You are walking around barefoot when you stub your toe! “God D@mmit!” you exclaim through sheer agony as you jump up and down… And then the lightning bolt comes flying down straight from the hand of God and smites you for breaking one of the Big Ten (and I am not talking about football). At least that is how I thought of it as a child. I mean there is was, clearly written down by Moses himself…

“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” – Exodus 20:7

I remember my horror if I got too excited and shouted “Oh my God!” I would clasp my hands over my mouth, utterly convinced that I was going to Hell for my faux pas.

It seems like such silly kid stuff now…or at least I wish it did. But in reality, this isn’t too far off from how many adults practice their religion. For them this verse is a rule about speech with little call to introspection or reflection on one’s heart. And it is this kind of legalism that gives rise to the blatant hypocrisy within the American Church that is heartbreaking at best and infuriating at worst.

Like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, far too many Christians strain out the gnat while swallowing the camel. And they do it with absolute confidence that God is on their side because they have surrounded themselves by others who are equally cool with the taste of desert mammals.

This isn’t just a little problem. It’s a HUGE problem. Because it’s killing the church and driving people away from the very God in whose name we profess to be serving…

And that right there is the true heart of this commandment. It’s not about what we exclaim loudly when in pain or angry in traffic. It’s about attaching the name above all names to things that it should never be attached to. It’s about lending weight to YOUR cause by putting the Big man’s name on it. It’s about using the name of Jesus to perpetuate our own plans and agendas, often at the expense of His. It’s about justifying a multitude of sins by claiming it’s all in the name of love.

And that’s not just misguided. Its wrong. Its evil. It’s Satan masquerading as an angel of light and it should make anyone who is serious about following Jesus of Nazareth mad as Hell.

But it doesn’t….

In fact many are more upset at the use of the phrase “mad as Hell” than they are at the way Jesus’ name is used to justify so much evil.

We all love hippie Jesus. You know the one who just makes us feel good about ourselves all of the time. And if we are mistaken or get a little off track he will understand…never mind if we mow down others and drive them from him. As long as we had the “right heart” it’s all good.

Well, that is one picture of him…and it is certainly the one we prefer to imagine in relation to ourselves. The problem is that while Jesus did offer abundant grace to sinners (the humble folks who knew they didn’t have it together), he offered something entirely different to the Pharisees (the proud ones who thought they had it figured out). But that’s something we don’t like to remember.

We forget about the Jesus with the tattooed thigh who comes riding on a white horse in Revelation to strike down ALL evil. Or, if we do remember him, we are fully convinced that we are on his side. We forget the incensed Jesus flipping tables over in the Temple because of what they have made of his father’s house.

Can you imagine how he must now feel about what we have made of His name?

In Jesus’ name…I have seen young people driven to the point of suicide as they have been told repeatedly that they are a perversions and abominations.

In Jesus’ name… I have seen racism justified…not in the distant past, but today.

In Jesus’ name…I have seen the rich get richer, while the less fortunate die of preventable causes and then have the blame placed on them.

In Jesus’ name…I have seen those in financial distress judged and pressured into giving what they do not have to prove their faith and devotion to the church, all for the sake of a new building.

In Jesus’ name… I have seen parents cut off their own children.

In Jesus’ name…I have seen free thought suppressed.

In Jesus’ name…I have seen ignorance lauded.

In Jesus’ name… I have seen manipulation within the church on a level I have yet to see in any other institution.

Frankly, I have seen too much done in Jesus’ name that has nothing to do with Jesus and I am sick of it. I love Jesus and I am tired of watching his name be dragged through the mud…not by atheists shouting profanity, but by Christians claiming his name while acting in opposition to his heart.

Church, if “by their fruit you will know them”… well, that’s some awfully rotten fruit and maybe it’s time we start looking at the tree.

But here’s the problem. I can’t say that to the people who need to hear it because the moment you voice anything wrong that you see within the church the tables turn. Rather than being met with careful reflection, your observations are placed in a different, easier category to deal (or, more to the point, not deal) with. The trump card is played and discernment (a gift from God) is all too often seen as evidence of a “heart out of line.” Truthful criticism is thrown out as an attack from the devil and the Church goes on abusing His name in blissful ignorance rather than taking steps toward meaningful change.

Now don’t get me wrong. Jesus said he did not come to bring peace but a sword. And he promised that sword would divide, as truth often does. But Church, that does not alleviate us from the responsibility of making sure it is, in fact, THE TRUTH and not the presentation of our perceptions AS truth that divides. Just because you are making people angry doesn’t mean you are right. Negative reactions are not always evidence of the deep sinful nature of others. Sometimes they are evidence of yours. And maybe, just like Jesus was so angered by his Father’s house becoming a den of thieves, people are tired of you hijacking His name to suit your purposes.

So next time you do or say something “in Jesus’ name” take a moment to ask yourself if you’re really so sure it is. And if not…why don’t we just leave him out of it?

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