The crudeness of our culture

Like many people today, I buy a lot of my books from Amazon. Their prices are good, and it couldn't be more convenient to order them from my computer and have them delivered to my door within a couple of days. However, I miss going to bookstores and still do so once in a while. This past weekend was one of those times. However, I wasn't prepared for what I found.

In the self-help section there were numerous books with profanity in the title. Some of the words were not spelled out completely. Often, there was an * replacing a letter, but anyone looking at the title knew what the words were. I thought if this is on the cover for all the world to see I can only imagine what must be inside.

Years ago I decided if someone couldn't speak to me without using profanity I had no interest in talking with them. Believe me, there's not a word out there I haven't used myself. When I came home from the Navy I had a pretty foul mouth. When I became a Christian that was one of the first things God began working on, and I'm thankful He did. For me, profanity is for the immature who do not know how to express themselves any other way. Yes, you can make your point using profanity, but there are other ways of making your point as well. It doesn't require crude talk to express yourself.

Of course, what I found in the bookstore is merely a sign of where we are as a culture. We live in a very crude society that believes that shouting, cursing, and violence are the means necessary to prove your point or get your way. Children used to get their mouths washed out with soap for using profanity, but now they openly curse their teachers and no one does a thing about it. Parents think it's cute when their small child flips someone off and dares anyone to say anything or question their parenting skills. Vulgarity that used to be hidden and rejected in polite circles is now openly displayed in movies, TV programs and on the shelves of bookstores.

Unfortunately, this crudeness is sometimes found in churches as well. As a young Christian I played on our church's softball team. In the game preceding ours one evening one of the players was cursing loud enough for those of us in the stands to hear him. I asked someone who that person was, and they responded he was the pastor of that church. Although I am not sure why, I continue to be surprised at the number of Christians who regularly use profanity in their speech. Today, there are even pastors who use such language from the pulpit in an attempt to appear hip and cool to their congregations.

James 3:8-10 says, "No man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not be so (NKJV)."

As a nation we need to return to civility in our manners and speech. Like so many other areas of life, we as the church must provide the example, and we cannot do that until we practice this ourselves.