Did anyone else get in trouble as a kid for calling someone a fool? We weren't allowed to use the word in our house. It was like a cuss word. If I remember right, I think we were told if we called someone a fool we would go to hell. So me and my brothers always felt the need to reserve such language for very special, angry occasions. We didn't know it then, but that's exactly the use of the word that Jesus condemned.
Being a church brat and hearing so many preachers use words that we good Christian kids weren't allowed to seemed a bit hypocritical to me. Of course, I had no idea what a hypocrite was back then. All I knew was that preachers must've had some sort of deal worked out with God to be able to say words like ass and hell and damn and fool - and in the pulpit no less. When I was really young I could be daydreaming about Scooby Doo in outer space and hear a word like that pop out of a preacher's mouth and he'd have me back in rapt attention until something else distracted me. Maybe that was his point. When I got a little older all of us pre-teens would sit in the back of the church and snicker and poke when the preacher would cuss. When I'd ask about it most adults would just say it's how you use the word that makes the difference. I was never allowed to use the words regardless of how I justified it.
Although I still don't call anyone a fool, I think I've gotten over saying the word. When it's used in the bible it's usually referring to someones stubborn stupidity. I know a few people who qualify, but I still won't say it. I don't want to go to hell.
All that being said. Happy April Fool's Day! (Forgive me Lord.)
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