I really need help here, because I am always in the presence of people who are breaking the third commandment. Secular and Christian alike. You might ask how are Christians breaking the third commandment, or better yet, what is the third commandment. This is the third commandment "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.
How is this commandment broken? The most obvious answer is when people get angry and say the Lord's name in a really bad way, which I will not mention here. This is not what I am talking about. Most people realize that is wrong. What I am talking about is the subtle ways that people do this all the time.
Just so we understand exactly what this commandment is about, it is helpful to define the word vain. One of the definitions is this "without real significance, value, or importance; baseless or worthless." Another definition is "senseless or foolish".
When we use the Lord's name in a senseless or foolish way, or in a way that is not even referring to Him, we are using His name in vain. Here is the main example; "OH MY G--". I hear this all the time from people I work with, to people at church. I hear it everywhere I go, on TV, the radio, the internet. The more it is said, the more people think nothing of God, it is like He doesn't exist or hear us. The sad thing is that people say this and do not even know what they are saying, and God's name has become something that is foolish to us or insignificant. My children especially have a hard time because they hear it so much, yet they know they can not say it themselves. Sometimes I am afraid they will slip and say it anyway, it is so common.
How can our society ever have a high view of God, when we take His name in vain so much.
This is the problem I have; how do I nicely tell people who do this, especially when they are Christians, that they are breaking His commandment. I struggle with this all the time, I do not know the best way to tell people to stop. How should my kids tell their neighborhood friends to stop, does anyone out there have any good ideas? If anybody out there is reading this, and can help, please post a comment and let me know. Thanks.... this bothers me so much, it is kind of like fingernails on a chalkboard everytime I hear it.
Hey!
ReplyDeleteIn our neck of the woods, ps kids tend to say "H*** cow!" a lot. Our kids will just ask the other kid - "Do you think the cow is holy?" and of course they say "No" and then ours will say "Don't say it then, please". Of couse they'll forget and say it again 20 min later and will hear "Cows aren't holy" and will continue to hear that until they are trained not to say that in our hearing.
In a workplace situation I'm obnoxious enough to be comfortable asking someone to not say the Oh my... Or be flippant and reply "That's your God?!" as they are looking at something and say the phrase. Maybe go psych on someone and ask "What are you thinking when you say that phrase? Is there a better phrase that you can replace that with?" ha ha ha You don't really have to convict them that they are breaking a commandment (after all that's part of the Spirit's job); just by letting them know in one way or another that it's not acceptable around you will set them to thinking.
How about attending movies on your own volition that you KNOW will use God's name in vain throughout? Should we stop going? Personally I think the answer is "yes" if we want to hold to the third commandment. Participating in by passive involvement is as bad as actually doing it in my view. In fact, it might even be worse.
ReplyDeleteBlubbering Buzz you make a good point, but shouldn't this also extend to watching TV, listening to radio or attending other forms of public entertainment such as a sporting event or concert where we know people will be doing the same? I don't mean to suggest that we can't go out into public in general, my question is only with regards to public venues of entertainment.
ReplyDeleteWell, the main thrust of her post was in how to approach a fellow believer or friend, in a lovable and charitable way, and help them to understand that they need to pay more attention to their words.
ReplyDeleteI too tend to do things like byfaithalone said; I will reply with "What about God?" or some other smart remark; but that is not always a fruitful way of getting it through people's minds that their flippant use and abuse of "God" needs to be considered.
It becomes a habit to many, and we have heard it used so much that many times it is not even thought about.
The biggest one for me, is when people say "Jesus Christ!" This is rarely an issue I have heard among church goers, but again, people in the world have no respect for his name, and it becomes so vain.
****How can our society ever have a high view of God, when we take His name in vain so much****
ReplyDeleteWell this paragraph opens the door to what I offered earlier. The reality is that we are jsut as guilty as those that actively take God's name in vain when we passively sit in movie houses, etc and let our minds dwell on the words used by other people. Let's not even get into all the unadulterated sexual content that exists on the silver screen. I_n my opinioon, there are not too many movies that Christians should be going to see. Of course this is a heart issue and one that individual believers are going to have to come to terms with in thier own lives but I find it incredibly hypocritical for Christians to guard against things as were offered in this blog post and then allow themselves to be subjected to these things in a passive way at movies, etc.