In a little essay called ‘Gutter Talk Going Mainstream’, Mike Milton addresses the rise of foul language in our culture. Especially interesting in his observations (because I have witnessed it so much) is the modern tendency to use foul language as a filler. Curse words have replaced ‘um’ and ‘uh’ when people can’t think of what to say next.
But I’m not going to expand on this at the moment. I simply wanted to record a quote. Milton calls on the church to pray for revival. Revival is the one great answer to the foulness of our language because revival is the answer to the foulness of our hearts. To illustrate the effect of such revival, he writes,
Many have heard that when the Welsh revival came to that land in the early 1900s the coal-mining mules had to be retrained, because they only responded to curses.
(from Mike Milton, Silent No More, p 125)
I wonder if the case would not be the same for a lot of professionals in our day. I am fascinated by chef Gordon Ramsay, for instance. How would his employees respond if suddenly his language changed? How would Rex Ryan’s football players respond? Thank God that our Lord Jesus Christ motivates us with sacrifice and hope – with blessing, not with cursing.
- Ephesians 4:29 You must let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for the building up of the one in need, that it may give grace to those who hear.
