What's the big deal?

I had a couple guys ask me today what the big deal is about cussing? My first thought was, “C’mon, why don’t you ask me an easy one like ‘Who’s this Jesus guy.’” I initially wanted to let them know that they shouldn’t worry about that kind of outward stuff, which brings about legalism, and that they should worry about letting Jesus into their hearts and changing them from the inside-out. While that is true, I began thinking about their questions. They wanted to know what makes a cuss word a cuss word, and to be totally honest, I HAVE NO CLUE. I guess they are words that society has deemed as cuss words, or language that is not appropriate in formal settings, but it doesn’t take us looking very deep to see that our society accepts a lot of crude things coming out of people’s mouths nowadays. The things people are aloud to say on TV or the radio now days are appalling! But I guess I shouldn’t expect less from a fallen world that desperately needs Jesus.

Anyways, I’m chasing rabbits. So I began thinking about these guys’ questions and I began to wonder why these guys on my team ask me questions like, “Is drinking a sin,” or “What does the Bible say about cussing,” or “Is dipping bad?” My initial response to these questions is frustration. In my mind I’m thinking, “Yes it’s a sin but I don’t want to seem like a legalist that throws all these rule and regulations out to you that the Bible says you must follow!” But maybe, just maybe, this is only a STEP in their realization that they need a savior. Let me explain. The Bible says in Jeremiah 31:33 and again in Hebrews 8:10 that God will write His laws on our heart and those laws will be how we are convicted of our sins. If we don’t follow what we know is RIGHT we feel bad. Let Jiminy Cricket, or your conscience, be your guide, right? So maybe these rules and regulations are kind of good, to an extent. The more rules that are laid out for a Christian to follow, the more we recognize that we cannot meet up those rules, and the more we become aware of our need for a Savior.

Don’t get me wrong, Christianity is not about rules and regulations, or standards that you have to try to achieve or live up to. It’s about an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. The Bible is not a book with a bunch of “thee’s” and “thou’s” and “thou shalt not’s.” It is a book that has the secret to an abundant life and offers the ONLY advice out there on how to live life to the fullest.

If it weren’t for Jesus Christ dying on the cross, we would have no shot at getting into heaven because our salvation would be totally based on what we DO. I don’t know about anyone else but if my getting into heaven was based on my measuring up to a strict set of rules, I would be doomed to suffer the tortures of hell for ETERNITY, because I’m the worst of all sinners. And we all DO deserve hell. But Jesus offers us a FREE gift (admittance to His kingdom for eternity, and the key to our very own mansion once we get there) and all we have to do is accept that free gift and enter into a personal relationship with him. Jesus wants us to be the on the VIP list to the phattest party that was ever thrown.

The truth is the Bible points out clearly that we are to stay away from unwholesome and filthy language. Check it out:

“ Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths. . .”
-Ephesians 4:29

“But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality. . .Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or
coarse joking.”
-Ephesians 5:3-4

"For, whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech."
-1 Peter 3:10

"With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out
of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow
from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring
produce fresh water."
-James 3:9-12

The point is that when Jesus takes over your life (which is by far the most fulfilling way to live your life) he changes you from the inside and your outside actions are just a reflection of that inward change. Sciullo just recently received Jesus as his savior and I can tell a remarkable change in him already. Jesus has power-washed his soul and has begun his work at radically changing his life and ROCKING his world with some “head bangin Jesus action.” As you may know, Sciullo used to have the filthiest mouth on the team, but because of the life-changing power of Jesus Christ, his mouth has cleaned up tremendously in just over a week.

Jesus called the religious people of his day “white-washed tombs.” (you know these people—the ones that claim to be “religious” but they do it for show; on the inside they are just as dirty and evil as everyone else; they are typically called HYPOCRITES now days.) Back in Jesus’ times people were buried in actual tombs when they died, as opposed to six feet under the ground like people are nowadays. These tombs were magnificent to look at; they had great architectural design and fabulous detail. But on the inside was just a bunch of ratty, smelly, rotten, dead bones. That’s what Jesus says about “religious people.” Jesus wants to take those skeletons out of your close and give you new life and a hope to live for something greater than yourself. That way you don’t have to walk around with that decaying flesh smell all the time. If you let Him do that I promise you He will rock your world!