Exodus 20:7, 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.
Like a parent who gives his child a curfew, God has given us rules to follow. Also, like a parent, these rules aren’t meant to be abusive or arbitrary, nor are they “suggestions.” They are given so that we might live happy, healthy, and productive lives. God, being perfect, knows best what is important for us. It’s not a coincidence that the first four of the Ten Commandments focus on our relationship with Him. The 3rd commandment, the prohibition of taking His name in vain, should be of great importance to us.
The Scribes and Pharisees prided themselves on their strict adherence to the letter of the Law. Concerning this commandment, they were so obsessed with the letter of the Law that they would not even speak God’s name aloud. While reading Scripture, whenever they came across the name of God (the Tetragrammaton, YHWH), they would say, “Adonai” (meaning Lord), instead. We see a legacy of this practice in many of our translations of the Bible. Whenever the word LORD appears in all capital letters, the original word being translated is the Tetragrammaton, the name God gave to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:13-14).
Now, I don’t claim to be a Bible scholar but I just don’t believe that God intended us to never speak His name. But if the command is not against speaking His name in general, then what does the commandment mean? When I was teaching my children about this commandment, I explained it this way: don’t say the word God unless you’re talking about God. Never use it as a curse nor speak it in exclamation. Never! I felt that was appropriate advice for a child but, at that time, even my own understanding of this verse was somewhat child-like.
I used to think this was an easy commandment to keep. I know I get angry sometimes and there have been times I’ve said things I later regret. But I have long since disciplined myself that no matter how angry I get and no matter what I might say, I will NOT say “G*d” - certainly not G.D. I will not even say, “OMG.” So I’m innocent of breaking this command, right? Wrong!!
2 Chronicles 7:14, If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Have you ever noticed in this passage who God is speaking to? He’s not talking to the heathens. He’s not talking to the unbelievers. He’s not talking to the lost people of this world. He’s talking to His people - those who are called by His name! God isn’t saying He will heal our nation when the wicked repent. He’s saying He will heal the land when the people who call themselves believers repent!
We call ourselves Christians. The word Christian literally means “like Christ.” So how are you doing being like Christ? For good or bad, when we call ourselves Christians, we are calling ourselves by His name. What we do and how we act directly impacts our testimony. If you’re going to call yourself a Christian, you need to act like a Christian. You need to act like Christ. Do you love like Christ? Do you pray like Christ? Do you preach repentance like Christ?
I know that as long as we live in our bodies of flesh, we will struggle with sin. Even so, Christ has told us to keep His commandments. When we say we are Christians, yet continuously engage in unrepentant sin, we are certainly not being like Christ. In that case, I very much believe that we are using His name in vain!
A Christian not being Christ-like
