Growing up in the Catholic Church, one of the first lessons I learned was The 10 Commandments, which were touted as some of the greatest of God’s laws handed down to Moses directly. However, one always stuck out to me as particularly frustrating. It was also the one I most often broke. That is the third commandment: “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”
As a child I was told that it meant not to swear using God’s name. No “Jesus Christ!” no “Oh my God!” no “Good heavens!” All of these were strictly off limits. But let’s be real here, compared to the severity of “Thou shalt not kill,” (Exodus 20:13) or “Thou shalt not covet,” (Exodus 20:15) a little swearing hardly seems to matter. Especially when these curses cannot even be made towards another person.
You may be asking yourself, why would God — if you believe in such things — or the writers of the Bible include taking the Lord’s name in vain as one of the cardinal sins? Well, this is because there are far more important aspects to that commandment than cursing.
If we look back through the historical practice of Christianity, as well as other portions of the Bible, we can discern three other aspects of taking the Lord’s name in vain: making false oaths or promises in God’s name, recitation and use of God’s name without having faith and using the name of God to justify an action against the character of God.
Let’s break these down. First, false oaths. When a preacher claims that for a certain amount of “donations,” they will use the power of God to cure a terminal illness or turn someone straight, that is a false oath. These people have no power to create miracles. They merely use the name of God to trick people. Second, recitation without faith. When a politician is making a speech at a rally, or a preacher is standing on the pulpit, and interspliced within every sentence are praises of God, they are using the Lord’s name in vain. They do not give God reverence in that moment, if ever. They simply use the word of God to get their believers to follow their cause. This leads into the final aspect, using God’s name to act against the Lord’s will. When an anti-abortion politician says in accordance with God, he will enact legislation to police women’s bodily autonomy, or when a multimillionaire person asks for money from the less fortunate to further the Lord’s work, they are acting against God and therefore violating the commandment.
So, if these other parts of taking God’s name in vain are so important, then why were we never taught them? The reason is simple. Those who are in power do not find these aspects advantageous to teach. For one, it is much easier to enforce rules rather than a moral code. If you hear someone swear, you know they broke a rule. If someone is using worship of God as a tool rather than as a genuine expression of faith, that is much harder to determine. Additionally, it creates an easy ingroup and outgroup that a leader can capitalize on.
A leader who wants control over their followers must make their flock of sheep docile. If the people are searching for hypocrisy, empty words and false oaths from the lips of a preacher or politician, it threatens their power. It promotes critical thinking and skepticism, which is something they cannot allow. If they did, it would be much easier for Christians to find the wolves in sheep’s clothing among them.
Why is my church — which is supposed to stay out of politics — funneling money into political campaigns? Why is my pastor endorsing a candidate for office and saying that candidate is ordained by God to win? Why is my government claiming to be a Christian government, while at the same time stoking hatred of immigrants, who Christ says should be treated as a neighbor?
The third commandment is merely one example of how religion, particularly Christianity, in this country is less worshipped but rather utilized for selfish and worldly purposes. From tithing to touching kids, the word of Christ has been perverted. What mattered far more to Christ than any rule on cursing, eating meat on Fridays or wearing two types of cloth was a moral code of love. In Peter 3:8, Jesus proclaims, “…all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.” When that message is not only shared by Christian leaders but put into practice, worship will not be hollow but hallowed instead.