James tells us that fresh water and brackish water should not flow from the same spring. The apostle Paul forbids a particular form of coarse jesting, and says that every word that proceeds from our mouths should be for the edification of the hearer. Our worship this morning is the fresh water. What has the rest of our speech this last week been like?
Now we should know that the Bible contains some very earthy expressions, calculated to offend all sorts of syrupy Victorian sensibilities. Obviously, this sort of righteousness is not what Paul is prohibiting – the Scriptures cannot be broken. Nevertheless, in Ephesian 4, he says that no putrid communication should proceed out of our mouths, and he says further in the next chapter that certain kinds of speech are inconsistent with thanksgiving – the thanksgiving which we are preparing to offer right now. He prohibits filthy speech, meaning crass obscenity, and he rejects coarse joking – meaning scurrilous or vulgar speech. A man who is comfortable with junior-high-level bathroom humor should not be comfortable with thanksgiving to God. The two are inconsistent.
As we prepare ourselves to respond to God with our words, whether in prayer, saying amen, or singing, let us include in that preparation a confession of the crass.