The Legoland Convention

"Could you imagine the effect on a youth attending a Stop Five Record writer's youth group should one have read the swearing?”

I personally think the youth might be relieved to see that their leader is a real person, just like they are.

"Kids look up to us. A lot of people will look up to us. And we need to be squeaky clean."

Okay now that's just begging for trouble. Squeaky clean? If you try to be a squeaky clean leader in a real church, they'll chew you up and spit you out before you know what's happened. You can never be good enough for some people, and there's no point in trying to keep up the appearance; it's just not possible.

"To the world, we are supposed to be a bunch of purists, and if we do anything slightly possibly wrong, they will point fingers at us and throw away all that is good."

Now that's true. The problem here is that the church has given the world the wrong idea about what it means to be a Christian. We are not purists and neither Jesus nor the disciples expected we should be. The world needs to see our hearts, and that can only happen when we start wanting to show them. If we're hung up with our own rigid rules, so the world will be.

As to swearing, it is certainly NOT a matter of sin (while in contrast profanity is, being the name of God). The sin here is the intent behind our words, not the words themselves. It's ridiculous to arbitrarily demonize the so-called 'swear words', when most have legitimate, non-offensive origins and modern day meanings. I'm not endorsing the frequent usage of these words, but in certain circumstances they can be a fount of expression. I can see two problems with swearing and language in general which need to be addressed.

The first is with their malicious use, as it is with any words used in such a context. What do we mean by our language? My comment to you the other day, "Thanks, pastor," was sarcastic and hurtful and I'm sorry I wrote it, but there were no swear words used.

The second problem is when the use of traditionally taboo words drives people to distraction when they should be focused upon God's message. Of course words aren't the only culprits in this area, action plays the same part; the issue is again with context and intent.

Where I think we get confused on this subject is in the area of etiquette. Swearing is certainly considered bad etiquette in some circles, and is indeed downright offensive in others. But let's not confuse etiquette with sin. For example it's considered bad etiquette to eat with your hands, and some certainly find it offensive, especially in the church. But is it sinful?

I could go on, but this is more of a discussion, not an essay. I hope you'll forgive me Andrew, for what I said before, and know that I appreciate your sensitivity on the subject. We are all made from different experiences and so we all have a unique perspective to offer each other on the things we talk about. If you hadn't been so determined I'd never have thought this swearing thing out.

I hope you get some of your problems worked out this summer, and anytime you want to talk about something, just throw it up on the board. You have my respect.