"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain." (Exo 20:7)We all know that one, right? And we all know what it means. Don't use God's name as a swear word. And while a lot of people even in the Christian world these days are no longer concerned about it, most Christians agree that the Decalogue, the 10 Commandments, are still in effect for Christians. So we should be careful about how we use the word "God", shouldn't we?
I suspect that we've missed the point.
First, biblically God has a name and it isn't "God." "God" is His title. His name is the Tetragrammaton -- YHWH in English. Latin made it "Jehovah" and more modern English speakers use "Yahweh", but biblically that is His name. (Note: It is the name in the command which most translations indicate with "LORD" (all caps).) Factor in that the Father is called YHWH, but God the Son is called Jesus, and we have some thinking to do about using God's name in vain. Finally, in Scripture, the term "name" doesn't necessarily refer to the noun assigned to designate the person. It generally refers to the character of the person to whom it refers. When we "pray in Jesus's name", for instance, it doesn't mean "Use the term, Jesus." It means "Ask God for what you want on the basis of the person and character of His Son." And, look, we use it that way ourselves sometimes. If we say, "They ruined his good name," we aren't suggesting "They changed his name from Bob -- a perfectly good name -- to Blob, a cruel thing to name him." No we mean that the name in question is the character and reputation of the person in question.
What we rarely think about is what it means to "use God's name in vain." We quibble over which name it is without thinking what it means to use it in vain. I would think that would be a serious consideration. According to the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Dictionary, the Hebrew word here means "emptiness, vanity, falsehood." It could mean to be false or it could mean to be worthless or it could mean to be empty. Vain. All three, I suppose, are aspects of the same concept. The warning, then, about "God's name" is a warning not about simply using it improperly in a sentence, but emptying it of value. When we empty God's character or reputation of value, we "take the name of the LORD your God in vain."
If that's true, then obviously any allusion to God (whether name or title, Father, Son, or Holy Spirit) that is void of value or truth would fall in this category. Using a reference to YHWH as "God" to express personal shock or surprise would seem to surely be to take His void the value of His name, His reputation, His character. But we do that in so many ways. I mean, there is the obvious use of "God" without any reference to God. But how often are we praying without actually thinking of God, invoking His name but distracted in our prayers? Have you found yourself in church singing praises to God while you're thinking about the work day tomorrow or whether or not they'll have donuts between services or some other non-God thing? I know that I have, to my shame, actually prayed out loud at times, thinking more about whether or not I am coherent and understood by those listening than by the One to whom I'm praying -- using God's name in vain. Oh, I know one. How about when you're singing in a worship service and thinking, "I hope I sound good to the people in the row in front of me." We do it. We do it too often. We do it to our own shame. We invoke God's name without actually thinking about God's character or worth. That's taking His name in vain. We refer to His character ignoring what He says about His character. Like when we defend God when unpleasant things happen but God says, "I am the LORD, and there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these" (Isa 45:6-7). God says, "I create calamity" and we say, "No, no He doesn't." We void His character.
I know. It's not on purpose. We all stray in many ways. I know, we're not aware of it. Now we are. Now we can get to work on that. You're welcome.
4 comments:
I don't have to worry about whether or not I sound awful to the people in front of me. So, I guess I've got that going for me.
I suppose you'll have to find your own application, your own niche of where you're doing it and don't realize it, because I'm pretty sure we all do.
What are your thoughts on the excessive use of Lord, Father, God, or Jesus (I even knew a guy that did Lord-Father-God) in public prayer? You know the ones, "Lord, thank you for this time together, Lord. Lord, bless this food, Father. Oh Lord, allow our fellowship to be blessed in your sight, God." And on it goes. Personally, I find it distracting. I also wonder if it starts to become in vain at some point. On top of that, it goes against what many say about our relationship with God. If our relationship is that close to Him, so we really need to keep reminding Him we're talking to Him? We don't do that when we talk to each other, and most people are told to talk to God the same way they'd talk to a loved one. Do you think this would be an example of taking the Lord's name in vain?
I've always been a little disturbed by the "new names" given to God when people pray, like what appears to be one word, "Fathergod," used repeatedly. Sometimes they seem to be used as vocal pauses. If it isn't actual vain use of God's name, it certainly suggests distracted praying.
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