"Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one." St. Paul, Colossians 4:6
I watched a rather strange movie tonight. It was called network and, as I was notably warned, every other word seemed to be f*** or some other variation of the profanity. And as I watched, this quote kept coming to mind and then I began thinking how this admonition from St. Paul is so easily over looked by the church today.
Before I became an Anglican I remeber being scared to death about cussing. I remember my old sunday school teacher assuring me that I would be damned to hell if I ever used any sort of vulgar language, but I was never told why. In other words, the church seems to teach her young that it is wrong to swear or use profanities and vulgarities, but she would never tell them why.
The Church is the salt of the world. She are the flavoring in the universe. But how is her saltiness supposed to be kept if she speaks as every common pagen speaks? How is she supposed to the salt of the world if her speach is not always with grace? If she does not know how she ought to answer everyone?
I am not a saint when it comes to keeping a pure mouth or saything things with grace, but if we took St. Paul's admition to heart it could make at least a small difference in the beauty of the Church.
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3 comments:
"Damned to hell?" Surely you exaggerate. I can't imagine any of my old Sunday school teachers using such strong language. Actually the thought is very humorous. . . I can't ever remember actually having the fear of hell instilled in me, though I probably just didn't pay attention. And I can remember having one of the good ol' teach give the same reason that you just did.
But I do agree with you that we at the good old A of S.A. ought to watch our language way more than we do. Myself, probably, more than most.
Well they didn't say it exactly like that... then again I was never Mrs. Kerr's favorite student... she kinda instilled the fear of hell in me anytime I did something...
It's probably a good bumper to have fear of hell in us! Sinners in the hand of an angry God and all that...
I remember when I was 13 years old thinking through and through that my good friend who was a smoker was going to hell. period. because smoking was a mortal sin...
How we do change. Thank our gracious God.
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