|
You
shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not
hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. (Exodus 20:7, NIV)
Q: In the home you grew up in, what was the
general attitude toward “bad language”?
-
Not tolerated in
my home – considered rude and disrespectful
We live in a rather coarse society, as far as
speech goes. In the name of freedom, people
have grown accustomed to using whatever words
get the reaction they want. Profanity is
rampant and accepted and even demanded at
times. Using God’s name as profanity has gone
from rare to shocking to not raising an eyebrow.
Q: Why is profanity so prevalent in our society?
I had lunch one day
with a former boss. As we were talking, he kept
saying, “Jesus Christ,” in reaction to things I
said. Either I am a spiritual giant to cause
that kind of reaction in people … NOT … or he
must have been a very spiritual person. So I
asked him, “I didn’t know you were a religious
man!” He looked sort of puzzled and said,
“Pardon me?” “You keep mentioning the LORD …
Jesus Christ," I said, "You say it with such
vigor and boldness I just supposed you two were
real close.” He sort of looked down and paused
for a moment. He got the point and did not
profane the LORD’s name anymore – at least while
he was at lunch with me.
Q: Is the misuse of God’s name just a matter of
the name itself (for example, if God was named
"Robert", would He really be that angry if we
called Him “Bob”)?
It is not the
exactness of the name you use but the
exaltedness of the name you profess.
Q: Why is the misuse of God’s name such a bad
thing – number three on the “Big Ten List of
Commands”?
When the Old
Testament was written, a name was given that
indicated the character and attributes of that
person. Quite often God would name someone
with a word that indicated His work in their
life (e.g. Abraham – the father of nations).
Abraham called God
“Jehovah-jireh”
which means,
“The LORD will provide” (Genesis
22:14, KJV).
How you speak God’s
name reflects your attitude and
feelings toward the One with the
name.
Q: Can you phrase this command as
a positive statement?
Exalt the name of the LORD!
Q: What are some ways we can exalt the name of
the LORD?
Constantly critique what you say and how you
say it: There is
great power in your words. The Bible says,
“The tongue has the power of
life and death, and those who love it will
eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:21, NIV).
It also says,
“The words of a wise man’s
mouth are gracious” (Ecclesiastes 10:12).
It may help you to ask a few close friends
to give you some honest feedback on what you
say and how you say it.
Renounce evil words from your lips:
You have to make a conscious decision about
how you will speak to the world BEFORE you
go out into the world.
“Do not let any unwholesome
talk come out of your mouths, but only what
is helpful for building others up according
to their needs, that it may benefit those
who listen” (Ephesians 4:29, NIV).
Because your words have power, you must put
away evil words, suggestive words, character
slurring words. But it is not enough to be
silent…
Speak
up about your LORD and Savior Jesus Christ:
Either His name is silenced or slurred in
today’s culture. It is rare to hear the
name of Jesus being blessed. Start a
revolution. Say the name of Jesus with
pride and passion! After all,
“God exalted Him to the
highest place and gave Him the name that is
above every name, that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, in heaven and on
earth and under the earth, and every tongue
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father” (Philippians
2:9-11, NIV).
© Copyright
2007, Randy Lariscy. All rights reserved.
|
