Why is it that people who don’t even believe in Jesus use His name as an expletive? We’ve all heard a non-Christian say: “Oh my God! God! Jesus! Jesus Christ! Or any of the popular variations: Jeez! Gosh! OMG!”
If you think this whole existence is random and that there is no Creator, why use His name at all? Why not use some other word or name?
If you worship science, why not shout: “Galileo! or Oh my Newton! or Nikola Tesla!”
If you worship nature, why not shout: “Kingdom & Phylum! or Galapagos! or Oh my tree!”
Silly, isn’t it? But why?
Could it be that none of these name have even an inkling of power? Could it be that you use the name of the Son of God because He is the only name from which every knee shall bow and every tongue confess? And doesn’t it stand to reason that by using His name, you acknowledge His existence anyhow?
It puzzles me to no end.
It also offends me (especially GD).
The obvious go-to verse here is Exodus 20:7, “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name. (NIV)”
The NIV says “misuse” but most Bibles say, “in vain.” The Hebrew word for vain here is, “shav.” It means “emptiness, vanity, falsehood, nothingness, lying, worthlessness.” Do you really want to lift up God’s name and attach it to emptiness? It’s disrespectful. It’s dishonorable.
Since Exodus 20 is the Old Covenant under the Law, I would also like to look at an example from the New Covenant of Grace, Matt. 6:9. “Hallowed be Your name.”
Hallowed: respected, revered, honored! Not to be used trivially and definitely not to be used as an everyday run of the mill curse word.
Sadly, Christians are just as guilty of this as non-Christians, myself included. We need to guard ourselves! James will tell you how hard the tongue is to tame! It’s a never-ending battle. Surrender to Jesus. Revere His name!
May God’s Love be with you
