Not long ago, I was asked this question about something Jesus said…

In Matthew 5:22 Jesus says if you call someone a fool you are in danger of hell, but later he calls the pharisees fools. Does this show that it is not sinful to use profanity as long as it is in good context?

That’s a fair question, and worth some consideration, I think. I wouldn’t connect this text to “profanity” per se, but, in terms of the usage of the word “fools,” I think the difference is this: When Jesus says don’t call someone a fool, He means “don’t be demeaning. Don’t put people down. Don’t think of people as worthless, because then you’ll not be inclined to help them,” and people who don’t help people are condemned (“I was hungry and you didn’t feed me, etc”). It’s not for me to judge someone and call them a fool.

Jesus calls the Pharisees fools because they were acting foolish and needed a rebuke. If you’re rebuking someone for acting foolish, then it’s proper to call them a fool. If you’re just angry and trying to hurt someone’s feelings then calling them a fool (or anything else you might think of) is sinful.

As for profanity in general; words have meaning and reflect the heart of the person speaking them.  If your heart is right and the listener isn’t offended, then words are just words. On the other hand, words we consider okay today might’ve been profane a hundred years ago, and words we are okay with are considered profane in other countries. Profanity is not about the words in and of themselves, but the heart that speaks them and the ears that hear them. That’s true of all words, whether society has deemed them “naughty” or not. Again, under the right settings, calling someone a “fool” is just as sinful as calling them a word our culture deems to be “profanity.” They’re neither good nor bad in and of themselves. How we use them is what makes them bad.

Even then, if you say something in one company and it’s not a problem, that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be a problem in someone else’s company, and if you get too comfortable saying something over here, you might slip up and say it over there, and offend someone.

I think the lesson of the New Testament, when it comes to what we say, is this: Words are just words, and they have to be used with care no matter what. Words come from our heart (Matthew 12:34-35). What you say—what you MEAN when you say what you say—is a reflection of who you are. Remember that before you speak.

~Matthew