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[Schmooogle]

The New International Version of Ephesians 5:4 is "Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving."
I've been thinking about this verse for a while now, and I just don't really understand what it means, especially the "foolish talk" part. Can anyone help?

[jimwalton]

Glad to talk. Let's first look at the context. The last 15 verses or so of chapter 4, Paul is going through a list of of corrections the Ephesian Christians need to make. They are living like people who never met Jesus, and that needs to change: Stop stealing, stop lying, control your anger, get rid of slander and malice, etc. We have to treat each other with kindness and compassion, not with all these behaviors that tear other people down.

He start chapter 5 with, "Follow God's example" and "walk in the ways of love." He starts in again on practical ways they can live up to that standard:

1. Keep sex inside of marriage
2. Any kind of sexual impurity is out-of-bounds for a Christian.
3. Greed: Temper your sense of selfishness, accumulation, and a greedy heart. Greed just enslaves you.

Then he continues his list with obscenity, foolish talk, and coarse joking. Let's look at them.

Obscenity = αἰσχρότης (aiscrotes). This is the "foolish talk." It's a very broad and general term meaning, "All that is shameless; base; obscenity; all that would make a morally sensitive man ashamed; immoral conduct; ugliness; indecency; wickedness; morally hateful; shameful; obscene.” Someone said "A dirty mind expressing itself in dirty conversation. Plutarch described it as "words without either sense or profit."

Coarse joking = εὐτραπελία (eutrapelia). “A witty or clever turn of speech; jesting; nimbleness of wit; quickness in making repartee.” Here it's used in the sense of ribaldry, scurrility, licentious speech, coarse double entendre. Speech that is innocuous in itself but is turned to have an indecent intent. Marvin Vincent comments, "The sense of the word here is polished and witty speech as the instrument of sin; refinement and versatility without the flavor of Christian grace. Sometimes it is lodged in a sly question, in a smart answer, in a quirkish reason, in shrewd intimidation, in cunningly diverting or cleverly retorting on objection: sometimes it is couched in a bold scheme of speech, in a tart irony, in a lusty hyperbole, in a startling metaphor, in a plausible reconciling of contradictions, or in acute nonsense. Sometimes an affected simplicity, sometimes a presumptuous bluntness gives it being. Its ways are unaccountable in inexplicable, being answerable to the numberless rovings of fancy and windings of language."

I look at it all this way. Matthew 12.37 says, “For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” Jesus says it’s not what goes into a man that condemns him, but what comes out. (Mt. 15.11). But what difference does it make, really, if our language is a little salty? No harm, no foul, right?

There are several problems with this. First of all, many of our jokes are funny precisely because they are racist, misogynist, ethnic jokes, or jokes that humiliate a particular class of person (bosses, athletes, politicians, lawyers). Though we may think they are funny, they are still subtle (or not so subtle) put downs, insults, or worse—deprecating other people because of their race, gender, or ethnicity. As such, they have no place on the lips or in the ears of Christians.

Secondly, almost all of our swear words pertain to using religious words in sort of a blasphemous or disrespectful way, or bodily functions of elimination, or sex. They’re not arbitrary in any sense. They are chosen because they have strong meaning to offend, with strength to shock and power to express our anger or hurt. But such expressions are just part, I would say, of the blasphemization of America. We take everything perverse and make it so commonplace that we diminish virtue and nobility to its lowest common denominator. In the process we reduce our culture to an absence of restraints, a proliferation of sacrilege, and bowing to total secularity. With enough pressure and the consistent tearing down of religious ideals and practices, our culture becomes a place of unchallenged “I do what I want to do.”

Let's talk about it further.

[Schmooogle]

Thank you for response. My only other question would be, would it still be a sin to say these thing in an ironic and playful context, where nobody is supposed to get offended?

[jimwalton]

Great question. In general, I would respond that it's OK to say those things in an ironic or playful context. Christianity isn't trying to take away humor. It's a fine line to walk, though. People are offended very easily (and I would say inappropriately) nowadays. But just playful talk where everybody knows it's a joke should be OK. Even so, we shouldn't play that card too often or it possibly does start to offend. As Romans 14 warns us, we should be willing to give up our rights to OK things if somehow they're not coming across in a way that is positive.