The Old Adam

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. (Colossians 3:5-11)

I had some friends that grew up a couple of streets over from my house. They were twins, and on the east side of Houston, the port side, the dock workers, refinery workers, and construction workers held court in back yards after work every day. We listened intently in their back yard as their dad and brother, both crane operators at Brown and Root, drank a few beers and elevated the awareness of our lives in their use of cursing. As Ralphie in "A Christmas Story" said, "My dad wove a tapestry in profanity that as far as we know, is still hanging in the atmosphere over Lake Michigan." It was, as he notes later when he is guilty of profanity himself, his dad's true medium. Being in an around this language made us, as boys overhearing these conversations, artists in our own right, sadly but truthfully. Remember, your children overhear and learn from what you say.

Does cussing, cursing, profanity, use of expletives, or obscenity fall under the Second Commandment? This came up in our Bible Study class last Sunday, and it is a fair question. How far does the Second Commandment reach? Paul, in the above passage, refers to it directly in his analysis of the "Old Adam." The short answer is yes, it reaches far. The Small Catechism notes that other places you can cite to emphasize the sinful nature of cursing: The Sixth Commandment (adultery - I'm guessing it has to do with talk that is sexual in nature): and, The Eighth Commandment (bear false witness - a broad category for unwholesome talk in general - more later on both).

The Rev. Phil Tesch, once our pastor in Houston who became a vice president at Concordia University - St. Paul (Lutheran colleges), noted in a class he was teaching that profanity isn't just wrong, it is something that limits thinking and vocabulary due to its use. I agree wholeheartedly. As a principal, I had to tell parents on occasion to not use profanity as they talked to me or a teacher. It was funny, in a way, to watch them struggle when they'd get to that point where the expletive, almost by nature, came to their lips and watch him or her stop and think.

These words have been around a while, so there are customs and laws about their use publicly as well. Movies are rated accordingly based on them. Laws about what can be said on the public airwaves are written. Censors decide if a line is too vulgar or risqué to be used. Many believe the public discourse has coarsened in the past few decades. All for a conversation later. 

How to teach this to children? First, have conversations about appropriate discourse and model it. Don't watch shows that use language you object to (there are sites that evaluate such). Second, if you do use them or catch your child using them, enable punishment and yellow flags from any member of the family. Institute a level of punishments that are logical and are able to discourage the use of these words. Note that this is meant to teach at a number of levels and to help reinforce God's command for us on a broad level. It doesn't need to be "fun" because that only reinforces their use. Fun is for keeping a clean room, finishing a healthy meal, exercise and outside play, and other such concepts you want them to repeat. Not fun, disrespectful words or actions toward a parent or person in authority, profanity, and other such things.

Pray with me: Gracious Father, Help me learn to be an example to my friends and others. Forgive me when I fail and help me to focus on the New Adam, and give me the strength to leave the Old Adam behind to glorify you. In your Son's name, Amen.