Deut. 5:11 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name."
I'll admit it. I've been worried about writing on this one and how it relates to writing. Mostly because I'm not sure I have the answer. But I'll give it a whirl and you can meditate on it for yourself.
The first thing that comes to mind is using the Lord's name in a bad way, like a curse or a meaningless expression. Certainly, we should not do this. Not when rejections come in the mail, not when we get a harsh critique, not even if our computers crash. As writers, what we need to contemplate is, should our characters do it? What if we're writing about a character who would take the Lord's name in vain? Does our "art" give us license? (I'm not answering that one- just throwing it out there.)
Another way I've heard this command explained, is that we ought not to flippantly attach God's name to things. Christians do a lot of, "God told me such and such," "God called me to do such and such," "God wants this or that..." Considering this third commandment, I think it is very important for us to be sure God is saying or doing or calling before we attribute things to Him. Be careful about saying, "God called me to write this book," or even, "God is the one who wrote this book," or, "God told me to go to the conference in Dallas," or, "God wants my book published." It's easy for us sheep-minded people to get our desires and plans mixed up with what we think God wants.
I'm not implying that God doesn't speak to us or lead us to do things. If we walk closely to Him and listen, He'll do just that. We just need to remember that His name is holy and not to be used lightly, and never for the purposes of making us look better or making our work seem more valid. If God has called us to write something and we do, people will be blessed. If He wants something published it will be. His ways are above our ways and His thoughts above our thoughts. Blessed be His name.
Another way people take God's name in vain is using their "connection" with God to get them out of doing justice. Some kids in our neighborhood spray- painted our car, and when the mom found out, she promised to reimburse us for the deductible. She said, "Please don't file charges. You can trust me to pay you when I get paid, because I'm a good Christian." About a week later, their house was abandoned and their phone disconnected.
ReplyDeleteI'm one who believes real characters do take God's name in vain--but never when we want sympathy for or respect for that character. In the movie "Cinderella Man," the protagonist's manager, whom we're supposed to really connect with, does it all the time. And it makes me dislike him. With most in the Christ-following audience, I think using God's name flippantly or with a curse is up there with commiting adultery and the Big Ten in terms of characterization.
Great thoughts, San! Thanks for reading:)
ReplyDeleteBoy, I sure agree with both San's comments and yours Janet. You really got to the heart of it with this post today. We must be "thinking" Christians and apply that brain God gave us before just letting any ol' thing roll off of our tougue!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Pat.
ReplyDeleteHey Novel Journey girls, I just noticed that Randy Alcorn quote in the side bar. It's awesome!!