up to Peter to inquire if he was one of Jesus’ followers. On his third denial of being with Jesus, it is recorded: “Then he [Peter] began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, ‘I do not know the man.’ And immediately the rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly,” in Matthew 26:69-75.
When Peter cursed, he felt the farthest away from Jesus. The same goes for everyone else. You are the farthest away from Jesus when you curse. That’s not cool.
