So far we’ve looked at the general subject of Christians and the use of profanity, and then we looked at Ephesians 4:29. We saw that the whole content of what we say is to point people to Jesus – and that that means we shouldn’t be saying things that are untrue or things that result in sin.
This time, let’s look at Ephesians 5:4. We’ll look at the verse and its context first, then make nine observations, then draw and apply conclusions to ourselves.
The Verse and its Context
The translators of the ESV translate Eph. 5:4 as follows: “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.”
The context of the verse is (as always) the key here to understanding God’s meaning. This is part of a section in which Paul tells God’s children to imitate their divine Father – and that means loving everyone in His Church.
God said this: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Eph. 5:1-2).”
Paul then contrasts this with a few things in verses 3-4 – “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.”
Nine Observations
So – first observation: see that contrast in verse 3? The but? That means that whatever activity and speech are being talked about, they’re being contrasted with loving God’s people as God loves his people.
Second observation – the ‘foolish talk’ and ‘crude joking’ are somehow linked to sexual immorality and covetousness. I’m leaving out ‘filthiness’ because it’s not exclusively about speaking, necessarily; but the word means ‘shameful,’ essentially.
Third observation – ‘foolish talk’ is again from that word ‘logos’ – probably referring to entire speech content, and probably referring to doctrine. In other words, don’t say spiritually stupid stuff. Or in other words – have cross-centered speech.
Fourth observation – crude joking – or as some translations put it, ‘vulgar talk,’ is out. Again, this is about whole speech content, not about vocabulary – though certainly vulgar vocabulary is excluded.
But what is vulgar vocabulary? …let’s see if we can answer that question later.
Fifth observation – verse 5 gives the reason for both verses 3 and 4. So verses 3 and 4 ban a list of things, including stupid (doctrinally wrong!), vulgar talk. And then verse 5 comes in and God says that those things are out because, “everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”
Sixth observation – these manners of speaking are tied to sexual immorality and greed. A quick survey of all the instances of even the word impurity will show us that Paul ties the idea to sexuality. (As in Romans 1:24.)
Seventh observation – verse 4 contrasts these things that are forbidden with giving thanks. The positive command is ‘give thanks!’
Eight observation – impurity is linked in 4:19 again to sexual lust and material lust (greed) – and contrasted with sound doctrine in verse 25.
Ninth observation – this is all linked to things that non-Christians do in secret (5:12). This is probably talking about sex acts that are against God’s will.
Alright, I think that’s enough; I think we can draw some conclusions.
Conclusions, and How We Should Live and Talk
The content of our speech is to be cross-centered, correct doctrinally, and praising God for how he’s rescued us. In doing so, we love fellow Christians, since we point them to our Savior.
And because we’re to point people to Jesus, we need to avoid things that distract us from him. If we were to summarize all this banned stuff – we end up with this sort of general banned talk: we should not talk about things that cause people to desire stuff that is not God.
That would include making light of sexual sin – because it leads to hell (5:5). That would include greedy talk about material things as well. That might include certain words.
But let’s face it – is this verse about our vocabulary and ‘naughty’ words? Absolutely not! And to make it about that is to just make up a rule that we Christians can easily obey. I can easily not use the F-word – if that genuinely makes someone lust.
This verse is about something deeper. It commands that the entirety of my speech to point to Christ; and negatively commands me not to distract people from him. Do I lust after an i-Phone? A beautiful woman who’s not my wife? An HDTV? Financial security?
Do I express those lusts? Do I cause others to stumble into those hell-earning lusts, rather than being expressly thankful for Jesus, our Messiah, who died for our sins, rose from the dead, and is coming again?
Do you? What do you want? Is it stuff, or Jesus? What do you talk about wanting – stuff or Jesus? What do you happily talk about in general – stuff or Jesus?
I hope that drives the sword of the word of God into your soul! It does mine.
God commands us to be imitators of him – and that’s because we who believe in Jesus are his loved children. His Son died in the our places, and he is coming to collect us into his eternal kingdom. Let’s let that control our desires and talk like it does – and we’ll love our brothers and sisters by doing so.
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