By Martin Carey
We are seeing a great cultural movement in America towards a relaxation of standards, pushing Christians to accept what we formerly found offensive. This shift is being played out in our language, in the way swearing and foul language have become commonplace in our media and in everyday conversations. As Christians, we don’t want to act morally superior in public or with each other, so maybe it’s ok to sprinkle our sentences with some spicy words to “get real” and help relax things a bit.
This “language problem is an uncomfortable topic for Christians, so let’s look into this; maybe we can help each other here. We’ve forgotten what swearing is, and why people have always done it. I speak on this topic from much experience, as one who battles with my own language and verbal self-control. Out on the highways I sometimes let loose when no one can hear me—except the One who discerns my thoughts from afar (Psalm 139:2). When we are suddenly in fear or pain, we want to express our feelings quickly and feel some control of what threatens us.
Psychologists have studied why people cuss and have investigated whether or not we do it for some psychological benefit. Richard Stephens, senior lecturer of Keele University in the UK, conducted an experiment using ice water and pain tolerance. He found that his subjects could endure the pain of soaking their hands in the icy water longer when they cursed. Cursing helped deal with the pain by releasing adrenaline into the blood stream and increasing heart rate (Frederik Joelving, “Why Do We Swear?” Scientific American, July 12, 2009, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-we-swear/).
Stephens also found some problems with cursing, however. First of all, the curse words have to be taboo words—socially unacceptable—to be effective for pain relief. When we keep using them, says Stephens, they become less taboo and lose their ability to produce the same effects. Ironically, the power of swear words to bring pain relief depends on their ability to get us into trouble. Ultimately, the habit of a foul mouth is self-defeating.
It helps to understand the deep history that gives swearing its original meaning. Since ancient times, there has always been a need to give weight to our promises, to make our words believable. If I am accused of stealing your cow, I need you to believe my words while I claim innocence. I may swear an oath, to the effect that if I am lying, that someone more powerful and trustworthy—God—will deal with me. In the Judeo-Christian cultures, there was a weighty sense of God’s majesty and wrath for wicked behavior. Invoking His name and His judgment carried real weight in our everyday lives. The words “damn” and “hell” carry our theological convictions (or fears) into small, common things, but they speak of very big and eternal things. When another driver forces me to slam on my brakes and I say “dammit!” I am really speaking of bringing God’s righteous wrath down on that other driver. I am trivializing real evil by speaking of ultimate judgment for a petty insult, and I take His name in vain.
We forget what swearing really means. Recently, I came under conviction while hearing this text being read:
“For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath…” (Heb. 6:16-17).
We have a swearing God, and He does so repeatedly throughout Scripture. When we see why, it is amazing—and convicting. God didn’t swear to relieve pain; He had something loftier in mind when He made His oath to Abraham. When God first made His promise out under the stars, Abraham didn’t know the One speaking (Gen. 1:1-3). God pointed to the loftiest objects Abraham knew, the stars, and compared his promises of children to their greatness. But the power of the promise was in God’s infinite righteousness. He swore to Abraham by Himself, the loftiest, most trustworthy thing imaginable.
As we see in this text, God swears for the purpose of convincing us of just how powerful His words are. He swears to remove our doubts and give us something far better than mere pain relief. We need assurance from a majestic God that His words can be believed no matter what. Many times, Jesus used a little phrase that told of His divine majesty: “Truly, truly I say to you…” As R.C. Sproul points out, in the Greek, saying “Amen and amen” announced that His words were trustworthy and binding (R.C. Sproul, “What Does Amen Mean?” https://www.ligonier.org/blog/what-does-amen-mean/). Jesus often used the phrase “Truly, truly” (similar to our “Amen and amen”) when speaking with people who had trouble believing His words:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live” (Jn. 5:25).
For the Son of God to say, “Truly, truly, I say to you,” is for Him to swear by His divine authority, using words that should be honored, just as though coming from the Father. We must take seriously our call to believe in the One whose words are spirit and life, who by merely speaking will raise us from the dead. Hearing His voice and believing Him is weighty indeed!
This morning I will be driving through Reche Canyon and dealing with drivers who will irritate me. I will be tempted to think thoughts of angry judgment about their getting in my way, even their right to exist. There again, my majesty deficit will want to rule, and I will need a generous dose of help. That is a good time to confess those thoughts and pray for grace—a spirit of grace for our troubled souls, and for those other drivers. It’s a grace that I totally, pathetically depend on, a forgiven sinner who is treated far better than I deserve.
When we are irritated or afraid, our first tendency is to do what will make us feel stronger right then. Adrenaline and sheer will power can give us that little boost we crave, but that boost is not what we really need. Much more effective is to flee to Him whose promises can never fail:
By two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us (Heb. 6:18).
God has sworn and He cannot lie, so that we might have strong assurance in Him. He is so much greater than any pain or irritation that comes our way. The answer to our majesty and grace deficits is to remember Him and the power of His sure promises. When we forget, it is time to flee to Him for refuge, our strong tower (Prov. 18:10). Patience is very hard for us, so we take comfort that at the end of this age, His judgments will be sure and just. We can count on that; He has sworn by Himself. Because of that unshakeable fact, Christians can always live corum deo, before the face of God. †
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Excellent article. In response to your opening paragraph, it is true that vulgarity, profanity, and taking the Lord’s name in vain, are more common than ever. The culture of me-ism has led to a disregard for other’s sensibilities. People swear in front of children. Elderly swear for a laugh. Even pastors are swearing from the pulpit. Our worldliness overshadows any light of Christ that we have.