Yesterday I talked about the sex, violence, and profanity in many of the films that Hollywood celebrates. Today I want to continue by talking about the broader subject of profanity. Certainly the media has fueled the profanity explosion. The Parents Television Council has documented the fact that the number of expletives on television programs has doubled in just the last decade. Kids and adults use more profanity simply because they hear it more than ever before.

Alex McFarland tells the story of being at a youth event in Southern California and hearing an X-rated conversation between teens who were part of a church youth group. That night when he took the stage he asked, “How many of you struggle with using bad language?” Hands went up. He followed up with a series of questions: “Is it wrong for a Christian to use curse words? If so, why? And what makes profanity, well, profane?”

Let’s start with a definition. The word “profane” means: to treat something that is sacred with abuse or contempt. It means to desecrate. Something profane is unholy. It is certainly not a positive attribute. What does the Bible teach?

Paul says in Ephesians 4:29, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs.” Colossians 3:8 say, “Rid yourselves of all things such as these: anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips.”

Sometimes we hear young people say that it really doesn’t matter what you say, it is only words. Alex McFarland suggests they test this idea “by publicly making a joke about harming the president or jest about explosives while riding on an airplane.” Words have consequences.

As believers, we should submit our vocabularies to the Lord. The world is watching us. Peter (2:22) admonishes us to keep our “behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.” In a world awash in profanity, Christians should watch what they say.