Here's the truth about "OMG!"

Recently I've been leading our church through a series on the "Names of God" on Sunday evenings. We've looked at names such as Yahweh, Elohim, and Adonai. We've studied what the names mean, who gave God this name, and where the name is used in the Bible for the first time. More importantly we've looked at how these names should impact our worship and faith. One thing that we talked about at length as we started this series is how the name of God is to be hallowed or reverenced, regardless of the character revealing name used. The name of God is to be used in a way that brings glory to God. It's not to be used in a flippant way or with little regard for the way His name is used.

We live in a culture that profanes the reverent. If something is to be revered as holy or sacred then our culture will pervert and profane it in a way that makes light of the sacred. Don't believe me? Look up anything about Jesus on the internet and it doesn't take long for the reverent to be ridiculed. The sacred is not taken seriously. The name of God is no different. You can't watch TV or movies anymore without hearing Christ's name or God's name taken in vain. I recently heard God's name used in vain in a commercial for a TV show on cable. Seriously, I can't make that up. Call it freedom of speech if you will, but no matter the label it is still a profanity of the holy name of God. The most prevalent way we hear people today profaning the sacred is the term "Oh My God" or "OMG" for short. The funny thing is it doesn't matter whether you shorten it or not, you're still taking the Lord's name in vain. Our society has desensitized us about this fact so much that we don't even bat an eye at the phrase anymore. Many Christians use the phrase and don't think twice about it. The sad thing is Satan has used our culture to draw Christians away from God by enticing them to use God's name as an after thought or a phrase of surprise. 

We no longer give God's name the respect it deserves. The ancient Jews were so afraid of taking the Lord's name, YHWH or Yahweh, in vain that they gave Him the name Adonai to prevent them from breaking the 3rd commandment (Exodus 20:7). Jesus told us in Matthew 6:9 (NIV), "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name..." There is a reason the Jews went to the lengths they did to revere the name of God. There is a reason Jesus said that God's name is hallowed or holy and should be seen as such. It's because we worship a holy God and His name should be used in a holy way.

Here's my dose of encouragement to you for today. Put the time and effort into striking "Oh My God", "OMG", or any other God-dishonoring phrases from you vocabulary. From someone who cursed regularly during my younger years and then made the conscious decision to change my habit, it can be done. Don't tell me it can't. All it takes is dedication and effort. As you do start to change you'll start to notice when others don't have the same control over their tongue. You can liken it to a former smoker who is repulsed by the smell of cigarette smoke. You'll find when people use those phrases that it draws your ire and you won't want to be around it. In the end you will be bringing glory to God because His name will be hallowed by you rather than profaned with the rest of the world.


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