Naughty, Dirty Words... Good?

Words have meanings

I remember back in Junior High School when the word “bad” became good and the word gay meant “stupid”. The word “hella” was introduced to me and I figured out that it meant extremely… as in that guy is ‘hella tall’ (extremely tall). Maybe you’ve seen the ads on MySpace that say “It’s Nice to be Naughty” or heard about rappers with the word Nasty in their name. What about songs which talk about doing dirty things, and speak about it in a positive way?

Now I understand that words change over time, and that’s not really the point. For example bad becoming good; when people say “that’s bad!” (when looking at a really fancy car, for example) they are really saying “that’s good!”, they are not saying “that’s good (because it’s bad)”… does that make sense? The meaning of the word bad (temporarily) changed it’s meaning to actually mean “good”. For the purpose of this article, I’m not referring to words where the meanings have actually changed, but instead I’m talking about what our response is to certain words.

Is it nice to be naughty? No, of course it’s not. They mean different things. That’s like saying “it’s polite to be rude!” Suppose you were trying on clothes and you walked up to me and asked my opinion, if I said “You look terrible, absolutely disgusting!” Would you say, great thanks – and head towards the counter to purchase those clothes? Maybe, but that’s not really the issue either.

What is the issue? I’ll tell you. The problem is that the ads on myspace are actually trying to convince us that it’s ‘nice’ (good) to be naughty (bad). They are actually trying to convince us that if we were to meet a girl that was naughty, that would be a good thing. The songs that have the word ‘dirty’ in them, are actually attempting to make us think that doing ‘dirty’ things is right (good). The rapper with the word Nasty in his name, isn’t trying to change the meaning of the word. See, it’s not an issue of Nasty meaning something else… it’s an issue of the idea that Nasty (in all it’s nastiness) is a good thing. Being naughty is wrong, if someone is naughty then they need to change their actions and attitude. Being dirty and nasty isn’t a good thing.

What authority do I have to say what is and isn’t good? Common sense. You are smart enough to agree with me. You have a conscience that tells you the difference between right and wrong. Below are a few scenarios: soften your heart and use your conscience to determine if they are good or bad (nice or naughty).

You’re a parent: suppose you had a 15 year old daughter and she came up to you and asked for help shopping. She told you that there was a guy at school that she wanted to impress, so she needed to go to the store and get some real naughty clothing so she could look like a whore and attract this guy by looking as nasty and dirty as possible. Your daughter says that all the other girls look super sluty, so she’s really going to have some competition to get this guys attention! (good or bad?)

Or suppose your son came up to you and said “I’m so excited, I’ve met this hot chick at school. She’s a naughty little girl with a dirty mind! The football team says she’s super easy and she does the nastiest things on the first date! I don’t know her name, but can I have a few bucks for some condoms and beer?” (right or wrong?)

What would the correct response be as a parent? Would it be, “Oh son / daughter, I’m so proud of you for understanding your feelings and going after them. Let’s take care of your needs so that you can go have fun?” No. Of course it wouldn’t be, right? There is a right and a wrong and we all know it. (example: Question: When is it okay to rape someone? Answer: NEVER!) God wrote His laws on our hearts and gave us a conscience (con = with, science = knowledge). Some people may have very seared consciences but this is only because they’ve gone against what they know is right so many times.

If you disagree with me on the above… there’s a good reason. But instead of beating around the bush, let me ask you a question. This question may seem like it’s off topic, but in fact, it’s not. It involves another word that is open for interpretation – Good.

Would you consider yourself to be a good person? Most people say yes. The question is who or what are they comparing themselves to when determining their goodness. Compared to Hitler, you are probably a good person. But what about compared to your friends, boss, or parents? Whose standards are you using to determine your goodness? What about if you compared yourself to God’s standard of ‘goodness’ – the 10 Commandments. (By the way, I’m not a good person when compared to this standard).

Let’s look at His standard and see if you’re still good. We’ll just look at half of the commandments starting with number 9 – “You shall not lie”, have you ever told a lie? Yeah, me too. And what are you called if you’ve lied (specifically)? A liar. The eighth one is “You shall not steal” (not talking about stealing in baseball) – have you ever taken something that didn’t belong to you (such as stealing music off the internet, sneaking into a movie, not working while you’re being paid)? If you’ve stolen then by definition you’re a thief. The seventh commandment is “You shall not commit adultery” , Jesus magnified that law and clarified it for us telling us that even if we look with lust, we’ve committed this sin in our hearts (see Matthew 5:27). What about the 3rd commandment, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vein” (which is also clarified in the bible as mis-using God’s name) Have you ever done that? That’s called blasphemy. If you’ve lied, stolen, looked with lust, or mis-used God’s name, then by your own admission you’re a liar, a thief and a blasphemous adultery-at-heart by God’s standards. Why does this matter? Keep reading…

So you’ve broken God’s Law… just like everyone else (Romans 3:23)… what’s the big deal? Here’s the big deal, the bible says that it’s appointed once for you to die (as in life over) and then face judgment. God’s law is the standard by which you’ll be judged, and God doesn’t grade on a curve. The bible tells us that all liars have their part in the lake of fire (Revelations 21:8), and that no thief, adulterer, nor fornicator will inherit the kingdom of heaven. So can you see that if God judges you by His standard you’d be guilty and end up in hell? Now that’s bad (meaning BAD). I don’t want you to go to hell, and likely you don’t want to either. But the most important thing is that God doesn’t want you to either. Do you know what God did so that you wouldn’t have to get what we deserve? God became a man in Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, to live a sinless life and suffer and die on the cross to take our punishment. Sin, the bible says, is transgression of the law. No sin will be forgiven without the shedding of blood (that’s just God’s way – not for us to argue with, but rather live – or die with). Our blood won’t work because we are sinners. But Jesus Christ was beaten and bruised for our sins. We broke the law and He paid our find. That’s good news. The bible says that if we repent (confess and forsake our sins) and put our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, then we’ll be born again (a spiritual re-birth) and be saved from God’s wrath on judgment day. Please, don’t put this off, get right with God today. Repent and put your faith in Jesus, then start reading God’s Word (the bible) and obey what you read. If you procrastinate about this and die in your sins without having repented and putting your faith in Jesus Christ, then you’ll go to hell for eternity – and that would be hella bad (as in extremely not good).

~ brandt dary