The name of a person is important… more than most people realise! In Old Testament times, Jews were extremely careful not to say the “name” of God, fearing serious consequences from falling short of showing Him proper respect.

There has never been a time in my seventy-three years of life when God’s name has been more misused than our present time. The misuse of God’s name has become so common on the world stage that almost every conversation is punctuated with a deliberate, disrespectful, gross misuse of His name.

In last week’s article (142) I mentioned two-of-five ways in which God’s name is being misused: committing perjury by swearing an oath before God then giving false testimony, and the use of profanity… the disrespectful utterance of “God!”, “Gosh”, “Jeeze!”, “O.M.G., “Jesus Christ!”, and other such words. 

The third way of misusing the name of the Lord is flippancy. Making fun of ourselves is one thing, but making fun of God is another. It is dangerous to let our sense of humour run away with us to the point where we treat serious things in a flippant manner… death being one example. It is interesting to note that those who make jokes about God try to avoid His name by referring to Him as “the old man” or “the man upstairs” or “him up there.” Perhaps such cases hint of a God-conscience. Friends, there is a line of caution to be drawn here.

The fourth way of misusing the Lord’s name is something for which Jesus had no patience and little mercy; hypocrisy. That is to take words on our lips and in our mouths that are not matched in our minds and by our lives. There are two forms of this. One is where our mouths say one thing and our minds think another. The other is where our lips say one thing and our lives say another. We have all been guilty of this.

The fifth and worst of all ways of misusing the Lord’s name is blasphemy. This is when we claim the name of God for some belief or some behaviour that God would not acknowledge. The shocking truth is that professing Christians have turned the Gospel upside down, and they have done this in the name of God. The practice in some churches is to begin a sermon by standing and the preacher saying, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” To do that at the beginning of a sermon, but then to go on and preach the latest philosophy or psychology or politics, is to break this commandment.

E.g., Murderous, blood-letting religious inquisitions were carried out in the name of God. The slaughter of many thousands through the Crusades took place in the name of Christ. Many “holy” wars have been fought in the name of our Lord.

Friends, God takes words seriously. To Him words are something that distinguishes mankind from beast. The gift of speech is one of the marks of the human race. That gift can either lift us above the animals or drag us below them because animals do not blaspheme their Creator!

In his letter, James says the tongue is like a fountain from which both blessing and curses can come… sweet and bitter water for others to drink. He also says that if a person has never said a wrong thing, they are perfect. The tongue is the most difficult part of the body to tame and control (cf. Jam. 3:8-12)..

Is there a cure? Yes, there is! We are saved from our dilemma by simply using God’s name properly. It is to get the name of the person back together again so that whenever the name is mentioned we think of the person as we should… respectfully! How does this happen? There are four steps…

Step one: remission of sin. Humanity needs a mouth wash that only God can give. God used a piece of hot coal to cleanse Isaiah’s sinful lips (6:5-7), also Jesus died to remove the guilt of the things we have said, and paid the price for them. Step two: a renewal of mind is needed… a “brain wash” (Rom. 12:2). Step three: reconciliation, a new relationship where we can call God, “Father.” Step four is revelation. Paul in Galatians wrote, “It pleased God to reveal His Son to me” (1:16). Those to whom the Spirit has revealed Christ, the name of the Lord will be on their lips in the right way. We cannot talk about the Lord in the wrong way and the right way at the same time.

When the early Christians were baptised, they did not just take the name of Christ on their lips, they took it in their lives. Everything we do after baptism is to be done in the name of Jesus. Our fellowship is in the name of Jesus. We dispatch our prayers in the name of Jesus. Our power is in the name of Jesus. Our suffering is in the name of Jesus. And, our glory is in the name of Jesus.

Friends, our new lives which are “in” Christ (1 Jn. 5:11) can only be realised in “the name of Jesus”, the name that is above every other name. The name of Jesus is in the hands of every believer. Whether the Lord has a good name or bad name among those we associate with will depend on you and me. God respects our names as much as He respects our lives!

Best wishes,  
Bill Joukhadar