Turn on the TV, listen to people’s conversations, check out Facebook: At every juncture these days, you hear God’s name being used as a byword or as slang. “Oh my God” or “OMG” is heard, read or written too often. I cringe when I hear it because it disrespects a holy God.
When I was teaching in high school and heard a student use God’s name like this, I would ask with a smile, “Are you praying?” Shocked and puzzled, they would say, “No.” I then would reply, “You had best be if you are using God’s name in my classroom.” I would use this as a teaching moment. I would gently explain, “Using God’s name like that is breaking a commandment: ‘Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain’ (Ex. 20:7); ‘in vain’ means without proper purpose or reverence.”
Most of the time, the student would say something like “I didn’t know that,” “I didn’t mean to do that” or “I didn’t know that was cursing.”
We live in the Bible Belt, and most people attend church or at least to some degree stand in awe of God. Many people who are using God’s name so casually mean no harm and are God-fearing, church-going people who would never say other curse words.
They would never think of themselves as cursing, but somewhere down the line, we, as a nation, have lost our reverence for the name of God.
In the Old Testament days, God’s name was so revered people wouldn’t even say it. When the scribes wrote Yahweh or God, they would change quills or writing instruments out of respect.
Parents, maybe we need to remind our children that some things are too holy to be used casually. Maybe we even need to reconsider what we are teaching them by example.
Barbara Eubanks
Boaz, Ala.
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