Cuss words

I can't think of too many taboos in our society more commonly and voraciously held than that of the cuss word. I get a small pleasure from breaking that taboo from time to time, by either surprising Robin with a curse or uttering them under my breath at Grant in church. It is a childish pleasure, but nonetheless it is one I enjoy. And as I do it I feel the gratification of bucking the system and rejecting the absolute that I treasured as a child.

But there are times and places where I still would rather say anything than a cussword. In front of my boss, or in the middle of a sermon for instance.

So the struggle for me is that I do not think words themselves are good or bad, clean or unclean. I think 'shit' in english could very well mean 'you are beautiful' in some undiscovered dialect deep in the heart of China. Sometimes 'damn' and 'hell' are the only words that truly express whatever state or place you want to describe.

As I read over Romans 14, I see that Paul is talking mostly about eating and drinking (two things that lead to an excessive amount of judgement and stumbling in our society too...). But I can just as easily see him speaking it about cuss words. I see that I need to sometimes keep my mouth shut, and lots of times keep my cusswords unspoken, for the sake of "peace and mutual edification." (Rom 14.19) I see that sometimes my license with my mouth can lead to destruction, and it is wrong for me to cause others to stumble. If I am truly strong, I need to bear with the weak, because ultimately I am really weak, and need those that are strong to bear with me.