Taking His Name in Vain

I have been following the recent story about the depiction of Allah with interest. When I was in Africa I remember a Muslim School that had put on a school play. A scandal was created when out trotted a grade school kid supposedly playing the part of Allah. Apparently the teacher who wrote and directed the play was a recent convert and wasn't aware of the prohibition. There was a lot of tension but fortunately no violence for the next few days as things got straightened out. But it seemed unfathomable that such a well known law wasn't known.

But we do the same thing. Every now and then I get someone complaining about how they heard someone violate the 3rd commandment of the decalogue while they were out shopping or something. I empathize with them but I am never really sure if I should say anything about their understanding about which prohibition they think was violated.

I usually don't say anything because it just doesn't seem worth it and I have other battles to fight. Besides this is the most common understanding of what it means to take God's name in vain. But the word translated "take" means to bear or carry. The word "take" works in the sense of taking something up, as in taking up a cause. It means to be doing things in the name of God. Therefore, doing something vain in the name of God is strictly forbidden.

The obvious examples of violations are things like the killing of thousands during the crusades or membership in the KKK who claim their actions are God's will. I might add that I wouldn't want to be one who fleeces poor people of their money in the name of Jesus.

Bringing it closer to home I think I need to be careful that my actions don't bring God into disrepute. It is very similar to the idea that one does not want to do anything that would bring disrepute on their family name. I am glad to be called a son of God, but with that comes an obligation to avoid doing things that tarnish His name.

I acknowledge that asking God to damn someone does indeed bring disrepute on God's name seeing that it seems to go against the ethics of love, mercy and grace. But that is not the common understanding. To a lot of Christians it's simply an issue of letting the wrong words come out your mouth that gets you into trouble. The sad part is that I think such an understanding shows that we lack substance. It's supposed to be about our heart.

So now the question becomes whether it brings disrepute on God's name to ask him to damn an inanimate object. Can I ask God to damn the hammer the next time it hits my thumb?