God doesn’t need your political endorsement

Last updated on: July 17, 2014 at 2:30 pm by Morgan Guyton

God doesn’t need your political endorsement 2014-07-17T14:30:17-05:00 Morgan Guyton

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

One of the most disappointing political events I have witnessed this year as a Christian was the clumsy maneuvering yesterday by the Democratic National Convention to put “God and Jerusalem” back in their political platform after they had been taken out. I understand that they are desperate to prove that they are not less religious or committed to Israel’s absolute infallibility than God’s Only Party, but through this clumsy gesture, they have become part of the blasphemy by which God has been reduced to a campaign button. And because there was dissension in response to this attempt to pimp God, the crazies in the outrage industrial complex are going to be whipped into an even higher state of apocalyptic frenzy and continue to create stumbling blocks for the sharing of the gospel. Ann Coulter tweeted that the Democrat’s “God vote” fiasco should be the only political ad that Republicans run for the next two months. There was a time when Christians were the most passionate advocates of religious freedom in our country out of recognition that being a Christian has no meaning when it’s just part of one’s national citizenship; that was before Christians stopped being evangelists and became a special interest group instead.

I have often wondered about the history of interpreting the Third Commandment not to take the Lord’s name in vain. When did it become about speaking impolitely rather than using God’s name for purposes that do not glorify Him like putting “God” into political platforms and saying “God bless America” at the end of speeches to score points with believers? I found an old blog post from the Credo House of Theology on this topic that has a good explanation of what the Third Commandment really means, so I thought I would share an excerpt:

The nations to which the Israelites were going had many gods. They were highly superstitious. Their prophets would often use the name of their god in pronouncements. The usage could be in a curse, hex, or even a blessing. They would use the name of their god to give their statements, whatever they may be, authority. To pronounce something in their own name would not have given their words much weight, but to pronounce something in the name of a god meant that people would listen and fear. They may have said, “In the name of Baal, there will be no rain for 40 days.” Or “In the name of Marduk, I say that you will win this battle.” This gave the prophet much power and authority…

God was attempting to prevent the Israelites from doing the same thing. God was saying for them not to use His name like the nations used the names of their gods. He did not want them to use His name to invoke false authority behind pronouncements. In essence, God did not want the Israelites to say that He said something that He had not said. This makes sense. God has a reputation to protect. He does not want anyone saying “Thus sayeth the Lord” if the Lord had not spoken…

What does this mean for us? Well, for starters we understand that the third commandment is certainly not focused on something so trivial as saying “God !@#$%^& it!” The funny thing is that while some people may never think of using that phrase, people all over the Christian religious landscape are breaking the third commandment every day, damaging the Lord’s reputation. “Thus sayeth the Lord . . .” “God told me to tell you . . .” “God says that if you send in this much money, you will be blessed.” I could go on and on, but you get the point. Using the name of the Lord in vain means that you do damage to His reputation and character through false and unsure claims.*

This is exactly how God’s name gets used in our political discourse: to give false authority to the person using it. The reason that Republicans are often in the dog house with me is because of the presumptuousness with which they consider God to be exclusively on their side, and the damage that this does to the ability of people who have bigger goals than winning elections to tell the lost and left-out that they have a God who loves them. So I’m grateful to whoever shouted and booed at the Democratic National Convention to try to prevent them from taking the Lord’s name in vain, whether they were doing so out of defense for the sanctity of the name or out of secularism. And I strongly urge all the other Christian bloggers out there who are pouncing at the opportunity to pronounce that the Democrats are officially the party of the godless to think about the disrespect for God’s name that you would be showing to make such a claim.

Furthermore, if I hadn’t grown up Christian and all that I had to go by in considering Christianity was its public witness over the past thirty years of culture war, then I wouldn’t want to have anything to do with God either. It is because I care about evangelism that I am upset about the unnecessary stumbling blocks that Christians are creating. If Christianity is reduced to a small remnant of American society in the next two generations, those of us who have damaged God’s name by using Him as a campaign button will be held accountable when we stand before Him. I wish that President Obama had had more spine to stand up for the Third Commandment.

Jerusalem and God vote

Lord's name in vain

Platform

Third Commandment

Previous Post

September 5, 2012

On Being Salt in the Public Discourse

Next Post

September 7, 2012 Why couldn't Obama say "Palestine"?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advent Beauty Will Save the World Bible Big Picture: Ephesians Bloggers Book Christian salvation and the Beautitudes Culture Daily Office Danceable Homiletics Deadly Sins Deep Roots: Genesis Devotions Dominican Republic May 2011 El Principio Misericordia (The Mercy Principle) Five verses God tattooed on my heart Fundraising FutureGospel Good Biblical Words Henri Nouwen Interview Jennings' Christian Imagination Jesus inside the beltway Jesus Is My Candidate Jesus vs the Pharisees Jesus vs. Plato Journey to Eternity Looking Back on 2012 Love Actually Monday Merton Monday Merton Music Occupy the manger On Earth As It Is In Heaven Original Sin Podcast Poetry Politics Prayer Psalm 119 Radical Jesus 101 Reviews Sermon on the Mount Sermons Spanish Bible study Special Series Spiritual but not religious Synchroblog Theology Things that made me think Thomas a Kempis Ugliness Into Beauty Uncategorized Viaje Dominicano 2013 Walking in the Valley (Lent) Welcome: It's More than a Mat Wild Goose 2013 Wrestling

Select a Month March 2022 January 2022 December 2021 September 2021 April 2021 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who carried Jesus' cross after He could no longer?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Peter John Simon of Cyrene Pilate