On Sunday night I had the opportunity to baptize two individuals.  The event was nothing new for me -  I often baptize our students and have done several baptism services over the past four years.  This one was special though because it was the baptism of a couple who has been attending our Bible study on Thursday nights after recently deciding to take faith in Christ seriously.  I would love to take credit for the couple coming to know the Lord… hey, i would even like to say they started coming to our Bible study because I invited them. However, neither statement is true, yet I am praising God because they are two individuals Christ created, loves, called and has a plan for. It is always amazing when God begins to work out that plan and special to see people submit to Jesus' authority in their lives.
 
Anyways, back to the story. As we sat in the choir room in our robes preparing to be baptized, Pastor Peter explained to the 15 or so people the proper way to hold your nose, grab your arm and be dunked.  He brought up one of the individuals being baptized and demonstrated what would take place during the baptism, he explained that after the interview he would state, "because of your confession of faith in the Lord Jesus as your personal savior, i now baptize you in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit." (Fake Dunk on the volunteer)  Everyone seemed comfortable with this, it seemed easy enough but then one man raised his hand.  I knew that this man was newly saved because i had seen him come to the altar on a Sunday morning not long ago. He was probably in his early 60's (guesstimate) and was not the smallest man in size or stature. I'm going to say he ran about 6'3'' and was pushing 350 to 400 pounds (once again, guesstimate).He raised his hand and stated, "That's all good pastor but you're going to hurt the HELL out of your arm trying to lift me up."
 
I burst out laughing, hysterically. Somehow, I was filled with a strange joy and extreme encouragement at the mere act of this man swearing in the moments before his baptism. I looked around at the deacons and deaconesses who would be helping us with the baptism process. They all seemed hesitant to laugh or react in anyway. I looked to Pastor Peter next who had a rather large grin on his face. Finally, I looked to the other individuals preparing to be baptized and watched each of them slowly laugh, not sure whether it was ok or not. (I think me laughing hysterically gave them the go ahead.)  We all proceeded to get a good laugh out of this awkward yet enjoyable moment.
 
Why did this encourage me and many others? It's simple - because this one word was a statement that someone who very recently had been walking in darkness was now walking in light. You could tell he was a bit embarrassed for his choice of words. Now obviously our goal is through Christ to get rid of the sin and filth that naturally fills our lives when we don’t know Him. Some people immediately are set free from bondages, past sins, and different habits that have plagued them throughout their life. Yet, more often times than not, getting rid of sin, bad habits and a prior way of life is a long and slow process.  "Sanctification" is what we call it, which by definition is the process of being made holy. We must remember that it is in fact a process and one that will never be completed until we meet our savior when this body dies or when He returns.

Another reason I was so encouraged by this man swearing was because it reminded me of what the church has to be about - furthering the kingdom of God.  It has to be about making disciples, baptizing them and leading them to a place where they can go and make more disciples. If our church was full of non-cursing, "perfect" disciples, than we're not making new ones.

So basically we need more cussers in church because it means people are coming to know Jesus and through the process of knowing Jesus, hopefully the cussing will stop. If it doesn't stop completely, that's ok as long as they're trying to stop it... that's what the grace of Jesus is for, right? Jesus said himself that he came for the sick, not the healthy (Mark 2:17)

I'd rather be a cussing Christian who loves people and tells others about Jesus than a Christian who has the cleanest mouth but never does anything with the love they know.  

Peace!

(Just so you all know i am not advocating swearing, but rather advocating seeing lost cussers come to know a loving Savior.  Also, Christians should start focusing more on what they do than what they say.)

P.S. I don’t cuss. Once and a while in my head, though, a bad word might come to mind. I'm still trying to work on that, help me Jesus.