People are funny about names. When I was a kid, I had a way of yelling the names of all my friends when they were almost beyond earshot. Sometimes I would lengthen the first syllable, sometimes the second. If it was a one syllable name like Chris or Paul, I would convert it to a two syllable name: “Ka-RISSSS!” On our street when we weren’t screaming each other’s names, we were nick-naming them. Paul became “Puh-leener.” Dennis became “Denny-Lou,” and later just “Lou.” My name went from “Steven” to “Stevie-Lou,” to “Stevie-WonderBug” (a cartoon TV reference), and later “Big Steve.” I consider most nicknames endearing—people won’t toy with your name if they don’t like you.
But what’s this about using a name “in vain?” What does that mean—in vain? It means speaking the name for no reason. People do it all the time, tossing the word “God” into sentences in a manner that makes the name an adjective or even non-sensical. When God says in Exodus 20:7, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord Thy God in vain,” He is saying don’t toss His name around for no purpose. When you pray, you are saying God’s name for a reason. But when you use His name as an interjection—as a cuss or a “curse” word—you are speaking His name without purpose, or worse, with a purpose but a purpose that is against all that God stands for. The most common way God’s name is slandered (abbreviated “G.D.”) is asking/commanding God to damn someone to hell.
Though Christians are by no means perfect at controlling their speech, few would try to defend such a statement. Yet I am not sure we take the third commandment as seriously as we should. Am I being legalistic? No. I live in grace.
But if we hope to shine a light for those in darkness, a loving reverence for God should permeate our lives.
King Nebuchadnezzar understood fame. Like a god, his name was on everyone’s lips. So when the king of Babylon was astonished at the way God saved three men from the fiery furnace, King Nebuchadnezzar did not command his people to worship Yahweh, but rather to never insult His Name.
“Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent His angel and rescued His servants who trusted in Him … Therefore, I issue a decree that anyone of any people, nation, or language who says anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be torn limb from limb and his house made a garbage dump. For there is no other god who is able to deliver like this” Daniel 3:28-29.
THE DEATH PENALTY? FOR WORDS??
This pagan king made it a capital crime for anyone to offend the name of God. Yet somehow, many of us who owe Jesus everything continue to slander His name carelessly.
Two ways to honor God’s name:
(1) Never use His name as an interjection, or for emphasis, or as a cuss word, and
(2) NEVER claim God spoke to you when you are not ABSOLUTELY SURE. If you could not stand before God’s throne and tell it to Him, don’t tell it to anyone else. Americans, perhaps taking our cue from TV preachers, have developed a bad habit of saying “God spoke to me” or “God led us” as a way to justify questionable decisions. It is one thing to say “I have prayed about this and I feel good about the decision,” but it is another to say, “God led me.”
Never, never, never say God did something, led something, spoke something, or birthed something that you are not absolutely 100% certain was God.
Such a reckless use of God’s name is worse than saying “G.D.” or almost anything else you might do with your mouth. For a Christian to recklessly make God the CAUSE behind some effect may be the greatest violation of the third commandment possible. Such a vain use of God’s name is worse than that of all the pagans out there tossing it around as a cuss word.
ΑΩ
Household Words: 