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. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:29–32)
My hope in this article is to encourage Christians to be mindful in our speech with one another and with the world at large without compromising the truth of Scripture. This is not a call to be winsome and nuanced in everything. Rather, it is an exhortation for us to make use of our speech in the most biblical way possible. This is clearly not an exhaustive treatment on the matter and, undoubtedly, it will not address every possible circumstance. My hope is to give a small framework for Christians to work out from as they consider how they think and speak to people in their lives.
Our Manner of Speech Reveals the Condition of Our Hearts
It ought to go without saying that Christians should be a people who think, speak, and act differently from the rest of the world. We are new creations in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). Our wicked hearts of stone have been replaced with hearts of flesh (Ez. 26:26). As a result, we have new desires whereby we seek to be conformed to the image of Christ. The ways of the world, with its sinful proclivities in thought, word, and deed, should become foreign to us, something to be warred with daily.
It is here, in the matter of speech, that oftentimes Christians can find one of our greater struggles. As we continue to live our lives in our corrupted flesh, though our hearts have been made new, we feel the war with certain thoughts and words as we experience trials, tribulations, and even persecutions. Frustration can build to a point where we want to unleash a torrent of graceless and corrupt speech. It feels like it is the only way we can express how bad life is or how wickedly the world is treating us. We want to be able to express just how vile a world we live in by using speech that the world itself truly understands.
Yet, Christ Himself gives us clear instructions about how we are to speak to the world around us. Starting first in the church, and then expanding out to the world, our speech is a revelation to those who hear (or read in the day of digital technology and social media) the condition of our hearts. It is Jesus who tells us in Luke 6:45, “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” It is a dire warning to us that those who are unwilling to cease speaking with evil or corrupt speech may actually not be in Christ, we may yet still be in our sins.
Of course, this is not to say that every Christian who, on a bad or trying day, lets loose a string of invectives has forfeited their salvation. Rather, it is a reminder that it is the evil heart that desires to speak wickedly. And, Christians who fall into sin and speak with an evil or corrupt tongue are giving into the remnants of the sinful flesh in which we reside. Speaking with wholesome speech, fit for those who hear us is not merely being kind to someone, it is honoring Christ who purchased us and obeying His commandments in all areas of our lives, even with our lips.
“Justifiable” Corrupt Speech
Those reading up to this point may be giving a nod of agreement or even a hearty “Amen!” However, the commandment of the above-listed passage in Ephesians does not merely refer to the most obvious forms of crass, rude, or anger-laden forms of speech. It also addresses cutting language dressed up in biblical form that we can use to tear down others. Or acceptable words used in such a way to convey anger or gracelessness. Remember that our speech flows out of the condition of our hearts. It is all too easy to find ways to justify corrupt speech, ways that we can convince ourselves and others that we really are not being as wicked as we truly are.
One of the more insidious forms of corrupt speech used by Christians today, especially on social media, is how we tend to address the wickedness on display in the world. Let me first start by saying that Christians should not in any way, shape, or form sugarcoat the evil on display in our culture. A nation drenched in the blood of murdered babies in the womb, sexual immorality displayed in the grossest and crassest means possible, and the mutilation of children in the name of “gender identity” affirmation, is nothing but evil. There is no means by which a Christian ought ever to speak in the “nice” terms the world demands of us in these matters. The Bible has plenty to say about such abominable acts and we would do well to speak as it does on these things.
With that said Christians need to temper our words with the commandments regarding our speech in Scripture. Paul’s commandment above, while written in the context of the church body, gives a clear indication of what the heart of the Christian should be when we speak. He specifically contrasts corrupting speech against speech that builds up, fits the occasion, and gives grace to the hearer. In other words, when Christians speak, our hearts should be inclined to convey grace toward others. And this is by no means a contradiction when we address sin, whether inside or outside the church.
The kindest and most loving thing a Christian can do is call out sin and point to the only hope of salvation and reconciliation in Jesus Christ. The late R. C. Sproul called sin a “cosmic treason” against God. I can think of no better explanation for the vile and treacherous nature of sin. Sin puts us at war with God, a war we will absolutely lose, and for which we will be eternally condemned. Therefore, Christians must show the greatest love possible by calling sin what it is, telling people to repent, and calling them to Jesus Christ for forgiveness. To, in any way, water down Scripture’s warnings against sin is to harm the hearer because we can give them false comfort that they are not really that wicked and will be just fine in the end. Truly loving speech is that which reveals the ugliness of sin and the beauty of salvation in Christ.
Yet, as we watch the debauchery of the world unfold around us, and the quite obvious efforts to demonize the Christian church, there is a temptation to not only speak with passion and firmness against sin but to add fire of our own to the words. We may justify adding crassness and vile speech to our words by telling ourselves, that if we do not do so, we really just do not hate sin enough. This is one of those acceptable lies we tell ourselves because we lead ourselves, and others, to believe our added salt is necessary to make people feel and see how wicked is a thing or people.
How can we know the difference between speaking passionate truth and corrupting speech in these situations? It can show itself in the manner in which we engage in such speech. When we see a people awash in sexual immorality, for example, do we call that sin what it is, an abomination to God, with the explanation that God judges all sin and will condemn them to Hell unless they repent and turn to Christ? Or do we gnash our teeth and take glee in using the most offensive terms we can find (even the biblical ones) so people can see just how tough we are willing to be in calling people evil? Both situations may rely on biblical descriptions of sin and sinners but only one speaks in such a way to reveal love for the sinner by warning them of the judgment to come and the grace of salvation found in Christ.
Another thing we must always be on watch for is using well-known curse words of the day. This article does not need to list out what are considered curse words and the reader would be a bit disingenuous if he or she demanded a fully vetted list of “acceptable“ terms we can use. Any mentally competent adult with a functioning mind and vocabulary understands there a words considered crass and vulgar enough that they should not be used in mixed company. And Christians, being a people who desire to speak as one transformed by our Savior, should avoid using such curse words in order to add a little more seasoning to their engagements with our modern culture. Jesus modeled firm, passionate, unyielding, and biblical speech. He did not need to resort to the vulgar terminology of His day to be understood. We should conform ourselves to that very model.
Remember, Christ taught us that our words reveal the condition of our hearts. Speech that lacks graciousness, humility, and a desire to lead people to reconciliation with Christ reveals much about us. It is not by accident that Paul followed his commandment regarding speech with, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice“ (v. 31). Hearts that are consumed with merely with anger against a wicked without simultaneously being filled with the love of Christ who saved us can fall prey to corrupt speech.
”But What About…?”
I would be quite remiss to finish this article without addressing examples of very fiery speech found throughout Scripture. Any honest reader of the Bible knows that a commandment against corrupt speech does not equate to saying everything must be “nice” speech. There are multiple instances of fiery speeches against the enemies of God throughout Scripture, words that were not at all nice and would have burned in the ears of their hearers. The question then becomes, can Christians also speak in such a manner, and, if so, when?
In 1 Kings 18:25-27, Elijah mocks the prophets of the false god, Baal. The prophets had prayed, danced, and even flagellated themselves trying to get their god to respond to their calls to consume their sacrifice. This had gone on for the bulk of the day without the slightest hint of a response. Elijah mocked Baal, telling the prophets to cry louder because he might be sleeping, or on vacation, or maybe was busy “relieving himself.” Elijah demonstrated nothing but contempt for the false god and the false worshippers in his speech. There was nothing “nice” about what he said to them.
In a public confrontation with the Jewish leader of His day, Jesus, in Matthew 23:27-28 calls them “hypocrites” and “white washed tombs…full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.” Jesus also slams them, saying “you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” This was not a polite exchange, Jesus was not interested in making them feel comfortable or accepted. He was fiery and blunt, without apology.
While writing to the Galatians who had fallen under the lies of the Judaizers, a group who demanded professing Christians must keep the law of Moses, Paul did not mince words. These false teachers who troubled the Galatians required circumcision as stated under the law, to which Paul writes, “I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!“ (Gal. 5:12). Paul made it clear that if the Judaizers really wanted to see the literal cutting of flesh as some kind of requirement to be right with God, then he would prefer they cut the entire appendage off. Paul had no problem calling out wicked false teaching and expressing what he believed should be done with such teachers.
The above three examples are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to fiery action and speech in the pages of Scripture. And, since all of Scripture is for our benefit and meant to conform us to Christ, even these examples can, and indeed should, influence how we think and speak. The challenge is knowing the when and how.
In all of the above-cited examples, there is a consistent theme found: that the receiving hearers, or those written of, are genuine enemies of Christ. The prophets of Baal were leading Israel in the false worship of a false god. The Jewish leadership laid heavy burdens on the people of Israel through their traditions and even nullified the law in some places. The Judaizers sought to lead the Galatians away from justification by grace alone through faith alone and return them to the law which could never deliver them. In every instance, these were not merely people dead in trespasses and sins but actively engaged enemies of Christ who sought to corrupt people and lead them into condemnation.
For such persons, Scripture often has some of the most heated and passionate language. While all sinners are indeed at war with God through wicked works, some rise to the top to be leaders and preachers of the worst kinds of blasphemy. For their hubris, Scripture takes great pains to reveal who they are with the fieriest rhetoric so that those who hear or read it know there is no mistaking how God views them.
Therefore, the Christian does have an example to follow, a manner of permissible speech to be used in certain kinds of circumstances. Harsh language aimed at those who would be the modern-day examples of false prophets and teachers who seek to lead people into blasphemies against God is within the realm of Christian speech. But, simply because there are people, places, and times that such speech is permitted is not blanket permission to use the harshest or most derogatory verbiage without restraint.
Be Balanced
The Christian must always look to the whole counsel of God in matters such as these. There are indeed examples of inflammatory speech that can serve as models for us when addressing wicked people in our modern culture. However, Scripture is replete with not only examples of but with specific commandments against corrupt and crass speech. Therefore, it is the duty of the Christian to study and inform oneself on what, how, and when we engage in certain means of speech.
We must also be committed to being conformed to the image of Christ. To be humble servants who live, not to promote ourselves or our preferred ideologies, but to proclaim and glorify the Savior who purchased us by His shed blood. This should cause us to view ourselves as undeserving wretches who had once been enemies of Christ ourselves but are now redeemed trophies of His grace. This not only reorients our view of ourselves but requires us to rethink how we view those with whom we are interacting.
In the end, Christians must be balanced in their speech. We must ultimately care about God’s glory, His plan, and His commandments to us over and above our own fallible desire to speak as freely as we would prefer. If we do this, putting God and His Word above ourselves, then we will find our hearts, thoughts, and speech naturally being guided by the Holy Spirit and His Word.
That is my encouragement to all of you and an admonition to myself as well. May we seek to be biblical in all that we do and let us leave the results to Christ.
(This article was also published at X.com)
Great job brother