Christians and Vulgarity, Part II

Go here for Part I.

So we saw last time that there are three main passages used to tell Christians not to say 'naughty' words: Ephesians 4:29; Ephesians 5:4; and Colossians 3:8. I say we take a look at these passages. Shall we?

Ephesians 4:29

Ephesians 4 hits two related topics. It first talks about all that the Holy Spirit is doing to build up Jesus’ Church. It’s cool stuff; check it.

The second topic it hits starts with this command: “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds”(Ephesians 4:17). In other words, you used to not be a Christian. But now that you are a Christian, you shouldn’t live like a non-Christian.

Simple enough, right? Paul elaborates on what acting like a Christian means, and part of said elaboration is Ephesians 4:29: “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.”

The real question we have to answer here is this: what is ‘corrupting talk?’ I’ll just make a series of observations.

1) This passage is about the whole content of your speaking – not about particular words. ‘Corrupting talk,’ as in the ESV, is a decent translation of the Greek here. The NET renders the two words ‘unwholesome word’ – and while technically that’s a possibility, we’re not dealing with a ‘word’ in the English sense here; we’re dealing with a ‘word’ in the Greek sense – as in a message. It doesn’t refer to vocabulary so much as to entire content spoken.

As a matter of fact, Paul uses the word several times in Ephesians. In 1:13, he calls the Gospel itself the ‘word of truth.’ In Ephesians 6:19, Paul asks the Ephesians to pray that a message be given him to proclaim the gospel boldly. Your English translation may say ‘words’ – but the Greek is singular – ‘word.’ So the thing being spoken is a whole message – the whole content of one’s speech.

2) It’s possible that what is being spoken of here, particularly, is speech about doctrine. Again, the word ‘word’ here is used in Ephesians specifically about doctrinal words. See 1:13, 5:6, and 6:19. A quick survey of the word ‘word’ (logos) shows us that Paul doesn’t always mean a doctrinal message – but a majority of the time he does.

3) This speech has bad effects. The word translated ‘corrupting’ in the ESV means that the thing being talked about isn’t producing good stuff, at the very least. And is actually producing bad stuff. The bad stuff (I’m about to show) – is bad doctrine and bad behavior.

4) This speech is contrasted with good speech that’s characterized in three ways: it builds up; the needs of the moment are considered; and the purpose of the speaking is giving grace to those who hear.

Building up is a reference to 4:16 and the preceding verses. It’s about people maturing as Christians – in doctrine, character, and ministry skill.

There’s always a need for being built up, but those needs vary. So we’re to speak with reference to what’s needed.

And the purpose is giving grace to the hearers. Now grace, in Ephesians, always has God as the giver. And it’s always about how God himself is working in his people – in bringing his people home to heaven because of love. So giving grace? It’s getting people to experience Jesus. And how’s that happen? Well, by speaking to each other with – the gospel. With good doctrine, not bad.

So what’s this boil down to? There’s a prohibition placed here on speaking things that aren’t in line with what the Scriptures teach about reality. There’s a positive command to talk to people about the truth of the gospel, to be sensitive to the fact that they need that at different times and in different ways, and that it’s for their spiritual growth.

There’s nothing here about the particular vocabulary that one uses, except that the framework provided by Ephesians 4:29 should be used to examine everything we say.