For whatever reason, lately I’ve heard more and more people who claim to be Christians drop swear words. I don’t know if it’s because my social circles are changing, or if it’s becoming en vogue, or something else, but I don’t like it.
But the reason I don’t like it is not because of the third commandment: “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain.” Rather, it’s because of passages like Matthew 12:36-37, that talk about “careless words” that we will answer for. In my opinion, most swear words fall under that category.
The third commandment in the Decalogue refers to something else entirely. Instead of foul language and cuss words, it has to do with using the name of God for promises we make. This could be legal, financial, social, or something else, but regardless, we’re calling on God to be our witness that we will make something happen.
And, if it doesn’t happen, we’re inviting God’s punishment to come down on us.
We’re powerless to do any of that—even if we wanted to. Jesus addresses this in Matthew 5:36 when He says that we shouldn’t make an oath at all, “for we cannot make one hair white or black.” Instead, we should let our yes be yes, and our no be no. Our word should stand on its own.
When we use God’s name in a vain way, it renders His name meaningless. Literally, the text in Deuteronomy 5:11 says “Do not take the Lord’s name for a vain thing.” Instead, His name should be held in honor.
Yet we hardly ever see people incur any kind of judgment on their careless words. People say “Oh my God!” or something worse, and yet, no lightning bolts shoot from Heaven. They just go on about their business.
That doesn’t mean they’ll escape God’s judgment, though. God promises to leave no one “unpunished” who uses His name vainly, including you and me.
Does that scare you?