Bad language (stupid words, vulgar and frivolous witticisms, jokes,
etc.) |
Brothers,
now I want to speak to you about the tongue, that is to say, about our
speech. |
The tongue
is a little member of our body situated in our mouth. God said to Moses: “Who
has made man’s mouth? …. Have not I, the Lord?” (Exodus |
What
should we do then lest we sin with our mouth and defile ourselves through our
words? We must keep our heart, as Wisdom says: “Keep your heart with all
diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs |
Let’s see now what are the evil things which come from within and defile a
man. Jesus said: “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed
evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness,
wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride,
foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man”
(Mark 7:21-23). Therefore, Jesus called all these things ‘evil things’ and
said that they defile those who speak them. That’s why the apostle Paul said
to the Ephesians: “But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let
it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor
foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of
thanks” (Ephesians 5:3-4), for he knew what are the things that must not be
named by the saints lest they defile themselves. I ask you: ‘If those things
edified and imparted grace to the hearers, would
have Paul commanded that they must not even be named among us?’ Not at all,
because Paul never commanded the saints to abstain from things which were
useful to the saints and because he wrote all things to the saints “for what
is proper” (1 Corinthians |
Why should
we abstain from all these things? For these reasons: in order to please God
and to be an example to the people of the world, who take pleasure in the
things forbidden by God, for Jesus said that we are “the salt of the earth” (Matthew
|
James
said: “Indeed we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we
turn their whole body” (James 3:3 - NKJV), which means that it is sufficient
to put bits in the mouths of these animals so fast and strong in order to
turn them wherever we want them to go. Likewise, if with the help of God we
put bits into our mouth we will manage to bridle our whole body and so we
will not make threatening gestures, we will not lift our hands against our
neighbor, we will not move our body in a way that is not fitting for the
saints. Think about what I am going to say: when the buffoons (that is, the
comic actors and the comedians) perform in public, they make threatening
gestures, they make strange and ridiculous faces, they are dressed in an
indecent and abominable way, and they move their body perversely, do you know
why? Because they refuse to put bits into their mouth and thus their tongue leads
them to act in that way. Think about the quarrels also: do you know what
causes men to quarrel? The tongue, for it is written: “A fool’s lips enter
into contention” (Proverbs 18:6- NKJV). And do you know what leads men to
lift up their hand against one another? The tongue, for it is written that
the mouth of the fool “calls for blows” (Proverbs 18:6 – NKJV). Wisdom says
also that “a whisperer separates the best of friends” (Proverbs |
James said
that “the tongue is a fire” (James 3:6 – NKJV) and what kindles this fire?
The apostle says that the tongue “is set on fire by hell [Greek: geenna]”
(James 3:6 – NKJV), that is, the everlasting fire; therefore let us not
permit geenna to set on fire our tongue, so we will not kindle strife. |
James
calls the tongue “a world of iniquity” (James 3:6 – NKJV) because through it
men say the most wicked and perverse things; the same apostle says that the
tongue is “full of deadly poison” (James 3:8 – NKJV) to show us that death is
in the power of the tongue. |
How should
our speech be then? We find the answer in the Scripture. Paul said to the
Colossians: “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that
you may know how you ought to answer each one …. Let the word of Christ dwell
in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord”
(Colossians 4:6; 3:16 – NKJV), and to the Ephesians: “Be filled with the
Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for
all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians
5:18-20 – NKJV). If we keep these commandments, we will be able to
distinguish ourselves from the people of the world. Why? Because we know that
those who are outside speak to one another with jokes, stupid and offensive
words, empty words spoken by their favourite comedians and singers, and by
philosophers and famous writers, and they tell one another impure stories and
all kinds of witty remarks. On the other hand, the word of God does not dwell
in them, they don’t know the psalms, the hymns and the spiritual songs, and thus
they speak to one another with the things they have in their heart. |
However, those
who know the truth must speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual
songs, with the words of the Lord Jesus Christ and those of the apostles and
the prophets, so that they may comfort, edify, teach, and admonish one
another. Does this happen among the people of God? Yes, but it happens
rarely, for almost all the believers speak to one another with impure
stories, stupid words, vulgar and frivolous witticisms (witty remarks with a
double meaning, one innocent and the other unchaste), and jokes. |
As for
jokes, they tell all kinds of jokes, such as jokes about the governing authorities
appointed by God and sometimes even jokes about God, Jesus, the prophets and
the apostles. And this form of speech in many cases passes unnoticed because
it has become fashionable to use it. I can assure you, brothers,
that this form of speech, which is present even in the sermons of some
preachers, does not impart any grace to the hearers; it makes people laugh
and sneer, but it does not edify the hearers. But on the other hand most
believers want preachers to speak with jokes and not seriously; most
believers hate serious sermons, they hate reprimands and exhortations because
they don’t take pleasure in the Word of God any longer; they want to laugh,
they want to joke, just as the people of the world. They even say to us: ‘God
does not want us to sulk!’ But have we ever affirmed the contrary? It is
written and we proclaim: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say,
rejoice!’ (Philippians 4:4 – NKJV) and also: “Rejoice always” (1 Thessalonians
|
So you
deceive your neighbor so that you may laugh; but have you never read that
Scripture which says: “Like a madman who throws
firebrands, arrows, and death, is the man who deceives his neighbor, and
says, ‘I was only joking!’ (Proverbs 26:18-19 – NKJV)? Listen, you who takes
pleasure in entertaining the believers with jokes and witticisms: have you
ever read that Scripture which says “all things are lawful for me, but not
all things edify” (1 Corinthians |
As I said before,
it is a rare thing to see brothers speaking to one another with psalms, hymns
and spiritual songs; the reason is because many don’t want to do the right
things rather they want to do the wrong things. In the Church, a brother who
is filled with the Holy Spirit and speaks with psalms, hymns and spiritual
songs, troubles those who take pleasure in witticisms and jokes. In order to
be esteemed and accepted by some, it seems that one needs to tell continually
jokes, and speak ambiguous words, even from the pulpit and not only when one
meets the brethren outside the place of worship. On the contrary,
persecutions and insults await those who have decided to put the Word of God
into practice. Why? Because they are ‘fanatic’, ‘too much spiritual’, ‘a real
misery’. There are some preachers who in their sermons mention more
witticisms than biblical passages, and if you tell them that witticisms are
not to be said even from the pulpit because that’s not the way the Word of
God must be preached, then they reply: ‘We think that Jesus told some jokes
to His disciples sometimes, and that the apostles also told some jokes while
they were teaching?’ Listen, you who have not yet given up preaching with
witticisms and jokes; neither Jesus nor the apostles preached the Word of God
stuffing their messages with witticisms as you do. Therefore, repent, why do
you mix the sacred with the profane? Can’t you see that certain false
prophets are more serious than you when they preach; you are puffed up,
that’s why you say those things. I know that your
hearers like very much your witticisms and jokes, for they laugh, they move
their head to show you that they agree with you, they wave their
handkerchief, they clap their hands when you tell them your jokes. You think
you are very important, so esteemed; they, who don’t have enough discernment,
almost bow down before you!! Purify your hearts and then you will cease
entertaining your hearers with jokes. “Let your laughter be turned to
mourning” (James 4:9 – NKJV); it’s time for you to put in practice this word. |
Beloved,
let us ask God to set a guard over our mouth and let us put bits into our
mouth; this does not mean that we must not speak at all, but that we must be
slow to speak and that when we speak we are to use a sound speech; if we do
these things we will prosper. Certainly, we all stumble in many things (James
3:2), so we all make mistakes when we speak, sometimes because we are hasty,
some other times we are in high spirits because of a spiritual victory but
our attention is distracted all of a sudden and that lack of attention costs
us dear, some other times unintentionally (that is, without premeditation) we
say something which is incorrect. Nevertheless, we want to be perfect; surely
the mistakes we make will not stop us from aiming for perfection because we
wish to be an example …. also in speech, by speaking truthfully and seriously
and peaceably to one another, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms,
hymns, and spiritual songs, comforting one another with the words of God,
telling Bible stories or Christian testimonies to edify one another, giving
thanks for all things to God the Father. |