Use of edgy material to promote church

Why should ministers take care with the words they use?

Consider what Christ had to say to the Pharisees in Mt 12:34–37:
You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.
Among the requirements of those who oversee God's people are "above reproach," "self-controlled," "respectable," and "must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace" (1 Tm 3:1–7).

None of this is true of the man who uses his pulpit for shock purposes. Yet, as A Little Leaven points out, parents are now having to explain to their children and to their lost friends why their pastor and church are using variations of the f-bomb.

It comes down to what authority the pastor upholds: God's Word, or man's ideas about "what sells."

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