Photo, Slideshow, Square photo | Comments Off on Cussing evangelist brings gospel to the vulgar Posted by joelkilpatrick on Jul 12, 2013 in 2003-2008

SEATTLE — In an effort to broaden his ministry’s reach, evangelist Jeremy Balfour has started using filthy words he’d once banned from his vocabulary.

“I’ve been an evangelist for ten f***ing years and I’ve never felt such f***ing freedom,” he says during an interview.

Balfour’s change of heart came when he realized that obscene words are a key to open the hearts of many unsaved people.

“With some people, you’re not in their club unless you get R-rated in your speech,” Balfour says. “They test your allegiance to their culture. A few choice s***heads and f*** yous can build trust. And at what cost? Nothing.”

So-called “bad words” are not explicitly prohibited in the Bible, he says. He quotes 2 Corinthians 11:6 (“my new life verse”) which says in part, “But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge.” In the sub-cultures he hopes to reach, vulgarity is defined differently than in church, he says.

“So-called bad language isn’t shocking there,” he says. “You can say something like …”

He reels off a string of vulgarities that would turn a sailor beet red.

“See?” he says with a laugh. “You’re embarrassed by it. I’m not. I’m comfortable with the language.”

To date, Balfour says he’s seen several dozen people come to the Lord at bars, ball games and dance clubs, some of them cussing their way through the sinner’s prayer.

“I’ll put my hand on their shoulder and they’ll say, ‘Lord, I’m an a**hole. I’ve f***ed up my life pretty bad. Please forgive all the s*** in my past. I give you my future,'” he says. “Then they’ll smile and hug me and say, ‘D***, that’s the f****** awesomest feeling I’ve ever had.'”

Balfour’s home church quietly asked him to move his office elsewhere, and he has trouble getting invitations to raise money in churches. “I use the same language there, but they can’t take it,” he says.

Even his wife isn’t used to his new approach, but “that’s all right,” he says, laughing. “She’s a good ho.” •