Thursday, September 22, 2016

Thursday - Deuteronomy 23 - Was Anything Taboo?

Was anything taboo?  Yes, if you're talking about bad behavior.  There were many taboos or forbidden behaviors in Israel.  That IS kind of the whole purpose of the chapter? Moses was listing things that people shouldn't do... socially, culturally, physically, morally, spiritually, etc. (as well as some things they were required to do).

We could almost be persuaded that nothing was taboo, if you're just considering about conversation topics. Moses got rather crass and uncouth by most standards of “proper” and respectable conversation. Could you imagine your pastor preaching descriptively about Deuteronomy 23:1, 2, 10, 13 or even 17? Surely there are enough appropriate topics for discussion to keep us busy without us having to "stoop" to that kind of talk, right?

Well, while I admit that there are body parts and functions which I can happily die without ever conversing about..."respectable; comfortable; decent" conversation is not necessarily moral in and of itself. True, it does seem (in my experience) that (for the most part) the more wicked people happen to be overall, the more willing they are to be rude and offensive in their language.  But, that is not always the case. There are some very evil people who may appear innocuous enough due to their socially palatable conversation habits. And, indeed I've met a few men who were as diligent and trustworthy as the day is long, but who apparently thought nothing about using words and discussing themes that would certainly never go over well from behind the pulpit.

No comments:

Post a Comment