{"id":6222,"date":"2025-04-22T02:14:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T02:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/?p=6222"},"modified":"2026-10-02T01:31:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T01:31:54","slug":"what-the-heck-is-meant-by-obscene-talk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/?p=6222","title":{"rendered":"WHAT THE HECK IS MEANT BY &#8220;OBSCENE TALK&#8221;?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;m in a pickle.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This coming Sunday I will be preaching on a passage from Colossians 3 which commands believers to &#8220;put away&#8221;:<\/p>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n<li>Anger<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Wrath<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Malice<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Slander<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Obscene talk from your mouth<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s the last item on that list that makes me nervous.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I have to admit that now and then &#8211; usually for comic effect or shock value or after stubbing a toe &#8211; I let a choice four-letter word slip from my lips. I&#8217;m just being transparent here.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And I can work on it, but honestly I&#8217;m not sure I could eliminate them entirely. (Especially upon toe-stubbing.)<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More to the point, I&#8217;m not sure that is what Scripture has in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Does the Apostle Paul have a zero-tolerance policy on bad words?<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Afterall, there is quite the continuum of cuss words. Some strike us as rather mild. And others are absolutely unspeakable. Where would Paul draw the line?<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My seminary roommate once pondered breaking up with a girl when she said that she had &#8220;gotten screwed&#8221; on a test in one of her classes!<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Consider, too, that the taboo level of particular words may change over time. Anyone my age or older has to admit that the F-word is much more shocking to the older generations than it is among young adults these days.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tolerance for the &#8220;n-word&#8221;, on the other hand, has gone the opposite direction.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(For the record, that&#8217;s one I can claim complete innocence of!)<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I have much study yet to do on this passage, but two thoughts for now on the &#8220;vice list&#8221; offered by the Apostle in Colossians 3:8:<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">1. Paul is obviously speaking of serious, ongoing patterns of behavior here.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2. At least one commentator speaks in favor of the final phrase being translated as &#8220;abusive speech&#8221; rather than &#8220;obscene talk&#8221; since &#8220;this list points to expressions of anger that prevent one from participating in the community of God&#8217;s people, which is characterized by unity and love.&#8221; (David Pao, p.224)<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So maybe Paul has in mind something like cussing someone out in their front yard more so than screaming &#8220;Sh*t!&#8221; when you smack your thumb with a hammer.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If so, I&#8217;m sure I can claim to be 100% free of &#8220;abusive speech&#8221; in good conscience.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What do you think?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Am I just finding a way to justify my own speech or is there something deeper going on with Paul&#8217;s list.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;m in a pickle. This coming Sunday I will be preaching on a passage from Colossians 3 which commands believers to &#8220;put away&#8221;: It&#8217;s the last item on that list that makes me nervous.\u00a0 I have to admit that now and then &#8211; usually for comic effect or shock value or after stubbing a toe [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6222"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6223,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6222\/revisions\/6223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}