I recently took my teens on a retreat where the speaker talked about imitating Christ. We are going to choose to imitate something, so it is on us to decide what that will be.
Allow me to offer an example not to follow. This is a link to the booking.com ad, where it would seem we all want to use expletives, but are still forced to purity by petty man-made rules of propriety.
Now, I'm assuming a few things. First, the ad wizards knew what they were doing. And they knew that we would know what they were doing. Right? Because the goal is primarily to get us to use their product. And we might do that if we think they're funny. At least, that's the goal.
Secondly, the ad wizards are fairly confident that their tongue-in-cheek dance with the f-bomb will not turn off any potential customers. And they are very probably right. Because we, very generally, no longer see a problem with the use of vulgarity. From movies and music to everyday situations, bad language is no longer whispered in back alleys. Rather, it is shouted from just about anywhere.
And, as this ad has put on display, it is no longer seen as shameful, but as something comical. What does this say about our culture? What does this say about our own minds?
More importantly, what does this say about our attention to the holy? Paul gave us this encouragement in his letter to the Colossians, "Let your conversation be always full of grace,seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone" (Colossians 1:6).
There is an opinion shared by many that foul language is only used by those who lack the creativity to better express themselves, or by someone is great need of a thesaurus. That may be true. I think the more important factor is remembering who we represent, both here on Earth and in Heaven.
I'll probably rant more about this tomorrow. Before we get there, what would you offer about bad language and hinting towards bad language?
Allow me to offer an example not to follow. This is a link to the booking.com ad, where it would seem we all want to use expletives, but are still forced to purity by petty man-made rules of propriety.
If you can't see the video, click here.
Now, I'm assuming a few things. First, the ad wizards knew what they were doing. And they knew that we would know what they were doing. Right? Because the goal is primarily to get us to use their product. And we might do that if we think they're funny. At least, that's the goal.
Secondly, the ad wizards are fairly confident that their tongue-in-cheek dance with the f-bomb will not turn off any potential customers. And they are very probably right. Because we, very generally, no longer see a problem with the use of vulgarity. From movies and music to everyday situations, bad language is no longer whispered in back alleys. Rather, it is shouted from just about anywhere.
And, as this ad has put on display, it is no longer seen as shameful, but as something comical. What does this say about our culture? What does this say about our own minds?
More importantly, what does this say about our attention to the holy? Paul gave us this encouragement in his letter to the Colossians, "Let your conversation be always full of grace,seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone" (Colossians 1:6).
There is an opinion shared by many that foul language is only used by those who lack the creativity to better express themselves, or by someone is great need of a thesaurus. That may be true. I think the more important factor is remembering who we represent, both here on Earth and in Heaven.
I'll probably rant more about this tomorrow. Before we get there, what would you offer about bad language and hinting towards bad language?
Comments