The Third Commandment
You might not think there’s room for a lot of interpretation and discussion. You’d be wrong.
Until recently I hadn’t ever much thought about the Third Commandment. The middle school frisson of transgressing with a “God damn it!” was long ago; and even then, there wasn’t much to it. We’re told, from an early age, not to swear; and especially not to swear in the name of God: it’s against the Law, it says so right there in Exodus 20:7:
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
I was surely not the first middle schooler — or adult — to wonder how swearing at someone amounted to taking the Lord’s name in vain. There are so many things in life which we simply accept as — ahem — gospel, from those wiser or at least better informed in matters Biblical. Was Jesus to be condemned when he asked, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34.) That seems doubtful. Even on a sliding scale of sinful behavior, a casual “Oh my God!” is not comparable to, say, murder or theft; and it should not (reasonably) threaten eternal hellfire. But in that moment we accept it and move on to more pressing matters, never to think much about the Third Commandment ever again. Today, with so many of our leaders — elected and self-proclaimed — claiming moral authority and even to speak for God, it deserves (demands!) a closer look.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. It’s commonly interpreted to mean swearing — not solemn oath-taking, but swearing. And most of us accept this interpretation. But taking it together with “no other God before me” and “no graven images” it comes into rather a sharper focus: the prohibition here is not the profanity-laced use of the Lord’s name, it is the vanity of presuming to speak for God, to know His will, and to announce His plan. An acquaintance of faith recently noted, with some agony:
Atrocities of hate to make Jesus weep are carried out under His name. Who will run to Him for His sweet love when hate calls itself by His name?
They have really shown me the gravity and the true meaning of taking the Lord’s name in vain.
As for the oath-taking: Isn’t swearing a false oath before God a far greater offense than swearing in the name of God? For example, a man swears the following oath of office:
I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God.
He then proceeds, immediately, to undermine that Constitution and the rule of law and ordered liberties that it represents. When asked, directly, if he has an obligation to uphold the Constitution, his answer is, “I don’t know, I’m not a lawyer.” A middle school child presented with these facts would conclude, rightly, that the man was lying when he swore the oath; and lying again when he says he doesn’t know what obligations he has pursuant to it. That middle schooler can already sense the gathering brimstone.
Take, for another example, window placards and bumper stickers advertising a “Christian-owned business”: it’s less an act of faith than a kind of virtue-signaling, all show and no substance. The suggestion that a person of faith is therefore more worthy of patronage says, loudly, that he’s more full of humbug than of the Holy Spirit. Demonstrate faith by living its values, not by proclaiming loudly what they are. Religion is not a badge of honor, it is a code of conduct. Faith — and values — aren’t proven by declaration, they are proven by demonstration. Live by your values, and you’ll show me your faith. Advertising faith, presuming superiority: these are acts of unpardonable hubris.
“Taking the Lord’s name in vain” doesn’t mean using it in speech; it means using it as a cudgel, as a means to an end; it means appropriating it; it means placing yourself in God’s stead. This amounts to a kind of graven image; it is the golden calf as pretend-piety. The Third Commandment has to be seen of a piece with the First’s call to monotheism and the Second’s ban on idolatry: don’t presume to speak for God, or to know His mind. It’s the kind of vanity that puts a soul in serious jeopardy.