Oh Be Careful Little Mouth What You Say

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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 (Exodus 20:7).

Most churchgoers are only familiar with the first part of the third commandment (above). The second part (punishment for those who break the first part) is almost never mentioned. I wonder why.

It is important to remember that the Ten Commandments were given to the people who should have been the most grateful to God. He had rescued them from four centuries of slavery in Egypt. Why would the people most helped by God have to be told not to take His name in vain? Perhaps an old axiom will help explain it: “Familiarity breeds contempt.”

It seems to be human nature that the more we know about a person, the more we tend to ‘own’ that person. It happens in marriage all the time, doesn’t it, which probably explains why so many marriages end in divorce. The more we know someone, the easier it is to take them for granted. Day by day it gets easier to be aloof, unhelpful, and even uncooperative and expect the other person to just deal with it because after all, it’s me and you know me.

God is different because God is holy. He is the epicenter and source of holiness. There is no holiness apart from Him. His holiness doesn’t fade or wane the more we know Him. Think about the four living creatures of Revelation 4:6-8. They surround God’s throne in heaven (who knows for how long), and they only have one job:

Day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come!”

Yet those who have never seen God become so comfortable in their relationship with Him that they use His name to accentuate how surprised, confused, or disgusted they are about what’s happening around them. “Oh my God!” or “Oh my Lord!” or “Dear Jesus!” or just plain “Jesus!” is exclaimed every day by people who claim to know and follow the Ten Commandments. By people who call themselves believers and disciples. By people who say they love God.

I understand that unbelievers have no respect for God and therefore could care less about profaning His name, but Christians? None of the other nine commandments have the addendum about not going unpunished if and when they are disobeyed. Does that mean there is no consequence for disobeying them? Obviously not. Clearly, the warning in the third commandment is given to emphasize the nature of this particular commandment.

God’s name is no trivial matter. And it doesn’t matter if you’re talking about ‘Yahweh,’ ‘Jehovah,’ ‘Elohim,’ ‘Adonai,’ ‘El Shaddai,’ ‘Lord,’ or ‘Jesus’ (Jesus Christ). Speaking a name (or title) of God (including the word God) without reverence profanes God’s nature and character. It drags it down.

It supposes a relationship that is so personal that God should know that no offense is intended in using His name in such a flippant and disrespectful manner.

At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke of people who called Him “Lord, Lord” and reminded Him of all their works for Him. His response? “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23). There’s more to that than meets the eye. Saying ‘Lord’ without reverencing Him is taking His name in vain. And they will not be unpunished.

While speaking about an evil man, Jesus said, “his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart” (Luke 6:45). When we drag the name, character, or nature of God into daily phrases of exclamation, it doesn’t reveal ignorance; it reveals our own evil nature. Going to church, teaching Sunday School, and attending Bible study will not negate it. It’s just what Jesus said: “lawlessness.” It is also absolutely disrespectful.

How has it come to this? Why do so many churchgoers have so little reverence or respect for God that they think nothing of trivializing and profaning His holy name?

A failure of preaching and instruction. For decades the church has majored on love and minored on righteousness. God is love. But He is also holy. Holiness is not a minor attribute of the nature and character of God. It is just as major as His love. With love comes forgiveness. With holiness comes justice.

Two things can be equally true at the same time but have very different implications. In 1 John 4:19, the apostle wrote,

We love, because He first loved us.

The only reason we can love God at all is because He loved us first. Romans 5:8 says that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” He did not wait to send Jesus when we became good people. Because that never would have happened. God is love.

At the same time, the author of Hebrews wrote in 10:31,

It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

This is a statement that follows, “The Lord will judge His people.” I don’t know about you, but the statement by Jesus in Revelation 22:12 that He is coming quickly “to render to every man according to what he has done” doesn’t fill me with elation. God is holy. And I am thankful that He is also love.

It is very instructive that the apostle who referred to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” five different times in his gospel also wrote in Revelation 1:17 while exiled on Patmos: “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man.” Even though he knew Jesus loved him.

We’ve allowed ourselves to get too comfortable with our Creator and Savior if we use His name in the same way the wicked use profanity to register shock or surprise.

The Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

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