Bible Study and Insights

Taking the Lord's Name in Vain

My Pastor had a message on this a while ago while he was going through the Ten Commandments, and I feel it would be a good idea to "signal boost" what he said on the matter.

I'm pretty sure everyone knows that blasphemy falls into this category. This includes when people use His name in exclamations of excitement, anger, reaction to pain, or any of the other ways in which I'm sure you've heard His name turned into swearing. (This also includes when people insert a euphemism in place of where His name would otherwise be used.) Clearly, this is bad. But Pastor pointed out two other instances of taking His name in vain that I don't think people think about or even realize.

The first of these is when you say His name flippantly. The phrase "Thank the Lord" comes to mind, because I was once guilty of this one. My family had been hiking a mountain to see a waterfall, and it was humid and hot. As we were coming down, it started to rain, and I exclaimed, "Thank the Lord!" because it was such a relief from the heat. My mom later commented on it, telling me that she was proud of me for not complaining or being upset because of the rain, but instead immediately saw the positive of it and attributed it to God and thanked Him for it.

I'll admit that I'm a bit of a people pleaser, having this fear that I'll make people upset if I say or do the right thing. Hearing my mom say she was proud of me because of what I said, I began saying it more and more, until there was a time my siblings and I were watching a show on TV and protagonist overcame some obstacle and I jumped up and said "Thank the Lord!" while my siblings made relieved sighs, as it had been a somewhat tense situation.

That's when mom sat us all down and had a talk. She said she didn't like hearing us say that as often as we were (even though it was all me, really), and that when I had said it (though she didn't remember who'd said it) on the mountain that one time, there was a praise in it. It meant something. But watching TV? That was meaningless. There was no praise in that. No true thankfulness. It had become just a phrase.

I was burning with shame as she said that. I think I even cried a little. I'd been so focused on "this phrase made people happy; let's say it again" that I never stopped to actually consider what I was saying. I was just saying it to make people happy, rather than to praise God. In fact, I started to not even consider Him at all when I would say that phrase, and that's something I have to live with now and a burden I'll always carry.

Another example refers specifically to songs. There are some songs which repeat certain phrases, or even repeat His name, and while that isn't necessarily a bad thing, you have to consider in what way the artist was intentioning it.

For example, there's a hymn which has the line "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus / Sweetest name I know / Fills my every longing / keeps me singing as I go". In this song, the writer is repeating Jesus' name, but he's doing it reverently, and is praising him with the words. In some contemporary music, the artist will repeat His name, or a line which seems to be praising the Lord, but they do it in such a way that it loses the reverent nature.

One last thing to consider regarding using His name flippantly: jokes. Jokes that involve the Lord actually are a form of being flippant with His name. I'll admit: I've repeated some jokes which mention the Lord in them. They're funny. But that's exactly the reason why one should be careful about this. The Lord is not one to be taken lightly. There's a reason the term "fear of the Lord" is used so frequently throughout the Bible. He is to be respected, and when someone's joking while using His name, it's hard to see the respect.

The second point Pastor made was hypocrisy. If you live your life telling people that you're a Christain and that you love God, but then are the total opposite where people can't see you? That's also taking his name in vain, because when you say that you're serving God but are really just living in sin the moment you get home from church, all you're doing is turning His name into some ornate facade that you present to people to impress them. That's no more respectful than anything else I've already mentioned.

Why is this even so important? Allow me to answer that by letting the Lord speak:

"Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." (Exodus 20:7)