“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.” — Exodus 20:7
As a kid in Sunday school, this commandment basically meant one thing: do not say “Oh my God” or “Jesus Christ” unless you’re praying or speaking about him. I just thought it meant, don’t say ‘Oh my God!’ whenever I was shocked, stubbed my toe, or was being dramatic.
I am afraid to say that I think I missed the point of this commandment as a kid. It’s not just about not saying “Jesus Christ” when you drop your keys down the storm drain (although I don’t think you should), it’s about misrepresenting God while using His name.
When a soldier is going to war, he wears his country’s flag. In the case of a few hundred years ago, soldiers would have worn the crest of a monarchy or powerful family. When that soldier was wearing that flag or crest, he represented the country or monarchy he was fighting for. He’s seen as an extension of the country or the monarchy’s power.
His actions reflect back on the actions of the country or monarchy, both positive and negative. He also carries a certain measure of authority while he is a soldier at war.
When we become believers, we reflect our King. We wear His crest proudly, and when we use His name, it is in reverence. We also use His name with the authority that has been given to us as believers and heirs in His kingdom.
What, then, does the commandment mean? Does it only mean don’t say “Oh My God!”? I don’t think so.
I think the commandment condemns using our authority that we have as believers and the Lord’s name to further our personal agendas, feed our fleshly desires, and abuse others.
I think the commandment prohibits us from saying “Thus Says The Lord” when He is not speaking. I think it warns us of using our supposed divinely inspired wisdom or prophetic word to coerce, manipulate, and deceive others. I think it meant to keep us from using our spiritual authority and apparent anointing to get what we want.
Using the Lord’s name in vain is not a “mini” commandment; it’s not a cliff note. It is one of the 10 commandments. God saw the misuse of His name as such an egregious act that it is in the same list of sins as adultery, thievery, and murder.
“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.”
That is terrifying. God will not forget those who misuse His name.
I have seen a few instances of people utterly abusing the name of the Lord in the past few weeks.
Lisa Stribling (formerly Bickle) preached two messages at Hope City a few weeks back. She thought that it was a good idea to stream the messages. Didn’t turn out so great for her, great for the rest of us who got to sit back and watch the insanity unfold.
Lisa spent her messages defending her brother, his legacy, and the prophetic history. “Gross” doesn’t even seem to cover it. It was such an abuse of her platform and an utter misuse of the Lord’s name. Below are a few quotes from Lisa:
(In reference to Mike) “This narrative is a false narrative. The Lord is retrieving this narrative right now, this very minute. The narrative now belongs to Jesus.”
“The Lord himself has given me a message, and he will be backing up my words very strongly to everyone; he will be backing up what I’m saying here”
“There is a pardon being offered right now to the global church concerning Mike, it’s being offered right now from heaven to the Body of Christ as a whole, regarding the name of Mike Bickle.”
“I’m saying this very, very strongly, it is over. I’m not asking anybody’s permission. I’m telling you from this moment on, these stories are over. They’re over. The pardon has been issued to God by God himself, to Mike and to the church.”
She very clearly didn’t ask anyone’s permission, including God’s.
She used up her precious airtime defending a man who would never do the same for her, clearly. She used the name of the Lord to spew her personal vendetta against the body of Christ, mostly those who “attack” Mike and defend the victims. She thinks that Mike is exempt from proper biblical protocol, does not need to publicly repent for his years of abuse, and that the rest of us need to knock it off.
At the heart of using the Lord’s name in vain is one thing: a total and utter lack of the fear of the Lord.
People like Mike Bickle and Lisa Stribling (and many, many others) have such an utter lack of the fear of the Lord that they think their words have no consequence in heaven or that God has a special code of ethics for them that is nowhere to be found in the Bible. They think that God will not hold them accountable for misrepresenting His nature, character, and voice. God have mercy.
God defends the broken-hearted, protects the victim, raises up the fatherless and the widow — He does not tell them to “knock it off”. He does not exonerate dangerous, unrepentant people because they think they are above the gospel or God’s Word.
He does not take it lightly when people misuse His name to further their own personal agenda.
He does not hold them guiltless.
Photo by Maxime Gauthier on Unsplash
Amen
Sound theology backs your words.