a little reflection on much of what consumed my time this week. david hayward (naked pastor) nailed it, with this:
wouldn’t it be wonderful to be surprised?
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I LOL’d. :) In fact, I nearly ROFL’d.
Maybe I’m mistaken, but I don’t think anyone who the Lord takes to heaven would take His Savior’s name in vain.
Just a thought.
Uh, I’m confused, what’s taking the Lord’s name in vain again?
Do you mean that little word “omg” that was invented by 11 year old girls in chatrooms who don’t know how to type? I will acknowledge that “omg” is derived from the term “oh my god” and that most non-Christians would associate “omg” with “oh my god”, but nearly every Christian I know would associate it with om my gosh, because christians themselves say it all the time. I know literally tons of Christians who would say “Oh my gosh” and mean NO disrespect to God in their hearts (marko has said it in several posts of his), so, is that wrong to say gosh then? Is it too close to the word “god”? That’s a big question if your looking at north-american Christianity.
It does however seem though that your definition of “taking the Lord’s name in vain” is pretty broad, especially when the commandment has more to do with oaths then “swearing” (in the sense of foul language).
Now, I’m not advocating “swearing” or using “God” or “Jesus” in a derogatory term at all (there are plenty of passages that talk about foul language), and maybe we do need to strike words like “gosh” or “geez”, etc, from our vocabulary because they are too close to the One we believe in (then, maybe some Christians may as well say “god” instead of “gosh” because that IS actually what they mean .. but I digress).
The way I see it? … saying OMG and what it might mean is far less of an issue then the real point that the comic is trying to make, and in fact, your comment may prove the comic’s point quite well.
Hehe, Jason,
No offense to you, really. I appreciate the point you’re making, we do need to evaluate the words we say, but OMG is not the heavy term you think it is in the online world. I’m around people who swear all the time. When someone says “Jesus Christ” in a bad way, I speak up. When someone says “oh my god” .. I generally let it slide .. Do they mean Allah, or Budah, or aliens, or their cat? Who Knows? Sometimes (if I know them) I ask them what God they mean and they usually answer, “oh .. not yours”. Smiles all around, back to work. “OMG” is even less of a deal. It’s like saying wow or crazy or when your shocked .. I almost never hear “omg” in a bad way even come to think of it, though sometimes it is associated with gossip.
Now, back to the comic, I was thinking, “Where the hell am I?” might actually raise a few eyebrows in Heaven being that it will be PERFECT. I can see a lot of works-based conservatives that didn’t think they were going to “make it” being confused like that though, heh.
Yes … I’ve thought about this stuff a lot. hehe. So your comment invoked a response. Comments are permanent though and I realized my first reply may have sounded a little harsh and I didn’t mean it to be. We need the ability to edit them.
Brent,
It’s really not what I think about the term that matters. It’s what the Lord thinks about it. Granted, people do use that term all of the time, and when I hear a teenage believer use it, I ask them why. They immediately respond (not being browbeat, but answering completely freely) that they know that it is taking God’s holy, revered name and profaning it (making it common, ordinary, etc.), and they are truly convicted by the Holy Spirit, without any legalism or dogma on my part.
If believers are truly honest, they know that taking the Lord’s awesome, holy, revered name and treating it so flippantly demonstrates how lowly they really think of Him. The Lord has convicted me in the past about this, and I am, with the Spirit’s help, now treating His name with the utmost honor that it is due.
The point I was trying to make is this: when we are finally in the Father’s presence, all sin will be finally eradicated from us. We will have no desire to sin any longer. This is called glorification. It is a wonderful truth in the Scriptures. While I believe that a justified believer here on Earth might slip and treat God’s name irreverently, this is simply not possible in heaven. This cartoon artist must be uninformed of this Scriptural truth. I don’t think it’s asking too much to have our art be sound on the theological basics.
I was not offended by your comment. I just believe that you are incorrect in your assessment of the situation.
God bless.
hold on… so his name really is God?