I have coached soccer for both genders, mostly boys, for more than a decade.  Some are home-schooled, most go to public school, and some come from private schools.  The kids from religious homes are mostly Christian, some Jewish, or a mixture of religious expressions and beliefs.  Some don’t go to a house of worship at all.

The only consistent difference I’ve noticed is that the kids who come from religious homes might swear less.  If my kid doesn’t curse, we say to ourselves, I’m doing well.  In that one sense, this does make them different, but in the larger picture of life, it’s a pathetic difference.  Talk about straining at gnats and swallowing entire camels!  (See Matthew 23:24.)

Jesus used this metaphor to describe errors the religious leaders of His day were perpetrating.  They paid too much attention to minor matters and in the process ignored “weightier” matters like “justice, mercy, and good faith.”  I sometimes do the same thing as a parent, and I’m not proud of the reason: I strain at gnats because in myriad ways it’s easier than teaching and living out for my kids a Christlike example of what matters most.

Swearing is the gnat some schools strain as well.  My old high school, for example, held a summit among teachers and staff and decided that in the entire galaxy encapsulating tumultuous youth—which includes bullying so pervasive that an estimated 160,000 U.S. kids each day skip school—curtailing swearing was the most important crackdown they could undertake.

I’m not advocating swearing, especially taking the Lord’s name in vain.  But instead of a primary emphasis on rearing children known for not swearing as much as their peers, what about producing children known for their love of justice?  Children who, with this love, are trained in the shrewd ways of creating righteousness and peace?  What about rearing warriors of light, the kind of kids with fortitude and perseverance to withstand the wicked peer pressure that pounds them and others?  Give kids this kind of upbringing, and issues like swearing may well just take care of themselves.  After all, Jesus said it’s what comes out of us that defines us and can defile us; a heart that produces blessedness and light cannot continue to produce profanity and darkness (Mark 7:14-23; Luke 6:44-46).