The Name of God
You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God,
for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
Deuteronomy 5:11
There is a new language now, a language I despise. It is the vernacular of technology, I suppose. I first heard about when email and instant messages began. You know what I’m talking about the, lol, btw, b/c, and the rest. I hate it but I do understand that my age and my word addiction contribute greatly to that intense dislike. There is one, however, that no matter how long I live or even if I could temper my love of words will ever be acceptable. I hate it, absolutely hate it and that is not going to change. That one is “omg.” Are you kidding me? It isn’t bad enough that so many people feel so little about tossing the Lord’s name around, now we’re going to lose the capital letter and abbreviate. Let’s make breaking the third commandment as user friendly as possible. I cannot even consider the little abbreviation that adds the famous letter! I’ll just stick to my outrage at “omg.”
Of course I have been told that it can, and does, mean oh my gosh. One day I had a somewhat serious conversation with my friend Charlene. We were talking about how substituting gosh for God isn’t really much of a solution. Char decided that she would borrow from our friend Susan, who says, “Oh my head.” Upon further reflection we realized that if we are living correctly that would also be God. Certainly we didn’t see it as the same as literally taking God’s name so lightly. I then mentioned how I love Shirley Temple and how she imitated her butler in one movie saying, in a stiff British accent, “oh my word.” Another pause. Yup, same thing.
The fact is, God is our head, He is the Word made flesh and obviously He is God. To say, oh my head, oh my word or even oh my gosh, isn’t horrible. It isn’t breaking any commandment. I suppose it is the emotion or meaning behind the expression that makes the difference. We can say “oh my gosh/head/word” in surprise or fear. We can say it when startled or when we aren’t sure what to say. Those words aren’t sacred and they don’t carry any weight of their own. The words “oh my God” on the other hand, should only be spoken with reverence, in prayer or as praise. Never, ever should that name be taken lightly.
I would like to think that all the “omg”s, spoken and typed, are “oh my gosh” but I’m not that naïve. Far too often I hear people use the whole phrase, or just the name of God to express disgust or dismay. It means nothing. There is no connection to some, between the word and the Being.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower. (Proverbs 18:10) It is the name we turn to when we are in need or in pain. We run to the tower of the name of our God and we are promised refuge there. It is never, not ever to be minimized or disrespected.
for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
Deuteronomy 5:11
There is a new language now, a language I despise. It is the vernacular of technology, I suppose. I first heard about when email and instant messages began. You know what I’m talking about the, lol, btw, b/c, and the rest. I hate it but I do understand that my age and my word addiction contribute greatly to that intense dislike. There is one, however, that no matter how long I live or even if I could temper my love of words will ever be acceptable. I hate it, absolutely hate it and that is not going to change. That one is “omg.” Are you kidding me? It isn’t bad enough that so many people feel so little about tossing the Lord’s name around, now we’re going to lose the capital letter and abbreviate. Let’s make breaking the third commandment as user friendly as possible. I cannot even consider the little abbreviation that adds the famous letter! I’ll just stick to my outrage at “omg.”
Of course I have been told that it can, and does, mean oh my gosh. One day I had a somewhat serious conversation with my friend Charlene. We were talking about how substituting gosh for God isn’t really much of a solution. Char decided that she would borrow from our friend Susan, who says, “Oh my head.” Upon further reflection we realized that if we are living correctly that would also be God. Certainly we didn’t see it as the same as literally taking God’s name so lightly. I then mentioned how I love Shirley Temple and how she imitated her butler in one movie saying, in a stiff British accent, “oh my word.” Another pause. Yup, same thing.
The fact is, God is our head, He is the Word made flesh and obviously He is God. To say, oh my head, oh my word or even oh my gosh, isn’t horrible. It isn’t breaking any commandment. I suppose it is the emotion or meaning behind the expression that makes the difference. We can say “oh my gosh/head/word” in surprise or fear. We can say it when startled or when we aren’t sure what to say. Those words aren’t sacred and they don’t carry any weight of their own. The words “oh my God” on the other hand, should only be spoken with reverence, in prayer or as praise. Never, ever should that name be taken lightly.
I would like to think that all the “omg”s, spoken and typed, are “oh my gosh” but I’m not that naïve. Far too often I hear people use the whole phrase, or just the name of God to express disgust or dismay. It means nothing. There is no connection to some, between the word and the Being.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower. (Proverbs 18:10) It is the name we turn to when we are in need or in pain. We run to the tower of the name of our God and we are promised refuge there. It is never, not ever to be minimized or disrespected.
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