Confession vs. Euphemisms

In a junior church class, I was talking about sin to children under six. One little girl with large brown eyes looked up at me and said, “But I’ve never murdered anyone.”

As cute as that sounds, the sad part is that minimizing sin starts young. Today’s devotional is about that, and warns about using euphemisms for sin. The examples: A lie is called a fib. Adultery is called love. Avoiding payment for something is called being smart. Fornication is called premarital sex, and blasphemy is called potty mouth.

The Bible is far more direct. Sin does include murder, which is not a surprise, yet some of the sins listed in the New Testament might shock some people . . .

“For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mark 7:21–23)  

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19–21)

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” (Ephesians 4:31)

“But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” (Ephesians 5:3–5)

“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9–10)

“The law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine.” (1 Timothy 1:9–10)

“For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish . . .  that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.” (2 Corinthians 12:20)

Who can honestly say, “I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin”? (Proverbs 20:9) I cannot, yet I have heard people say that they did not sin, or do not sin, or have never sinned.

This is why John wrote: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us . . . . If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:8,10)

But this is also why he put verse 9 right in the middle of that: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Confess means ‘to say the same thing,’ that is, to call sin what God calls it. Confession is increasingly rare, but without it there is no forgiveness and there is no cleansing. In my humble opinion, 1 John 1:9 is perhaps the most important verse in the Bible, right up there with all the verses that tell us why God can forgive our sin.

At the cross, Jesus Christ paid the penalty for sin, no matter what we call it. He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25) Denial and euphemisms push God away; drawing near means agreeing with Him.

Call it what it is . . .

Pointing fingers is easy. I can always find someone ‘worse’ than I am. Looking down on someone else is one way to make myself appear better than I am.

I can also change the labels. Yesterday I read a comment on an online article where the writer said that because Eve had been deceived by Satan, she was a ‘victim.’ Before I look down my nose at that total misinterpretation of God’s Word, I must remember that I can change labels too. I can call my lies ‘fibs’ or say that evil thoughts are ‘spiritual battles’ or that disobedience to God is ‘insecurity’ or make some other excuse for what I do by describing it in softer language.

Today’s devotional reading talks about changing labels. Stealing is ‘scrounging’; adultery is ‘an affair’; a fetus is a ‘blob of tissue’’; an abortion is ‘termination of pregnancy’’; promiscuity is ‘being sexually active’; sodomy is ‘gay’ and people brutally killing each other is ‘military conflict.’

The author gives several other examples then adds that when we gloss over what the Bible plainly names and use euphemistic terms to soften those terms, we are “simply greasing the path to hell.”

If such direct talk is offensive, then what about the directness of God’s Word? This passage makes blatant statements . . .

“ . . . the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar . . . Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.’”

The passage ends with this: “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:1–20)

Before anyone, including me, can overcome moral guilt, it must first be admitted. To do that, it must be called what it is, not excused with terminology that doesn’t sound quite so bad. One of the most important verses in the Bible, a verse written for Christians, says this: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

The word ‘confess’ means to agree, to ‘say the same thing’ about sin as God says. It means to call it what He calls it without changing the label. That tells me that if I re-label my sin, this verse could say, “If I give my sin a less offensive tag, God will withhold forgiveness. Instead of cleansing my sin, I will be stuck with my unrighteousness until I am willing to admit it.”

Messing with the words of God not only dishonors Him, but is totally self-defeating.

To Live is Christ — Trust revealed in words

Dishonest and unethical behavior is not limited to criminals. This morning’s news blasts the CEO’s of a large company for selling investments that they knew were going to fail, then making billions on the markets based on that knowledge. If that were not bad enough, they have “no regrets” or any sense of wrongdoing.

That scares me. A group of company executives can commit huge unethical acts of greed without it pinching their conscience. Can I also do wrong and be unaware of it? Of course. Such is the way of sin. The Bible always connects it with darkness. No one can see where they are going or what they are doing in the dark.

Since reading these verses yesterday, I’ve also been thinking about the whole matter of integrity. I’m not sure if those CEO’s had to take an oath before being questioned at their senate hearing, but lack of integrity can show up in oath-taking as well as other ways . . . 

But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one. (Matthew 5:34–37)

This passage is about adding a “witness” to a promise, as if that is going to make something said more binding. The Jews did it so they could get out of the oath, claiming God’s name had not been used so their oath was not binding. However, the use of God’s name in any kind of expression other than prayer and direct reference to Him is called “swearing” or making an oath because this uses His name in an improper way.

My mind takes a leap here. I know that connected to this idea of adding some other object to an oath to give it more clout is the practice of using euphemisms. The Jews did it by swearing on the temple instead of saying “by the name of God.” That way, they substituted other words thinking that made their oath acceptable, but many other people also use substitute words to swear or make other kinds of oaths. Perhaps this is an assumption that their outburst is not offensive to God because the substitute words are acceptable. But are they?

I claim to trust God but when something happens that produces even a mild oath like “dratted” from my lips, this reveals that I’d had some personal expectations unrelated to trust. It reveals that I was banking on those expectations, not on the God who is sovereign. Had I been trusting Him, adverse circumstances would not be seen as adverse.

I’m thinking about words that could be called “Christian euphemisms.” These are not swear words by the normal definition, but they are either spelled similarly, or have a similar sound. Some examples: Oh, shoot. Drat it! Jeepers! Darn! Blast it.

While most people would not condemn these words per se, Jesus does condemn the attitude behind them. I might think that they are an “acceptable” way to express annoyance when I am not getting my way, but they reveal my attitude toward the sovereignty of God and His decisions — I don’t like it.

Most of this happens in simple life situations, like when I leave my keys somewhere and cannot find them, or a telemarketer calls while I’m creating a pie crust, or I forget to take meat out of the freezer for supper. It may sound like I’m annoyed with me or the telemarketer, but God is sovereign and in the details. He could change the timing or help me remember things.

To live is Christ means that I trust God with everything, even my memory or when the phone rings. This is a heart matter that ought to be so strong that adversity is not a shock or even a surprise that brings out sinful or selfish attitudes or words.

When Jesus was mistreated, He “committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth . . . when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Peter 2:22–23).

Jesus knew who was in control and committed Himself to His Father, no matter what happened. Because His heart was right, He uttered no words of dismay or said anything that even came close to sounding like He was upset with whatever was happening to Him.

I’m sure the tests will come. What will I say if I hit my thumb with a hammer or poke myself with a sewing needle? I am confessing my lack of faith because this is important. God wants a trusting heart when things go well or when life is tough, and even when the minor stuff isn’t the way I want it to be.