Spooky Speech

 “Profanity is wrong not simply because it shocks or disgusts, but at a much deeper level, profanity is wrong because it trashes that which God has declared to be holy and good and beautiful”  Ray Pritchard'

What are some of the worst smells? What smell, if you’re standing near someone and smell this odor coming from them, you move downwind? 

  Like a hammer and nails to a carpenter, books are the tools of pastors. Yet, books like quality tools can be very expensive. My mentor, Pastor   Dave Cummins, took me to my first used book sale when I was a freshman in college. He taught me to scour used bookstores and thrift stores for quality yet inexpensive books. Fortunately, Jane is very gracious because I’ve probably dragged her into more used bookstores than most of you could ever imagine. Because it became a fun hobby of looking for great finds, our family sold used books to fund our children’s college education.

  Amazon altered the used bookstore world and there are few left. In the past, besides books you’d often find that many used bookstores had a resident cat, and some bookstore owners weren’t meticulous about hygiene.

  Unbeknownst to a cat owner, cat urine stench will seep into their clothes. I’ve moved downwind a few times. My worst experience was being trapped on an elevator with a bookstore owner who reeked of it. It seemed like one of the longest elevator rides of my life and it was only one floor.

  The Bible teaches that Christ-followers are to be distinctly different. John Stott says we’re to be a Christian Counter-Culture. That means a Christ-follower should be the best employee or employer, neighbor, or citizen.

  Being a Christian should also radically change the way that we talk. While an unregenerate culture can gossip, complain, insult, etc. – Christ-followers are to be different. It’s noteworthy that in a culture that purports to value education, most people today would have difficulty having a conversation without coloring the air blue with four-letter words.

  As Christ-followers, our language is to be different. While most know that the third commandment of the Decalogue prohibits taking the Lord’s name in vain, we often fail to see how other “bad words” hurt our testimony. They’re so commonly used in our world that we hardly give it a thought.

  In a column in World magazine, Janie B. Cheaney, compares such talk to B.O. She writes: “Bad language divides into two general categories: profanity (misuses of divine things and divine names) and vulgarity (impolite words for anatomy and bodily functions).” Yet even a lost world knows better. Earlier this year in an interview with Vanity Fair, Selena Gomez shared that when she worked for Disney, they “explicitly told” her to not say the phrase “What the hell?” Even a pagan company realizes that commonly used profane/crude phrases hurt their image and corporate bottom line.

  Such words quickly become a habit. We don’t even notice how much of such communication has crept into our words or even social media posts.

  Did you know that one of the most-read series of the last few years, The Hunger Games trilogy, doesn’t have a single swearword in all of its pages, even though God is totally irrelevant to the story which ends without hope?  

  Possibly, some of you may be thinking that I’m drawing attention to this is because I’m a pastor and I automatically talk “heavenly,” so this is a non-issue for me. Believe it or not, I wasn’t raised on an Amish Compound. In high school, before the Lord got ahold of my heart, I ran with a rough crowd. Then, two of my early jobs were in commercial roofing and in water well drilling for the oil field. The language in both places was crude. And I’d be a liar if I said that at moments of frustration or anger (pastors get angry, too), that those words don’t cross my mind.

  The Bible teaches that as a born-again Christian, my tongue and words are not my own (1 Corinthians 6:20). Jesus bought us off the slave market of sin when He died for us. That means believers can’t just talk as they please. As Christ-followers, we are to be distinctly different in nearly every way. To quote Scripture, “we are not our own.” That means that it’s a sin if we talk like an unbeliever, whether it’s gossip or gutter language.

  While our sin debt is paid and we are now free, as Christians, we must be careful that our liberty doesn’t erode into license. Ephesians 4:29 prescribes how we are to talk: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” It’s hard to see how crude language builds up others or gives grace. More often it’s used by a Christ-follower to somehow look “cool” to a lost world or rationalized as building gospel-bridges. It just doesn’t work. It’s like a senior citizen trying to dress like a teen. Everyone knows that it’s not appropriate…except the senior.  

  It’s heartbreaking that the place we’re most likely to use crude words is in our marriage or with our family. We feel it’s safe to let our guard down. Yet, from a biblical perspective, our kindest and most gracious words should be around those who are closest to us and who we love the most.

  But what do we do about unbelievers who use language that bothers us? Ignore it! God has called us to lead the lost to regeneration, not bring about external reformation. For years I worked in the business world. I never corrected anyone’s language because for someone who hasn’t committed their life to Christ, talking like hell is the least of their concerns. Speaking of hell, Christ-followers using that word casually bothers me more than most other crude words. That’s because Scripture teaches that hell is real, horrible, and everlasting. It’s not something that I believe we should joke about or allude to casually. Incidentally, check the New Testament out for yourself. Jesus talked more about hell than heaven. I don’t want anyone to go to that horrible place, not even my worst enemy.

  In America, certain words can’t be used on TV networks or in G-rated movies. Those words will be “bleeped” out by censors. G-rated is a good standard for Christ-followers but instead of “general,” let’s make that “G” stand for godly or gracious. Remember the popular book, “What would Jesus do?” or WWJD. As Christians, we should change that to “What would Jesus say?” WWJS. I think that guideline would glorify our Savior. 

Can we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

When Talk Show Host Jerry Springer Talked about Hell

 

“True belief in both heaven and hell radically changes the way we live on earth. We are encouraged by the hope of heaven, and we are compelled by the horror of hell. 

We know that this world is not all that exists.”    David Platt 

  Hardly anyone talks about Hell anymore unless it’s used as a swear word or in a joke. So it caught my attention when it was reported that in one of his last interviews four months before he died, famed talk show host, Jerry Springer, said, “I just hope hell isn't that hot because I burn real easy.”
  Though it sounds a bit tongue in cheek, apparently Springer was worried about final accountability. In that same interview with “Behind the Velvet Rope,” Springer was asked if he considered himself the “granddad of reality TV” thanks to his talk show which aired almost 5,000 episodes between 1991 and its cancellation in 2018. Springer wasn’t keen to accept the title and responded: “No, I just apologize. I’m so sorry. What have I done? I've ruined the culture.”
  I hope that Jerry Springer accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. I don’t anyone to go to Hell. The Bible talks about how terrible hell is. Most don’t realize that Jesus talked more about Hell than Heaven. That’s very sobering. It’s why it bothers me when even Christians use “Hell” loosely in conversation, like “Hell, yeah!” or “where in Hell have you been?”
  Hell is so horrible, it’d be less repugnant to say something like “where in Auschwitz have you been?” or “it’s colder than Dachau.” Some things should never be spoken of lightly. They’re far too ghastly.
  While they may not realize it, most people are Universalists. When someone dies, it doesn’t matter if they had nothing to do with Jesus Christ, and about the only time that they used His name was as a curse word. Even though their family considered them evil yet still speak of them as now being in Heaven. They’ll often describe them doing things in Heaven like hunting, fishing, golfing or even partying, getting drunk or carousing. Heaven in Scripture is never described like that. It’s fairytale language. And the Bible is clear that not everyone is going to there (Luke 16:19-31).  
  If everyone goes to Heaven, then how is God a God of justice? If everyone goes, does that mean in heaven we’ll find Jack the Ripper, John Wayne Gacy, or Mao? More than 27 times the Bible says, “God is just.” If everyone goes to heaven no matter what, how can God be just? What’s the cutoff? Is heaven only for the “not so bad”? Most of us think the  “not so bad” is us and everyone who is as good or better than us goes to heaven.  
  Yet that’s not what Scripture teaches. Since heaven is God’s Home shouldn’t the “homeowner” determine who can live there. The Bible teaches that we’re all bad. Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” If we’re honest, we know that’s true. We’re not good people. We’re not even really nice people. Try going home after a Brewers game and see how many “nice” people will let you cut in to leave.
  If when you die you die…is that justice? Hitler committed suicide, yet 6 million Jews were murdered in the Death Camps. Estimates suggest that in fact somewhere between 10 and 17 million people lost their lives at the hands of the Nazis. We innately know that there must be justice and desire justice, yet only God is truly just. Is rotting in a grave after committing such evil, justice? Would even annihilation be justice for such atrocities? Even the harshest execution wouldn’t be justice for such evil.
  Does Karma equal things out? God’s Word never teaches karma. Even a cursory observation of life and death disproves karma. Many of the vilest people often have virtually painless deaths.
  Karma is a theological concept found in Buddhism and Hinduism. It’s the idea that how you live your life now will determine the quality of life you have after reincarnation. But we don’t come back as cows or grasshoppers. If someone really believes in karma, they probably shouldn’t eat steak because they might just be eating someone’s cousin.
  Hebrews 9:27 says, “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment…” This verse makes clear two points that negate the possibility of reincarnation or karma. First, it states we’re “destined to die once,” meaning that humans are born once and only die once. There is no endless cycle of life and death and rebirth.  Second, it states that after death we face judgment, meaning there is no second chance or reincarnation.
  If everyone goes to Heaven, why did Jesus die? There’s only one explanation. There was no other way for God to be a God of justice and a God of love. In the Garden of Gethsemane the night before He was crucified, that’s what Jesus prayed and asked His Father, “Was there another way?” (Matthew 26:39). There wasn’t. Every parent would quickly sacrifice themselves for their own child. For God to be just and for God to be a God of love had to sacrifice His Son for us as sinners and when we were His enemies. Because Jesus died to pay for our sin, God could then be both just and justifier (Romans 3:16). It’s truly amazing!
  Would God be just if He let bad people into heaven? 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 lists some of the types of sinners that won’t be in heaven. It’s nearly everyone and everything. Yet verse 11 says, “ And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” In other words, all of these horrible individuals were forgiven and go to heaven BUT not because they were good. It’s only because they committed their lives to Christ and were forgiven. They accepted God’s free gift of salvation that Jesus promised in John 3:16.
  One of the most amazing things about heaven to me is that the worst sinner I know will be there. It’s me! But I won’t be there because I’m a good person. I’ll be there because of God’s amazing grace and Christ’s sacrifice for me. I know I’m not a “good person.” I’ve probably violated all of the 10 commandments…at least in my heart. The reason I know that I’ll be there is because God promised that if anyone trusts Christ as their Savior and in His death on the cross for their sin, they’re forgiven.
  As a young man, I did that. I believed Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
  Each of us can know for sure we’re going to Heaven, even Jerry Springer. And if he trusted Christ as his Savior, he’ll be there too!

Can we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.