Jesus Christ isn’t a swear word; it’s the name and title of a human being who is worshiped as both God and Savior by millions of people worldwide—including me.
Today it is not unusual to hear someone say “Jesus Christ” with contempt, using it as a swear word when something or someone upsets the person who uttered the words. If you are one of those people…stop it.
People have used foul language for thousands of years, and this post isn’t an attempt to change that behavior. I swear on occasion, and I understand why people do it. It’s difficult to offend me with most vulgarities—with the exception of “Jesus Christ.”
If you are an agnostic, an atheist or a believer in a spiritual movement other than Christianity, why should you care? After all, Jesus is not your Lord, your savior, your God. You should care out of respect for Jesus Christ. Notice that I’m not saying, “out of respect for Christians.” We could have a good long discussion of how Christians have wronged others. That might give you reason to curse them, but not Jesus.
No evidence exists that Jesus ever did anything in his 33 years on earth that would justify scorn. He led a pure life; spread a message of love and repentance for sin; and healed people who were blind, lame, deaf and crippled. For that, he died a terrible death after three sham trials and without evidence of wrong-doing. Well, he did say that he was the Son of God, but many of us believe it.
Should people around me stop using “Jesus Christ” as an obscenity because I believe that they are defaming my Savior? Yes and no. The answer revolves around decency and courtesy towards the beliefs of another human being.
For example, the next time you’re tempted to use Jesus Christ as an obscenity, picture yourself substituting another name. Say, “Prophet Mohammed,” or “Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,” or “Buddha.” Picture yourself saying those names with the level of scorn and contempt that you would use with “Jesus Christ.” Picture yourself exclaiming it in a crowd of Muslims, Jews and Buddhists.
Maybe you want to avoid the obvious verbal and/or physical pain that you would suffer from that example. Okay, substitute another person’s name, such as, “Barack Obama,” “Queen Elizabeth,” “George Bush,” or “George Clooney.” These are other good people, not quite up to par with Jesus, but about the best we see at the international level these days.
A final thought about the words “swear” and “curse.”
According to Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary, two definitions for the word, “swear,” are:
1: to utter or take solemnly (an oath)
2: to use profane or obscene language: curse
The same source includes the following definitions for the word, “curse”:
1 : a prayer or invocation for harm or injury to come upon one : imprecation
2 : something that is cursed or accursed
3 : evil or misfortune that comes as if in response to imprecation or as retribution
4 : a cause of great harm or misfortune : torment
I don’t use “Jesus Christ” as a swear word because I utter that name with solemn reverence.
On this Good Friday, Christians remember how Jesus was cursed; that is, caused great harm and torment by people who invocated for his injury.
Don’t be one of them. Leave the name of Jesus out of your swearing and cursing vocabulary.
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