Blasphemer, It's Not What You Think It Is

248 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Ti 3:1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, We are looking at these strength sapping influences and behaviors that will plague the church until our Lord returns. Today, let's look at blasphemers. Blasphemers? Are you kidding? How can people, who claim to be Christians be blasphemers? Isn't blasphemy defined as speaking evil against God? The answer is no it's not. It's often discussed in that vein because of the references we find in Scripture. Most notably the Pharisees charged Jesus with blasphemy because He claimed to be God and the Pharisees regarded this as speaking evil of God. But the strict definition of the word here is, “Scurrilous,.” OK, what does that mean?” A scurrilous person is someone given to coarse language. They are vulgar and evil and their language is marked by obscenities, abuse, or slander. Wow! That certainly clarifies a few things doesn't it? Blasphemy is not limited to speaking evil against God, it also includes speaking or behaving abusively toward others that He has created! This is the meat of what Jesus was saying in Mt 5:22 "But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire. Why? Because they are engaging in blasphemy! This is the kind of blasphemy that will plague the church on occasions until our Lord returns and it must not be so! A Christ follower's speech must be seasoned with grace not vulgarity, abuse, or slander. (See Col 4:6) Personally, I think we are experiencing this kind of blasphemy in a big way on social media today. The vulgarity of the world has crept into our Christian vocabulary big time. I delete all posts on my Facebook page that hint of this kind of blasphemy, vulgarity, and attack on one's character. Are you winking at such language simply because you agree with the point? Then you are a blasphemer. Stop it! It's not what you are called to be. Such language is not fit for a son or daughter of the King!