An Addendum
Since I have some free moments in what I thought was going to be a thoroughly busy day, I’ve decided to take this opportunity to post a bit of an appendix to my most recent entry on the “cussing Christian.” From the fact that I have received no written comments on these thoughts, I surmise that one of two things has happened.

1) It’s been a busy week for everyone, so no one has read the entry.
2) I have successfully offended all five of my readers and am now being shunned.

I guess either case is fine with me, but if by chance anyone has an opportunity to continue reading this blog in the future, I do want to clarify a few things. Most importantly, I realize that the comparison between cussing and other “questionable activities” is quite an unfair analogy and does not hold water (figuratively). It was intended to be a bit tongue-in-cheek and exaggerated. After all, even with morality aside, how could we seriously associate the repercussions of using a “swear word” with those of sexually indiscriminate behavior, excessive alcohol consumption, and poor church attendance? The activities are obviously in entirely different ballparks.

Looking passed that ridiculous comparison, the question at stake is one that seeks the line between freedom in Christ and license to sin. And I think this question, whether or not it regards the language of a Christ follower, is one of that demands some consideration. Where does our desire to be “relevant” (to use the current terminology) to the world begin to conflict with our desire to be disciples of Christ, to sacrifice ourselves, to be called out and set apart?

In my own experience, I recognize that my language is one area that I can easily make myself distinct from, yet relevant too, the world. This is done, of course, by trying not to use foul language but by accepting and loving those who do. Whether foul language is a “true” sin in the biblical sense or simply a social taboo of the American South is not my concern or even something that I’m prepared to argue. I do know that one of my former pastors was asked to step down from his position because a book that he published included profanity spoken by a fictional character. I do know that I was once a part of a college Bible study group that began to dwindle in number because of the distracting “cussing” habits of the teacher. I know that although television censors are rather lax these days, many words are still not permitted on network television. And I know that the MPAA still considers foul language as a factor in its Hollywood movie ratings. We see that “society” still recognizes foul language—within the church and within secular entities.

To be tolerant of the cussing Christian and the cussing non-Christian is a good thing. I’m sure that Christ would be. Yet, it’s difficult for me to imagine that if Christ were here today, he would be walking around using vulgarities and muttering, “Sh*t,” every morning like I used to do. Fortunately, a big part of me craves the challenge of being a non-cussing Christian and a non-vulgar Christian. But the line between freedom and license exists everywhere, so it often doesn’t feel logical to dwell on the language factor. For what it’s worth, I’m still curious what you guys think…