top of page
Search

The Love Principle - Study 6: Love the Name of Your God

  • 8 hours ago
  • 15 min read

Exodus 20:7 NIV 

[7] “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/exo.20.7.NIV)


The name of one of my in-laws’ favourite bakeries and cafes always amuses me. 


It’s called IKEA. 


No, it’s not that IKEA. They don’t sell Swedish meatballs. You don’t have to assemble the cakes with incomprehensible instructions and an Allen key. But that’s their name, copied from the European furniture giant. They aren’t hidden in a back street either. Their cafe is in the middle of a busy mall in Ormoc City, Philippines. They were well established before the European IKEA arrived, so in the locals’ minds the association between that name and local delicacies is more established than the same name and Scandinavian pine furniture. 


We are well used to legal battles over company names. For example, the corporate name ‘Iceland’ belongs to a frozen food chain, meaning that actual Icelandic companies cannot use the name of their own country in their name.


The World Wildlife Fund famously sued the World Wrestling Federation over the use of the initials ‘WWF’, facing the American pantomime sport body to change their name. It seems like they had been forced to submit. 


Thee are many others. More often than not, big corporate companies will either sue each other, or try to bully smaller companies, to protect their brand and its associations in people’s minds. 


We can fully understand why companies would want to do that. It prevents their hard work from being abused by people seeking to ride on their coat-tails. 


But when we see this commandment, do we care as much for the Name of the Lord? 


This is where we misunderstand the true meaning of the word ‘glory’. 


Many branches of the church have understood this in terms of the shining light that emanates from the Throne of God (Ezekiel 1:28). This what is known as the ‘shekinah’ glory.


And that is part of what it means. 


But it’s not all of it. 


The Hebrew word for ‘glory’ means ‘heavy’, but it’s also connected to something that is respected, valued, honoured. It’s to do with reputation and renown.  


In a very real sense, to use modern business-speak, it’s about ‘caring for the brand’.  


But in this case, it’s very much not about money or prestige. This commandment, remember, has its root in the commandment to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.


Someone who loves will care for the reputation and honour of the subject of their affection. They will not drag them through the mud. 


In the same way, someone who loves God will care for the Name of God. They will not seek to defame it. They will uphold it, honour it and respect it. 


And this affects everything. 


The Bible scholar and commentator David Guzik summed this up in three areas of our lives where seeking to honour and care for the Name of the Lord must have an impact. 


The first of these is that there must be No Profanity. 

 

No Profanity 

Colossians 3:8 NIV 

[8] But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/col.3.8.NIV)


Now, before we go any further, we must first counter the arguments of those who are so-called ‘free speech absolutists’ (which is, of course, a massive lie: they grant free speech to those who agree with them and actively seek to silence those who do not). As Christians, we have this freedom. But as Christians, we choose not to use it. 


Why? 


1 Corinthians 10:23-24 NIV 

[23] “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. [24] No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. 

The fact that we are permitted  to do something does not mean that we should. As Christians, the things we say and the way we say them are very important. They are part of the impression people have of us, and, if they know we are Christians, of Christ Himself.


That’s why it’s clear in the Bible that we are not free to say whatever we want if we truly love the Lord our God: 


Ephesians 5:3-5 NIV 

[3] But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. [4] Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. [5] For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/eph.5.3-5.NIV)


James 3:9-10 NIV 

[9] With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. [10] Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jas.3.9-10.NIV)


And in case you think this is just the first century Christian leaders being a little too legalistic, Jesus Himself said this: 


Matthew 12:33-37 NIV 

[33]  “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. [34] You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. [35] A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. [36] But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. [37] For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” 

So what comes out of our mouth shows all around us what is truly in our heart. If we’re loving and encouraging and appreciative and thankful, then it’s plain to all that our heart is a happy, loving, grateful place. 


But if we’re full of spite, anger, resentment, bitterness, rage, politicking, cursing, dirty jokes, cutting remarks and foul and abusive language, our heart is plainly a cesspit. 


So before we move any further, let me ask you a deeply troubling question: what do your words say about the condition of your heart? 


It should therefore be clear: cursing, swearing, using filthy language, dirty jokes and cursing should all be out for any Christian who truly loves God. 


But now we have to move on to a subject that strikes at the very heart of a habit that has been around for many decades: the use of ‘Oh my God!’ or ‘OMG!’ or ‘Jesus Christ!', or similar expressions as an outburst or curse.  


Should Christians be doing this? 


Let me ask you this question: are you praying when you let loose these expressions? 


You’re not, are you? 


Then you are basically using the Holy Name of God cheaply and in an empty, meaningless manner. This is the very definition of using the Lord’s Name in vain. Ask yourself this: would you do this using the name of someone you love: like a spouse or a child or a close friend?  


I doubt it. 


Then you should not do it with the Name of the Lord. Not if you really love Him. 


As Christians, it’s our job to set an example to those around us and to show them how good life is when we love the Lord our God. We do not have the right to impose our standards on those who don’t know the Lord let alone love Him. 


But we must uphold these standards for ourselves.  


We are therefore not free to do any of these things, and certainly not to treat the Name of the Lord with disdain and disrespect. 


If we love Him, we should repent of all of these things. 


After seeing how this applies to profanity, David Guzik’s next point is that for Christians there should be No Frivolity in connection with the Name of the Lord. 

 

No Frivolity 

Leviticus 24:10-16 NIV 

[10] Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and a fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. [11] The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name with a curse; so they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri the Danite.) [12] They put him in custody until the will of the Lord should be made clear to them. [13] Then the Lord said to Moses: [14] “Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him. [15] Say to the Israelites: ‘Anyone who curses their God will be held responsible; [16] anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord is to be put to death. The entire assembly must stone them. Whether foreigner or native-born, when they blaspheme the Name they are to be put to death. 

I like humour. I process a lot of things through humour. I find it helps me, and others, cope with the stresses of life. 


But I do not at all subscribe to the idea that we can joke about anything and everything. Some jokes are simply beyond the pale, mean-spirited and offensive. Some should just never be made. 


There is a line that should not be crossed. Some things should never be joked about. 


One of them is God. 


Allow me to illustrate this. 


Microscopes make small things bigger. Telescopes make far away things closer. They don’t allow us to see enormous heavenly bodies like stars or planets at their actual size, but they at least allow us to see them close up and larger than we would with the naked eye. 


In a way, the Bible acts as a telescope. It allows us to see something of the splendour and glory and greatness of our God. But no book could ever permit us to see His glory to its fullest extent as there are no words in any human language that could describe it and our tiny human brains could not cope with it. 


But when we make jokes about God, when we treat His work flippantly or lightly, we are spinning that telescope around. Instead of trying to comprehend the Incomprehensible, Almighty God and seeing Him as close as possible for Who He is, we are making Him seem smaller. We are belittling Him. 


We are putting Him down. 


We are treating Him with contempt. 


And that is not the action of someone who says they love God. 


A few weekends ago, my wife and I were on a train home from Glasgow on a Saturday evening. There was a group of people on that train who had plainly drunk some alcohol. One of them said something blatantly unkind and belittling about his wife, who was sitting next to him. I didn’t hear what it was. 


But his companions did. They scolded him loudly and vociferously, saying that he should not be saying such things. 


His wife got up from her seat to throw something into the train’s trash can. I could see she had tears in her eyes. She said something to the effect that he should not be saying something like that (whatever it was) about someone he claimed he loved. 


Whatever that man had said, it had hurt. 


We read in Exodus that two men got into a fight: an Egyptian/Israelite and an Israelite. The former cursed the Name of the Lord in battle. He was sentenced to death for his crime. 


Yes, that punishment was serious. But it doesn’t take long in the Bible to see that God cares about His Name: 


Psalms 91:14 NIV 

[14] “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.91.14.NIV)


Isaiah 42:8 NIV 

[8] “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/isa.42.8.NIV)


Ezekiel 20:9-10 NIV 

[9] But for the sake of my name, I brought them out of Egypt. I did it to keep my name from being profaned in the eyes of the nations among whom they lived and in whose sight I had revealed myself to the Israelites. [10] Therefore I led them out of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.  

Malachi 1:11 NIV 

[11] My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/mal.1.11.NIV)


So how then can we take that Blessed, Glorious Name and use it in light-hearted, profane banter? How can we joke about it? 


Remember: this is the God who holds your life in His hand and gives you your next breath. 

 

Are you sure you should be flippant about Him? 


Apart from profanity and frivolity being banned, David Guzik also said that for Christian there should be No Hypocrisy. 

 

No Hypocrisy 

Romans 2:23-24 NIV 

[23] You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? [24] As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” 

Ezekiel 36:19-23 NIV 

[19] I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered through the countries; I judged them according to their conduct and their actions. [20] And wherever they went among the nations they profaned my holy name, for it was said of them, ‘These are the Lord’s people, and yet they had to leave his land.’ [21] I had concern for my holy name, which the people of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone. [22] “Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. [23] I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes. 

In 2011, a famous fashion brand found themselves in a very unusual situation. A reality TV star who they felt did not represent their values was wearing their clothes. And so Abercrombie and Fitch paid ‘Jersey Shore’s Michael Sorrentino to not wear their clothes. 


Brand association is quite a powerful concept. It can completely ruin millions of dollars if advertising if the wrong person is associated with a brand, even if the brand did not choose them.  


One European brand even approached the police of a certain nation after a serial killer was pictured wearing their brand, specifically asking that they made sure he didn’t wear those clothes again! 


God often has the same issue. Mahatma Gandhi once said, ‘I like your Christ, but not your Christians’.  


I’m afraid that these days he may have a point. 


Even this week, at time of writing, a man was released for sending photos of a crude and sexual nature. Not only was this man a Christian, he was a pastor. This was a fact that the media widely reported on. 


And no, I don’t think that was some grand conspiracy. The media as every right to hold us Christians to a higher standard. They should expect it of us. 


The name of Christ was once again associated with a heinous, evil and utterly selfish sinner. 


That is one brand association no-one wants. 


And that is precisely the point. 


Paul’s incredibly sharp teaching in Romans 2 was aimed at a specific group of people: those who claimed to be righteous and hold, but were, in fact, as bad, or even worse, than those living around them: 


Romans 2:17-24 NIV 

[17] Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; [18] if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; [19] if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, [20] an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— [21] you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? [22] You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? [23] You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? [24] As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” 

Paul’s point is clear. Claiming to be a follower of God, and yet acting as if there is no God, is blatant hypocrisy. People should look at those who bear His Name and see God in them. If all they see is corruption and shame and evil, such people do not bring glory to God. 


No, they only bring shame and reproach. 


And that is an awful position to be in. 


It was also the position God’s people found themselves in during Ezekiel's time. They had been exiled because of their sin. They had lost everything they should have valued the most. Yet they had not learned a thing from this horrific experience and continued to sin while in exile. 


Hence God’s utterly scathing words through Ezekiel, when He told them they His Name was being blasphemed among the nations because of them. That is, people were thinking and saying things about Him that were far from true because of what they saw in His people. 


Why was Jesus so critical of the religious elite of His day? For the same reasons: they pretended to be religious, but deep down they were anything but (Matthew 23:13-36).


The word ‘hypocrisy’ comes from a Greek word for an actor on stage who was playing a role. They were pretending to be someone else for the sake of the crowd. Jesus detested that. He taught that our spirituality should be genuine, not faked (Matthew 6:1-18). 


But this command should cause us to ask serious questions. Are we really Christians at all?


Are we really seeking to follow Christ? 


Or are we misusing His Name and taking it in vain by attaching it to something that has nothing to do with Him? 


There are many shysters and conmen in our day who try to use Jesus’ Name for profit.


Believe me: Jesus sees and He knows. They will pay for this in the court of eternity, where the damages are way steeper and there us no right to appeal. 


That is their problem. 


Ours is to make sure that we truly live for the glory of God and seek to honour the Wonderful Name we bear as Christians. 

 

Conclusions 

2 Corinthians 5:20-21 NIV 

[20] We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. [21] God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 

As I write this study, my country is in the throes of a political scandal the likes of which has not been seen for generations. A man who was nominated by the current Prime Minister to be the Ambassador to the United States of America has been found to have associated with a known prolific criminal. 


For an ambassador of any country, this just isn’t possible. They have to be the most honourable people there are, because they represent their nation to everyone they meet.


They are the voice of their nation’s government, the face of their nation’s industry, the advert for their tourism. 


When people see them, they don’t see just a human being, they see the nation they represent. 


Which all means that, as public servants, ambassadors, and indeed all ambassadorial staff, trade away their freedom to say and do whatever they want and exchange it for a civil service career with a nice pension. 


In 2 Corinthians 5:20-21, Paul’s point is that we are now Ambassadors of the Kingdom of God, Emissaries of Heaven, sent to earth to deliver God’s terms of surrender. He has won the battle on the cross. We are sent to proclaim that victory and to urge people to be reconciled with the victor. 


But we must do so in a proper way: 


1 Peter 3:15-16 NIV 

[15] But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, [16] keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.  

So, no, Christians are not free to speak and act as they choose. Those who do so demonstrate that they love their freedom more than they do God, their neighbour and themselves and are more than happy to treat all three with contempt just for the right to run their mouth. 


That is utter foolishness. 


Ephesians 4:29-32 NIV 

[29] 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. [30] And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. [31] Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. [32] Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. 

If we truly love God, our neighbour and ourselves, then it must show in our words and our actions. We cannot have the precious Name of our Saviour attached to profanity, frivolity with His Name and absolutely not with hypocrisy. 


This very simple command has become something that challenges so many wrong behaviours in our lives. And that’s no bad thing, even if it hurts. 


Because we will want to repent and do better. 


If we truly love God. 

 

Prayer 

Lord Jesus, I realise from this command just how much of a sinner I really am. I want to be a true and faithful ambassador of Your Kingdom to a watching, needy world, but I know I have let You down with the things I have said and done. I repent of these things now. I ask You to forgive me. Set me free of them and help me live up to Your Glorious Name. Amen. 

 

Questions for Contemplation  

  • What do we see in this command is not proper conduct for a Christian? Why is this so wrong? 

  • What role does Paul say we play? What impact does this have on the things we say and do? 

  • What changes will you make to do this better? 

Comments

Thanks for submitting!

Drop Me a Line, Let Me Know What You Think

Thanks for submitting!

© 2023 by Train of Thoughts. Proudly created with Wix.com

bottom of page