Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to he glory of God the Father
Philippians
Chapter 2, 9-11
One of the things I have wondered about for years now, is how we sully the name of our Lord. We know better. The Bible instructs us about the holiness of His name. And still we misuse and degrade the name which should be above all names.
In the new movie The Wolf of Wall Street, it has been reported that it sets a record for the number of "f bombs" used. In addition, it is close to soft core pornography. Amazon has an internet series just released called Alpha House. It is written by Gary Trudeau from the very left leaning Doonesbury comic fame. It has so much blasphemy in it, I could not watch any more.
Why is it, in this country of Judeo-Christian roots, we find it acceptable and sometimes humorous to take our Lord's name in vain? When I was a confirmation mentor, I would tell my confirmation students that every time you say the Lord's name, He is listening. When we pray using His name, He listens. By the same token, when we sully or besmirch His name, He is also listening. Why is it, we never hear Buddha's name, Muhammad's name, or any other name sullied? In some religions, you could lose your life for the misuse of a holy name. In this country however, only the name above all names is a target for misuse.
We have come quite a way (the wrong way) since the ancient Jews would refer to God. Many years ago, the tradition was in Jewish law to substitute the name of "God" with "G-d". Why? It afforded the name a degree of high respect and reverence. Once in a while today, you may still see the name of God spelled that way by some of the more traditional or orthodox Jewish people. Think about that - the name of God was considered so holy, it could not even be written down.
What can we do to change this? First off, as people of faith, demand better. It is unacceptable to hear the name of the Father or the Son used in any manner other than the utmost respect. Any name which refers to any part of the Triune God is HOLY, and should be treated that way. We can take all kinds of offense when inappropriate names are used to describe someone's ethnicity or sexual preference. Yet, I have heard the most vile and disgusting descriptions used in connection with the name that should be above all names.
I have heard that many who practice other religions look at our country as vile and obscene - totally corrupt. What we produce in Hollywood, our video games, much of our music, many of the novels we read, live up to that observation. Our faith, be it Jewish or Christian, demands better of us - of all of us. Lets change this now.
Why is it, in this country of Judeo-Christian roots, we find it acceptable and sometimes humorous to take our Lord's name in vain? When I was a confirmation mentor, I would tell my confirmation students that every time you say the Lord's name, He is listening. When we pray using His name, He listens. By the same token, when we sully or besmirch His name, He is also listening. Why is it, we never hear Buddha's name, Muhammad's name, or any other name sullied? In some religions, you could lose your life for the misuse of a holy name. In this country however, only the name above all names is a target for misuse.
We have come quite a way (the wrong way) since the ancient Jews would refer to God. Many years ago, the tradition was in Jewish law to substitute the name of "God" with "G-d". Why? It afforded the name a degree of high respect and reverence. Once in a while today, you may still see the name of God spelled that way by some of the more traditional or orthodox Jewish people. Think about that - the name of God was considered so holy, it could not even be written down.
What can we do to change this? First off, as people of faith, demand better. It is unacceptable to hear the name of the Father or the Son used in any manner other than the utmost respect. Any name which refers to any part of the Triune God is HOLY, and should be treated that way. We can take all kinds of offense when inappropriate names are used to describe someone's ethnicity or sexual preference. Yet, I have heard the most vile and disgusting descriptions used in connection with the name that should be above all names.
I have heard that many who practice other religions look at our country as vile and obscene - totally corrupt. What we produce in Hollywood, our video games, much of our music, many of the novels we read, live up to that observation. Our faith, be it Jewish or Christian, demands better of us - of all of us. Lets change this now.
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