{"id":7588,"date":"2010-09-27T07:51:53","date_gmt":"2010-09-27T11:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christandpopculture.com\/?p=7588"},"modified":"2010-09-27T07:51:53","modified_gmt":"2010-09-27T11:51:53","slug":"my-favorite-christian-band-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2010\/09\/my-favorite-christian-band-says\/","title":{"rendered":"$#*! My Favorite Christian Band Says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

What do John Piper<\/a>, Derek Webb, Mark Driscoll, and British folk band, Mumford & Sons have in common? \u00a0A lot more than they would probably all admit, but at the very least each of them has used a curse word in a public setting (to be fair to Piper\u2013he is merely quoting someone). \u00a0If you are a music fan, you are probably familiar with the controversy (albeit somewhat self-inflicted<\/a>) surrounding Webb\u2019s song \u201cWhat Matters More<\/a>\u201d in which he uses two four letter words in an effort to expose what he sees as an evangelical tendency to attack homosexuality while ignoring more pressing matters. \u00a0To be fair, Mumford & Sons have not declared publicly whether or not they are Christians, however, their album Sigh No More<\/a> is a testament to salvation by grace alone. \u00a0\u201cLittle Lion Man\u201d, one of Mumford\u2019s most popular songs has the F-word in the chorus\u2013so it\u2019s repeated often and yet the song is clearly about seeking salvation outside ourselves.<\/p>\n

So these examples press the question, is it ever appropriate to curse for the sake of adding force to our arguments or relevance to our art? \u00a0Should Christians avoid art that includes four letter words? \u00a0Is there ever an appropriate time for curse words? \u00a0Did the Biblical authors ever use such language? \u00a0How much does our culture define our words?<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t even begin to address all these questions adequately in this blog post so I won\u2019t try, but I will lay out some guiding principles in navigating these waters.<\/p>\n

1. \u00a0Cursing does not prohibit someone from being a Christian. This sounds like a no-brainer, but when I first started thinking about writing this post I didn\u2019t know whether the members of Mumford & Sons publicly professed to be Christians\u2013so I did some googling and discovered a couple of discussion boards addressing that issue and found a number of Christians saying things like, \u201cthey are not Christians\u2013they use the F-word in one of their songs.\u201d \u00a0Given that these comments were made, I feel the need to point out that cursing simply is not a biblical indicator as to whether someone is a believer or not.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0The Bible does not condemn the use of four letter words explicitly<\/em>. \u00a0The key word here is explicitly<\/em>. \u00a0The Bible condemns foolish talk and perverse language (Col. 3:8; Eph. 4:29, 5:4) and promotes that which serves to \u201cbuild up.\u201d \u00a0The Bible is more concerned with the purpose behind our words than the words themselves. \u00a0Our words ought to be gracious and seasoned with salt (Col. 4:6). \u00a0It\u2019s worth saying that there is no list of words that do and do not fit that category. Even if there was, what language would it be in? \u00a0What English words are off limits for the Christian? \u00a0I am not insinuating that anything goes in terms of the language we use. \u00a0Whether a word is a \u201ccurse\u201d word or not is not the question these verses move us toward. \u00a0The question we should be asking ourselves is what the motive is behind our language.\u00a0 Is it to build up or to tear down? \u00a0Is it to promote beauty, goodness, and grace? \u00a0Do our words encourage or discourage the pursuit of God? \u00a0Is the motive behind our words to make light of that which is evil? \u00a0Is our motive to be controversial and divisive? \u00a0 It is not what goes into a man that makes him unclean but what comes up out of his heart (Mark 7:18-23).<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0Words are defined to some degree by the culture they are spoken in. \u00a0Meaning begins with the communicator, but the meaning of the communicator\u2019s words are influenced and defined to some degree by the various cultures they are spoken in. \u00a0For example, the word \u201cbloody\u201d means something completely different here in the United States than it does in the United Kingdom. \u00a0In some English speaking cultures, what we would consider to be curse words are much more common place and are not nearly as offensive as they seem to us. \u00a0I have personally known Christians from other cultures that regularly cursed in conversation and didn\u2019t think anything of it and typically their cursing was not motivated by bitterness, anger, or slander.\u00a0 Think about new believers\u2013some of their cussing before they came to Christ was probably not motivated by perversion or anger. \u00a0For example\u2013they see something that surprises them and they respond with, \u201cOh s**t!\u201d \u00a0Such speech was not motivated by slander, anger, or desire to hurt someone. \u00a0What motivated that particular word was surprise. \u00a0Biblical wisdom and sensitivity may suggest removing certain four letter words from our regular vocabulary. \u00a0You could even say it varies from family to family\u2013I have upset parents by saying \u201cstupid\u201d before\u2013even though I wasn\u2019t referencing a person but an idea\u2013i.e. \u201cdriving without a seatbelt is stupid!\u201d<\/em> These examples do not make it wise to use such words, but at the very least we should consider how far removed we are from someone\u2019s culture or situation before we start throwing stones at them for using such language. \u00a0I am simply arguing for Christian charity here.<\/p>\n

Does that mean that there is an appropriate place for four letter words in Christian expression? \u00a0I would simply say that the Bible doesn\u2019t answer that question for us. \u00a0In my context there really isn\u2019t any situation I can presently think of in which I would feel compelled to use what our culture would consider a curse word. \u00a0Take the S-word for example. \u00a0What makes it offensive? \u00a0You wouldn\u2019t chide someone for saying saying \u201cexcrement,\u201d \u201cfeces,\u201d or even \u201cpoop.\u201d \u00a0Why is the S-word offensive? \u00a0It\u2019s worth thinking about.\u00a0 Paul Tripp addresses this very issue here<\/a> (he is building on Scriptures\u2019 teaching on our speech\u2013don\u2019t watch it if hearing the S-word is going to cause you to sin). \u00a0But these words shouldn\u2019t cause us to sin. \u00a0If merely hearing these words is causing us to sin, there is a much deeper problem in us that needs to be addressed.<\/p>\n

Most four letter words are culturally impolite and we don\u2019t serve anyone well by using them. \u00a0But what should we do when others do? \u00a0Be gracious to them\u2013be willing to distinguish between words that are meant to damage others and make light of sin and words that are merely impolite and do not indicate impure motives on the part of the speaker. \u00a0In general, we should always care more about the condition of people\u2019s hearts than we do about their outward actions. \u00a0Outward actions are heart indicators, so we don\u2019t help Christians by correcting behavior without addressing the heart.<\/p>\n

So what to do with Mumford & Sons? \u00a0I wouldn\u2019t recommend \u201cLittle Lion Man\u201d to any of the students at my church. \u00a0I have listened to it, and I think despite an unwisely used word (which doesn\u2019t seem to be aimed to hurt anyone, but rather to express remorse) the song has a redemptive theme that is worthy of consideration by mature Christians who are not going to be tempted toward sin by hearing that particular expletive. \u00a0Their use of this particular word in this particular context does not warrant a boycott of the rest of their catalog which is expletive free, gracious and seasoned with salt.<\/p>\n

What about in our interaction with media? \u00a0Should we avoid music and movies that contain expletives? \u00a0Yes and No. \u00a0Yes if hearing such music or watching such movies is influencing you to use language in a damaging way rather than a gracious way or if that particular media is actively promoting immorality. \u00a0We live in a very dark world, however, and much of the media we decry is actually drawing out the darkness of our world rather than promoting it\u2013that is a distinction worth making. \u00a0Anytime you watch a movie or a TV show\u2013ask yourself what the point of its use of language is.\u00a0 Is the show promoting immorality through its use of language or is it simply realistically illustrating a situation?\u00a0 In case you didn\u2019t know, lots of people in our country use curse words regularly. \u00a0Any war movie in which people don\u2019t curse when bombs are falling all around them is simply not realistic. \u00a0Think about the meaning and the purpose behind all the words you hear before casting judgment. \u00a0Be wary of writing off a particular piece of pop culture simply because it uses a word on your list. \u00a0Jesus didn\u2019t give us such a list and I think he would rather we be concerned more about the condition of our hearts.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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