Christians understand that an inability or unwillingness to take control of our language shows a lack of self-control or lack of graciousness toward others. Swearing shows that you are unconcerned about that which ought to concern Christians: edification, grace, humility, patience, self-control, evangelistic witness, being an example to children, integrity, and many other virtues that we extol. These are undermined by the use of language that offends or lumps us in with others who offend.

In 2005 the American Film Institute voted that the best movie line of all time was the one that Clarke Gable deftly delivered as the character Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind.

If you endured all four hours of melodrama you’ll certainly recall his parting dismissal of Scarlett O’Hara’s whiny interrogative, “Where shall I go, what shall I do?” Rhett rewardingly utters the words on the mind of every male viewer who is still awake, served with the cool and immortal preamble: “Frankly, my dear …”

The Motion Picture Association’s production code was fortuitously amended a mere month prior to the film’s release and for the first time it allowed the use of borderline curse words under this condition:

“if it shall be essential and required for portrayal, in proper historical context, of any scene or dialogue based upon historical fact …or a quotation from a literary work, provided that no such use shall be permitted which is intrinsically objectionable or offends good taste.”

The determining standard of what is “intrinsically objectionable or offends good taste” has proven quite the moveable feast. Words that were respectable vernacular in the Elizabethan era would get a kid’s mouth washed out with soap today and diction that would never escape the censor’s “intrinsically objectionable” razor as recently as 1939 are now heard on every silver screen in the Western world, and even occasionally on the news.

While as Christians we acknowledge that God’s standards of holiness are immovable, a thinking linguist must acknowledge that what different cultures and periods consider to be taboo is a perplexing field of study.

It’s difficult for me to provide examples without stepping into a cow patty of objections. But one instance I am confident no monolingual American would find offensive is the Afrikaans cuss words “bliksem” and “donder.”

In South Africa, these are two words “offend good taste” and could never be used in the pulpit with impunity. Exactly what Afrikaners find offensive about the words is an etymological enigma.

“Bliksem” and “donder” are the terms for—I kid you not— lightning and thunder, respectively. When deployed in a meteorological context they are perfectly acceptable and often heard on the nightly news, eliciting giggles from Afrikaans kids.

But when either word is used as an expression of surprise (“my bliksem!”) or anger (“jou klein bliksem”—literally “you little lightning”) or a threat (as in “Ek gaan jou donder”—literally “I’m going to thunder you”), the result is a disapproving tut-tut from polite society. If ladies are present during the thunderous outburst it is expected that the foul-mouthed offender apologizes for the strong language.

“Where in the Bible does it say Christians shouldn’t cuss?”

Well, it doesn’t. There is no list of words Christians of all cultures and every epoch can memorize as banned vocabulary. But the Bible instructs Christians to exercise restraint of our tongues.

The truth is that a particular word has no inherent sinfulness beyond that which a culture or community assigns to it, nor can it be intrinsically objectionable. Every short-term missionary has an anecdote of a faux pas (pardon my French) where they used language that crossed a line of propriety only when it crossed the border.

But connotations that contravene our sensibilities are real and require wisdom to discern.

This is why Christians don’t cuss: we cherish the purpose for which God gave words.

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