Carrying the Name

Have you thought deeply about the commandments and what they mean?  The ten commandments are a framework that comes from the character of God and help to guide our lives.  A big question or debate that is had among christians is are the commandments still in force today?  Now I’m not here to debate that question but I will say that the principles and heart behind the commandments is still what we should follow.  Jesus himself took the commands and demonstrated the heart behind them (and made them seemingly harder!).  And because at minimum the heart of the commandments are what we should do, then I want to talk about a specific commandment and the heart and meaning behind it.

The third commandment (or second depending on how you number the commands) is “Do not take the Lord your God's name in vain.” This is such an important commandment.  There are two implications that come to bear when we take a good look at the intentions and the heart of this commandment.  The first is what God is doing. 

What is God doing?  First we have to understand that the commandments were laws given to the people of Israel that would govern them as God institutes them as a nation (Deuteronomy 4:7-8). This specific command declares that God is placing his name upon them before all the other nations as his covenant people.  This band of Israelites will carry the name of Yahweh to the world. How marvelous is this!  God is with them with a nearness that is unlike any other in the world.  I have to say we should recognize this (if you have placed your allegiance to Christ and are a part of his kingdom) and be overjoyed that he would place his name on us.  This is an honor that is definitely not befitting us save for the fact that God has endowed it upon us. And he does this with Israel.  So what God is doing in the third commandment is stating he has placed his name upon the Israelites (that is us in this analogy). The second part of the commandment is what we are doing.

What are we doing?  I have to take it to the Hebrew for a second so that we can get the full implications of what’s going on. In English we have “take” in “Do not take the Lord your God’s name in vain.”  The Hebrew word for “take” there is תִשָּׂ֛א tisa (from the root word nasa). This word means lift, carry, or bear. The word “vain” there in the Hebrew is שָּׁוְא shav.  This word means nothingness or uselessness.  Understanding these two words, the commandment states “do not carry (lift or bear) the Lord your God’s name to uselessness (nothingness).”  Let me put this in plain english now.  Do not walk around representing God uselessly. What does this mean?

If we put the two parts of the commandment together then we will see that God has placed his name on us to display to the nations for a reason.  And he has commanded us to live out that reason on full display in our lives.  When we say we are people of the word, that we are Christians yet in our lives we do not display the attributes of Christ, we break the letter and the spirit of this commandment.  This commandment is not about not saying God or Jesus unless you are talking about or speaking to him.  This commandment is about proper representation of the divine name that is placed upon us.  

I travel across the country going to events as a chaplain serving a community of nomadic people.  I live what is affectionately known as vanlife.  We have a ministry geared towards this called eVANgLIFE.  You can check out more about our (Grace and I) ministry HERE. The van we use to travel in (our home) has a sign on the side that reads Trust in Jesus Ministries.  I literally carry the name of Jesus with me everywhere I go.  Because of this I am constantly reminded of the witness I need to be when interacting with people.  What I do can and will affect the view of Christ and his people to those I come in contact with.  I (by force because of the sign) literally live out the third commandment. Someone cuts me off in traffic, got to show that grace.  Someone needs help where I am, I have to show that compassion.  It is a beautifully brutal thing that God is using to mold me into his image and display his glory to the world around me. (Funny thing though is when people honk at me I’m not always sure if they're mad at me for some bad driving [to them] or because they love Jesus!)

So let me encourage you to live out the heart of the third commandment.  Display God’s nature to the world so that he can be glorified.  Don’t be like me and let it take a sign on your van to be reminded to do this (but if it takes that, set a reminder somehow for yourself).  Carry the Lord’s name in this world for his intended purpose. For the world to know and come into community with him.