A few weeks ago I played golf with a mate on the nine hole public course at Papakura, South Auckland. On the second tee a young man playing on his own asked if he could join us. “Sure,” we replied, “the more the merrier.”

We carried on around the course making the usual small talk, as you do when meeting people for the first time. But by the seventh hole my suspicions were aroused.

On the eighth tee I was about to ask a question to confirm my suspicion, when our new friend beat me to it and asked us the very question I was about to ask him: “Are you guys Christians?” he said. Our new friend was also a Christian.

Perhaps the clue for him was the cross I wear around my neck, but in his case there was nothing about his appearance that acted as a clue. The clue came in what he said, or to be more precise what he didn’t say.

Not once over nine holes of the golf course did he use a swear word, curse, or blaspheme. To spend time playing sport with a Kiwi bloke and not hear him swear or use the Lord’s name in vain is, these days, a rarity. It made our new friend stand out.

And that got me to thinking about language and what a powerful tool it can be in our Christian witness.

There have been a few occasions in history when swear words have achieved a certain immortality. All Black Peter Jones’ “I’m b------d,” after he demolished the 1956 Springboks is one such example. Sir Edmund Hillary’s “We knocked the b-----d off!” on conquering the world’s highest mountain, is another.

It all seems fairly mild by today’s standard and I suspect the reason those quotes have lasted through the years is their shock value at the time. They were probably not the sort of words expected, and were uttered in the heat and excitement of the moment.

Unfortunately, these days the world has plenty of role models when it comes to swearing. And we are no longer shocked by anything.

(In)famous swearers of recent times include Aussie PM Kevin Rudd, British PM Gordon Brown, football manager Sir Alex Ferguson and even much admired US President Barack Obama (although he was quoting a person in his memoirs at the time!) And, of course, celebrities are notorious – the foul-mouthed British chef Gordon Ramsey being their champion.

Language is a gift from God, a thing of beauty. It has been used to lift us from the point of despair, to give us hope, to express great joy and great sorrow. Words have sparked revolutions, prompted acts of supreme courage, healed rifts, offered forgiveness.

Winston Churchill didn’t need to swear when he exhorted his countrymen to fight on the beaches, the hills and never surrender. Martin Luther King didn’t feel compelled to swear when making his point about having a dream.

Words are precious. We should use them carefully.

– Duncan Pardon