Lesson from Jude's "Potty" mouth

If you read the last note, you will know what I am referring to with respect to "potty words".

So, that episode, besides being a great thing to write down for posterity and to share with everyone was also one of those moments that God shows me how much I can learn through my children...when I pay attention:

What was the thing that I learned from Jude?

Well, I think one of the funny things that we do as we try to become more "Christian" is to watch our language.  We don't want to use swear words...and so, over time you hear a "Christian" drop fewer and fewer "f-bombs" or launch fewer and fewer "a-bleeps" and so forth.

This is as it should be.  I am not commenting so much on that, because I think that is right and healthy.

I guess the thing that caught my attention with Jude was this.  When he was angry, he reached for whatever the worse thing he could find to say, and he said it.  We all might smile at how cute and innocent it was, but it was said from a place of complete anger, frustration, outrage.  If he knew other words, he would have said those...and we wouldn't have smiled and thought it funny.  We essentially let it go because he didn't use what is accepted "harsh language", he used other language.

It is one of the things I used to say as a teen..."It doesn't matter if I say "X", it is just a word."  "I am sorry if you have issue with it, but I don't take it that way." And so forth.  I really thought I was pretty smart and above it all...maybe I wanted to perceive myself as more intelligent than others...I am pretty sure I even had a conversation with my parents about it at one point ;)

Anyway...I think the real substance lies underneath all of this.  That is  just like Jesus said when he started breaking down the "rules" on the Pharisees.  They could say that they had never committed adultery...but they would get caught when he said the root of that was lust.  They could say they had never murdered...but they would get caught when he said the root of that was anger.  Jude could get away with not swearing cause he said "toilet", but the root of the problem was the same as if he had said something much more "ugly" by conventional standards....and he is only 2.  It wasn't about the words.  It was about the emotion, the choice made and the intent he had.

It is that line that God calls us to walk.  To not follow rules for the sake of the rules...and not to not break the rules simply for the sake of saying we haven't broken them...the rules are not the end game and neither is the currently acceptable language that society uses....however, whether you are dropping an "f-bomb" or calling someone a "toilet", the intent may very well be the same and put you in the same place of having broken the intent that God laid out with the rules...to love each other as God loved us.

Just think about that the next time you go to say a "Christian" version of a swear word and think that you deserve kudos.

Your thoughts?