Coolness and Cussing

I am sure that there have always been preachers and pastors who made a habit of using coarse or crude language. Maybe they even outright cussed. I suspect most, if not all of these preachers were somewhere out on the fringe. I remember Gene Scott used to sit in his recliner smoking cigars, drinking scotch, and cussing as he "taught" and "preached".

In 2003, Thomas Neslon published Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. About half way through the book, he introduces us to Mark. Mark pastors a church in Seattle and says a lot of cuss words. Mark is Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. In Driscoll's defense, he doesn't cuss anymore. He does a really good job, I think, of watching his language. He can be a little coarse or crude sometimes, but he doesn't really cuss.

Ed Young of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas, recently posted this video about preachers who cuss. I think it is a wise admonition to those who speak the truth of the Gospel. Warning: Young demonstrates some of the language he warns about.

What do you think about Young's take on this? How far should preachers go with their language in trying to relate to their audience?

It's All Greek to Me

tonight, as soon as i post this, i will work some more on my greek translation homework. i am pursuing a bachelor of arts in religion, which requires four semesters of greek. i am in semester number two. i still have a long row to hoe. while i do plan to work in ministry as a vocation, i am not completely sure what my pastoral role will be. while i do not plan to do in depth translation work, i do believe that it is important to have some knowledge of the biblical languages. for the pastor who is actively involved in practical ministry, what is the appropriate amount of language study? personally, i think that with the growth in technology, it is less necessary to be able to do direct translation. i think it is more important to know how to use language tools. i promise that i am not just saying this because greek is difficult, although it is. i prepare for teaching with the use of my computer. this is the same computer that i would use to research the greek and/or hebrew texts. that being said, during the last semester and half, i have gained more appreciation for the precision of the greek text, as well as the work done by the translation teams who have prepared the bibles that i rely upon. god certainly has blessed their hard work. i will climb down from my soapbox now. i have put off long enough my translation of 1 john. i am sure it will come out much like a combination of the new american standard bible and the english standard version.