Up early this morning reading and got pushed into Scripture by something I read. I wanted to share it with you this morning and I hope it pushes you into some deep reflection and study for yourself.
Many of us are familiar with the Ten Commandments. They are often thought of as a list of rules not to be broken by this far-off, punitive God in the sky.
But if you know the history and context of the time, place, and people they were given to, you would actually see they are given by a loving rescuer who is trying to help a people learn to be human again.
But that conversation is for another day.
I wanted to focus in on the 3rd commandment which reads like this, “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.”
I remember my grandmother getting onto me for saying the word “gosh”. She would say, “Don’t say that. It is way too close to saying the other and you know you’re not supposed to take the Lord’s name in vain.”
From an early age, I had been taught that there was a reverence to speaking of God and that it is actually part of the first commands He gave to His people.
As I got older, it was the belief of many fellow Christians. Trying to draw lines of demarcation when it came to what kind of entertainment or conversations they would engage with, many time I heard someone say, “They just used the G-D word too much and I had to step away.”
They were often willing to engage something with tons of profanity, graphic violence, and maybe even sexual situations. But, if that word was used they knew that was strictly forbidden and needed to distance themselves from any possible repercussions that would come their way.
This always struck me as odd, even as I would tell myself the same thing. Why is that the line? God is ok with the other? It just didn’t add up in my head.
Fast forward to this morning as I am reading and I get challenged with that moment God gave the people the Ten Commandments. The words in the original Hebrew bring the command in a much clearer light and also explain so much of my experience being raised in the experience of a Christian family.
The Hebrew word for “take” or “misuse” in some translations can also be translated as “carry”. These people that God has recused from their oppression and slavery and then delivered into freedom are now invited to be His representatives in the world. That means for the many who don’t know His goodness and faithfulness to deliver people from their bondage, this nation of freed people will now carry His reputation with their entire lives. That means words....and actions.
Further down in that command, the Hebrew word for “vain” means “emptiness of speech” and “worthlessness of conduct”.
So this 3rd commandment God has given His rescued people is literally saying to not carry His name in a empty or worthless manner because He will not hold them guiltless for it.
As I read that and meditated on that truth, everything cane flooding back and made sense to me now.
While not using the name of God in a profane or derogatory manner is absolutely right, there is so much more depth to what that command is saying. It’s also clear to me why I’ve never heard it explained in such a way because I think so often we are fully ok with just stopping with words themselves.
If there is something that rings true in my own life, and the life of many other fellow Christian brothers and sisters I have had the privilege of sharing life with, its that we so often stop short of plumbing the depths of God’s desire for us.
We are habitually content with the least possible amount of effort to ensure the greatest reward. This is part of the problem I experienced for much of my life as a child raised in the church. My understanding of what it meant to be a Christian was say a prayer, get baptized, and then try your best to do more of the good stuff than the bad stuff.
But when the Gospel message is distorted into this performance-based scale of measure, shallow goals are the believers best friend.
Because if to observe the 3rd commandment just means to steer away from using God in any sort of profanity, I can train and discipline myself to do that. I have successfully went decades now without saying G-D in any conversation. I have censored myself when rapping some of my favorite lyrics. I have even tried to stay away from any entertainment where they will disparage God and profane his name in direct blasphemy.
But when I dig deeper into that 3rd commandment and it goes beyond just the words I use or engage with, when it begins to root into the way I actually live my life, I find out I am in trouble.
When it’s not just good enough to not say a word, but that the expectation is that my actions should demonstrate the same heart for people that God has, I am now challenged mightily in my comfort and prosperity.
Do I not just speak, but act on behalf of the poor and oppressed?
Do I not just acknowledge, but do I engage when I see the sin that is structured and embedded in our society?
Do I actually do something when it is evident our human nature is fully showing the willingness to use power to preserve privilege at the expense of the weak?
Because God did.
And if I am claiming to be one of His rescued people, to honor and obey the 3rd commandment means that I do too.
This is the issue so many of us struggle with and it’s why we react with vitriol and rage when we are confronted in our inability to embody the heart of God right now.
Our sinful nature doesn’t go quietly in the night. It is rooted in the very essence of our being and it will fight with every bit of furor and power that it has to not be eliminated.
But when you have been rescued by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob....
Jehovah,
Elohim,
Yahweh,
you recognize the oppression and despair of slavery when you see it and you desperately cry out for your rescue.
May we be a people who never forget He heard our cries, came and delivered us, and set us free for the purpose of setting as many others free as we can so that the world would know just how worthy of honor and praise He is.
Selah