I think a lot of us misunderstand what it means to take the Lord's name in vain. Don't you think the warning at the end of this verse seems a little harsh for saying, "Oh, my G**"? I mean, yeah, you are using His holy name as a term of surprise, anger, frustration, excitement—essentially as a curse word—but I don't think that's all God meant when He warned against taking His name in vain.
In Old Testament times, a person's name was more than what people called him. It was his reputation. A person's name was who he was. It defined him. That doesn't mean that "Michael: who is like God" defines me (although that would be great if I could fully live out the identity that comes with my name; I think my name is more of a rhetorical question than a definition of who I am, though, but that's a story for another time). It means that the term "name" actually meant "reputation." Maybe it would make more sense if I put it the other way around: a person's reputation was his name. That's why the Lord's name is such a big deal: I AM. His reputation is that He simply is. He exists everywhere at all times no matter what. He is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent. He is the Lord God Almighty. He is good. He is loving. He is gracious. He is merciful. He is forgiving. He is just. He is holy, holy, holy. We are because He is.
"In Him we live and move and have our being." ~ Acts 17:28If God's reputation is so awesome, it makes a little more sense that He would warn so strongly against taking His name—His reputation—in vain. But what does it mean to take His name in vain?
Have you ever heard a non-Christian, use the Bible against you or another Christian? Have you ever been that person? You know, the ones who say, "If God is so good, why does He let bad things happen to good people?" or "How can a loving God throw people in hell?" (Sometimes Christians ask these questions out of honest curiosity because they are hard things to understand. People don't always use these questions to trap Christians.) Or have you ever heard someone preach the prosperity gospel, the "health and wealth" gospel? These are examples of taking the Lord's name in vain. We assume we know God's whole reputation based on singular attributes of His character, but we fail to recognize the rest of His character. Someone who loves without justice does not truly love. God loves us too much to let us go on hurting ourselves through sin, so He disciplines us. And I would hope that God would know what love is since 1 John 4:8 says that God is Love.
A more common example would be the dreaded issue of judgment. When we judge others for their sins because the Lord is holy and righteous and can have nothing to do with sin, we are guilty of taking His name in vain. Yes, God hates sin, but we can't forget that we were sinners once too, and we still continue to sin even though we have been redeemed. We have no right to look down on others because we are no better than them. Besides, Jesus bore our sins on the cross, and He can do the same for everyone else. He knows how to deal with sin, so let Him handle it instead of judging people yourself.
God's name—His identity, His reputation—is so vast and all encompassing that any time we fixate on a single attribute of His character and ignore the rest of His reputation, we grow dangerously close to taking His name in vain if we haven't stepped over that line already.
One last thing, then I'm done for tonight. Take a close look at the Third Commandment again: "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain." Do you realize that when we begin to follow Christ, we become identified with His name and we take His reputation upon ourselves? We bear His name wherever we go, and we are to represent Him well in all that we do. When we represent Him poorly, we take His name in vain. In fact, we blaspheme. When we sin, we are pretty much saying that it's okay with God and that He would do it too. We are falsely carrying His reputation. Thank God that He forgives us! No wonder the warning against taking His name in vain is so frightening.
I don't mean for this post to be an accusation against anyone. It's as convicting for me as I hope it is for you. But I only want it to be convicting. Thanks to Christ, we are free from guilt, so if you feel guilty, ask for forgiveness for whatever made you guilty, then rebuke the accuser, Satan, and find peace in knowing that God has forgiven you. "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." I know that I definitely don't always represent the Lord well. I am guilty of taking the Lord's name in vain, in more ways than I want to think about. But there's hope! Yes, we represent God now that we are identified with Christ, but we aren't the ones representing Him. He represents Himself in us and through us. As Paul writes in Galatians 2:19-20, "For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." So with that in mind, let's give God full reign in our lives and let Him represent Himself well through us.
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