All Zeros. Does It Mean Anything?
Last Sunday night, I laid down in bed and, as my custom, read for a little bit. When I finished reading, I looked at my phone for the time. The time was 0000 (I use Army time). My phone also said the outside temperature was zero.
My first thought was, “Trump will be sworn in in twelve hours. I wonder if he’s awake.”
Then, I started thinking about the zeros. Everything is at zero, including the time and temperature. Is zero the counting down to doom or the start of climbing to new heights?
On the temperature side, the projected low was eight below zero. So, it would get worse before it would get better, but it would get better. On the time side, the numbers would immediately go up, but in twenty-four hours, they would reset to zero. These two, the temperature and time, are good examples of life. Like the temperature, life has its ups and downs. Sometimes life is too hot or cold, and sometimes life has perfect moments. Like time, life has its resetting moments, moments where life is different from then on. Marriage, graduation, the death of a loved one, retirement, salvation, the birth of a baby, and more are examples of life’s resetting moments.
History has its resetting moments as well. From Adam’s fall in the Garden of Eden to Covid and hundreds of events in between, the human race can say, “Things were never the same after that.” Some of these events happen in a day, like the resurrection of Jesus Christ and 9/11. Others, like WWII, take years to develop.
Something in Christendom is going on that could change things within the church, but not for the better. It is the use of profanity. We are increasingly seeing politicians, entertainers, athletes, and others who have screen time for the rest of us to see, giving glory to God, even to the point of proclaiming Jesus as Saviour. These public proclamations are an excellent development. Christians should not be silent about their Saviour. Then, in the same interview or another instance, the individual will use four-letter words when answering a question or making a point.
The use of profanity by a Christian renders our religion worthless. James 1:26, “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.”
God uses the Apostle Peter to show us how damaging the use of foul language can be to our testimony for God. During the Last Supper, Jesus told Peter that before the rooster would crow in the morning, Peter would deny Jesus three times. That night, Jesus is arrested and taken to trial. Peter hangs around outside to stay close to the action. The night is chilly, and people gather around a fire. Several people point out that Peter is one of those who follow Jesus. At first, Peter responds by telling the people he doesn’t know what they are talking about. The others persist, saying they know Peter traveled with Christ. Peter goes further and proclaims he does not know the man called Jesus. Peter’s third denial comes when someone says, “Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.” The Bible tells us Peter’s response to that statement is, “Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man” (Matthew 26:69-75; Mark 14:71).
Peter did not talk like the rest of the people gathered around that fire, and when he was determined to show people he was not a follower of Christ, he cussed to prove the point. Since the days that Jesus walked the earth, His followers were known for and expected to have clean mouths.
This practice of praising God in one sentence and using cuss words in the next is not something only the famous use. Social media is filled with people who praise God in one post, copy and paste Bible verses in another, give godly advice in comments, post quotes and videos littered with four-letter words, and cuss while complaining about the bad events of their day in another.
The words of James and the actions of Peter show that the use of profanity advances the cause of Christ by a total amount of zero.
God and the world are at enmity with each other (James 4:4), and the mixing of the world within the church makes the church lukewarm. A lukewarm Christianity makes Jesus sick to his stomach. Revelation 3:16, “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”
We are in changing times. We are nearing Christ’s return, but before Jesus returns, the Antichrist will rule the world during the Tribulation Period. Even though it appears that our nation is taking a turn to the right, many of the things the Antichrist will use are still taking shape. The clock may reset, but it is always moving forward.
Preacher Tim Johnson is Pastor of Countryside Baptist Church in Parke County, Indiana. His weekly column “Preacher’s Point” may be found at: www.preacherspoint.wordpress.com