Several years ago (1997), a 14-year-old student, Nathan Zohner, circulated a petition to ban the use of dihydrogen monoxide. According to Zohner, dihydrogen monoxide “may cause severe burns, accelerates the corrosion and rusting of many metals, and has been found in the excised tumors of terminal cancer patients.” In addition to these risks, Zohner noted that this nefarious chemical is often used “as an industrial solvent and coolant, in the production of Styrofoam, and as a fire retardant.”
As it turned out, the petition was a hoax perpetrated as part of a high school science fair. You see, dihydrogen monoxide is the technical name for H2O, also known as water. (Sam O'Neal, “What the Bible Says About God,” Building Small Groups newsletter)
It’s amazing how someone can take a perfectly good name and make it sound so bad. And if we’re not careful, you can do the same thing with God’s name. By the things you say or do, as God’s people, you can give God a “bad” name, or give people the wrong idea about God. And that would be very tragic, especially if some of them reject the Lord, simply because you misrepresented Him.
Instead, as people who love the Lord, you want others to think about how wonderful He is when they hear His name. You want people to think of His loving nature, His power, His holiness, His righteousness, and His willingness to forgive. You want people to be drawn to the Lord when they hear His name.
The question is: How? How can you bring honor to God’s name? How can you cause people to think good things about God when they hear His name? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Exodus 20, Exodus 20, where the third commandment shows you how.
Exodus 20:7 “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. (ESV)
Literally, you shall not take up the name of the Lord Your God in a worthless (or false) way, for God will not leave unpunished anyone who takes up his name in a worthless (or false) way.
This is serious stuff with the LORD. He does not want any one of us misrepresenting His good name. No! If you’re going to take up His Name, you better represent it well.
On the little island community where my wife Sandy and I used to live (Washington Island, Wisconsin), there is a local resort on the water, called the Holiday Inn. It is not affiliated with the national chain.
However, several years ago, lawyers from the national chain threatened the island’s little Holiday Inn with a lawsuit. Their claim was that the island’s Holiday Inn had stolen the name from the national chain, and the chain did not want any local establishment misrepresenting their good name.
That’s because the name Holiday Inn represents a certain level of quality; and if another hotel uses that name without maintaining Holiday Inn’s standards, it could cause people to think that all Holiday Inns are substandard. It would ruin the Holiday Inn name.
The national Holiday Inn chain, though, had a problem. The island’s Holiday Inn had the name first, long before the national Holiday Inn existed. Furthermore, the island’s Holiday Inn standards are far superior to many of the Holiday Inns across the country. As a result, the national Holiday Inn chain dropped its lawsuit when it discovered that they could be sued for stealing the island’s Holiday Inn name.
It is very important for a company or an individual to maintain a good name. It is even more important when your name is the LORD. God takes His name seriously, and if you’re going to up take His name, you better take it up seriously, as well. How? Well, first of all…
HONOR GOD’S NAME BY WHAT YOU SAY.
Honor (or dishonor) God’s name by your words. Certainly, don’t say anything that disparages God’s name. Turn with me to the next book in your Bibles, Leviticus 24.
Leviticus 24:10-15 Now an Israelite woman’s son, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the people of Israel. And the Israelite woman’s son and a man of Israel fought in the camp, and the Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the Name, and cursed. Then they brought him to Moses. His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. And they put him in custody, till the will of the LORD should be clear to them. Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Bring out of the camp the one who cursed, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. And speak to the people of Israel, saying, Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. (ESV)
Two men get into a fight, and one of them blasphemes the Name of God. That means he slanders God’s name. He cursed and swore, using God’s name in the process, and God said, “Stone him.”
Now, aren’t you glad we live in a different day and age – an age of grace? Otherwise, we’d have stonings in this town every day. Even so, this story shows us how seriously God takes His own name. Profanity has no place in the speech of those who have taken up God’s name. My friends, if you take up God’s name in your speech, then make sure you use it appropriately and reverently.
A little boy was sitting sadly on the curb beside his lawn mower, when a preacher came along riding a bicycle. The preacher noticed that the boy appeared discouraged, so he thought he would try to help.
“Hello there!” said the preacher. “How would you like to trade your lawn mower for this bicycle?”
“Sure, mister,” the boy responded, and went on his merry way.
A few days later, the boy and the preacher crossed paths again. The preacher said, “I think you cheated me on our trade. I keep crankin' that old lawn mower, but it won't start.”
“You gotta cuss it,” said the little boy.
“Well I can't do that,” said the minister. “I'm a preacher. I forgot about cussin' a long time ago.”
The little boy answered, “Just keep on crankin', preacher; it'll come back to ya.” (Van Morris, Mount Washington, Kentucky; www.PreachingToday.com)
We laugh, because it’s so true. But why? We who love the Lord certainly don’t want to give people a bad impression about who He is.
Zig Ziglar tells the story about a hot, humid day in the middle of Kansas City. The eight-hour shift seemed especially long for a veteran bus driver. Suddenly, a young woman on the bus, apparently upset about something, let loose with a string of unforgettable, not to mention unrepeatable, words. The bus driver, looking in his overhead mirror, could sense everyone around her was embarrassed by the string of profanity.
Still mumbling, the angry passenger began to disembark a few blocks later. As she stepped down, the bus driver calmly said, “Madam, I believe you're leaving something behind.”
She quickly turned and snapped, “Oh? And what is that?”
“A very bad impression,” the bus driver responded. (Zig Ziglar, Something Else to Smile About, Thomas Nelson, 1999; www.PreachingToday.com)
When you profane the name of your God, you not only leave behind a bad impression about yourself – that would be bad enough. But you also leave behind a bad impression of the Lord. Please, don’t let God’s name become a curse word in your vocabulary.
Instead, let God’s name be a blessing in your speech. Instead of saying, “God damn something,” why not say, “God bless it!”
Indeed, there are lots of ways you can use God’s name in your speech that will certainly be a blessing. In fact, the Bible gives us lots of ways to honor God’s name by what we say. We can “call on the name of the Lord” (Genesis 12:8). We can “bless in the name of the Lord” (Psalm 129:8). We can “tell the truth in the name of the Lord” (1 Kings 22:16). We can “exalt the name of the Lord” (Isaiah 24:15). We can “speak in the name of the Lord” (Jeremiah 26:16). We can “praise the name of the Lord” (Psalm 7:17). And we can “declare the name of the Lord” (Psalm 102:1). There are a lot of ways you can use God’s name in your speech that bring Him honor.
Alvie Chavaria is the captain of Long Beach California Fire Station #1, where he oversees a crew of 15 firemen who can get pretty rowdy. As a Christian, he struggles to find ways to have a positive impact on the station. But he is bothered by the men who swear up a storm, even when he’s around.
So Alvie decided to inform the crew that anytime they say God d— it, he will respond with an enthusiastic “God bless it!” Now, Alvie’s blessing always follows cursing at Station #1. Not only have some of the men stopped their cursing, but one has even started giving a blessing like Alvie.
One day, the battalion chief came for a visit to the station. He was notorious for his loud profanity. So Alvie, not wanting to be disrespectful, pulled the battalion chief aside and told him about his practice of blessing. At first, the chief was mildly amused, but his amusement turned to a healthy respect when, in a room full of his peers, Alvie didn’t pause a second to call down a blessing following his chief's curse. (Bill White, Paramount, California)
My friends, we can do the same.
You can make sure God’s name is associated with a blessing rather than damnation. Please, honor God’s name by what you say. Then secondly…
HONOR GOD’S NAME BY WHAT YOU DO.
Make sure people think well of God by the way you live your life.
You see, we who are followers of Christ bear His name. We have taken up His name – we call ourselves “CHRISTians.” But when our lives don’t accurately represent His name, then we have taken it up in a worthless (or false) way.
The third commandment is more than a prohibition against cussing. It is a call for authenticity in your relationship with the Lord. Colossians 3:17 says, “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” When your actions don’t reflect well on the name of Christ, then you disparage that name. You bring dishonor to His reputation.
C.R. Smith, one of the founders of American Airlines, made a stopover in Nashville, Tennessee, years ago. There, he found two desks in the American Airlines corridor of the airport. On one, a phone was ringing away. Sitting at the other, with his feet propped up, was a man reading the newspaper.
Smith walked up to him and said, “Your phone is ringing.”
“That’s reservations. I’m maintenance,” the man replied.
Furious, Smith walked over to the desk, picked up the phone, and began talking to a man who urgently needed to get to California. Smith rattled off the schedule from memory to the man and hung up. The man from maintenance couldn’t believe it!
“Say, that was pretty good!” he said. “Do you work for American?”
“Yes, I do,” Smith answered. “And you used to.” (Darren McCormick, pastor at Central Christian Church)
You see, that maintenance man’s laziness and lack of concern for the customers of American Airlines gave the airline a bad name. He didn’t actually say anything bad about the airline. But his actions spoke louder than any words he might have said. In fact, his lack of action had the potential of making people think American Airlines does not care about its customers.
What do your actions (or lack thereof) say about the one who’s name you bear? Do people really know that Jesus loves them by things you say and do?
Former president of the Moody Bible Institute, Joseph Stowell, talks about a time he was walking to work on a bitterly cold January morning. He had stopped by Starbucks for a cup of coffee and was on his way to the Institute when he passed a StreetWise vendor. StreetWise is a Chicago-based newspaper, sold by homeless people, who collect a portion of the proceeds. Feeling noble, Stowell struggled to find his wallet, reached in, and took out a dollar.
The homeless woman asked him, “Do you really want the paper, or can I keep it to sell to someone else?”
“Keep the paper,” Stowell replied. Then he added, “How are you today?”
“I'm so cold,” she said.
Stowell replied, “I hope the sun comes out, it warms up, and you have a good day,” and he turned to go.
About half a block later, with the cup of coffee warming his hand, the conversation finally registered. Stowell wrestled for a moment with what he should do, but it was late, so he kept walking. But he says, “Ever since, I've regretted not giving her a cup of hot coffee in Christ's name.” (Joseph Stowell, A Heart for the City, Moody, 1999)
When we who have taken up the name of Christ show the compassion of Christ, then He gets a good reputation. His name is honored. But when we are indifferent, or worse, when we are unforgiving and bitter and angry, then we have misused His name and taken it up in a worthless (or false) way.
Please, make sure people know how wonderful the Lord is by the things you say and do.
More than 27 years ago, Sandy and I stood before Pastor Leslie in a little white chapel by the Chesapeake Bay and pledged to “love, honor and cherish each other until God by death should separate us.” It was a special day, because it was our wedding day. It was the day I gave Sandy my last name. Wow! It still blows me away that she wanted to have it. It still amazes me that she wanted to take up my name as her own.
Do you know? God loves you so much that He wants to give you His name. The question is: Do you want to have it? Do you want to take it up as your own?
You can, simply through faith in Jesus Christ. He died on the cross for your sins and rose again, so you could have an eternal relationship with the Living God of the Universe! It’s a relationship the Bible describes as a marriage in Ephesians 5.
All you need to do is trust Christ as your Savior. “Call on the NAME of the Lord,” the Bible says, “and you will be saved” (Romans 10:13). Do it today, if you haven’t done it already.
Take up the name of the Lord, and then bear that name proudly. Honor that name by what you SAY and DO.
