Taking God's Name in Vain and Postmodernism

I read today on Parchment and Pen a post that I found interesting.

Speaking of Ray Comfort and how he points out taking God's name in vain to those who are lost to show their sin is "Emphasizing on non-essentials. Making the focus of his evangelistic persuasion to convince people of their sin is not the problem. This is a necessary part of the Gospel. The problem is focusing on the trivial sin of saying G-D. Well, let me correct this. He is focusing on listening to someone say G-D, not actually saying it yourself! If that is not straining out a gnat while ignoring the camel, I don’t know what is. "

How does God see His name being misused in any fashion?

Exo 20:7 "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

Vain: H7723 BDB Definition:
1) emptiness, vanity, falsehood
1a) emptiness, nothingness, vanity
1b) emptiness of speech, lying
1c) worthlessness (of conduct)

It can mean swearing to do something by His name. Ecclessiastes says this in chapter 5 I think it is, as does James. Roman Catholics (they are not Christians) blaspheme God when they call mere men "Holy Father" which is a title reserved ONLY for God the Father (John 17:11; Matt. 23:9). It would include mouthing "Jesus is Lord" and all other phrases "Christians" spout off all the time in a trivial manner. But it also includes swearing His name as an exclamation of unbelief or cursing....because its not from a humble heart crying out to God for mercy and in prayer, but rather rattled off from a pagan who hates the very Person and Name of God Father and God the Son.

God places HIS name and Word above all else:

Psa 138:2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for You have exalted above all things Your name and Your word.

Mat 6:9 Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.

God places great importance on His name, for His name carries His character. His name and character go hand in had. To take His name in vain, however the “manner”, is to trivialize not “just” His name (let’s not forget how many unbelievers take the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in vain, too) but the very Person of God.

Psa 115:1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your name give glory, for the sake of Your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

In fact we often see how God’s name, such as Jehovah Jireh, was born out of God’s very character and faithfulness. He is the God Who Sees; The God of Hosts; the God Who Provides, etc.

Exo 3:13 Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" 14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

Joh 8:58 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."

Mat 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."

Mat 1:23 "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel" (which means, God with us).

If it is wrong to God, then it is a sin and it should bother us as well. Even one sin earns a person death and Hell (which is why every person needs the only God and Savior, Jesus Christ). This is not a trivial matter. Its God’s character and our sin that is the issue.

With such a low view of Scripture ( denial the inerrancy of Scripture here and says the Cannon of Scripture is NOT closed here ), its no wonder taking God's name in vain in any capacity doesn't bother their conscienceThey oppose God's declaration in Ps. 138:2 where HE says He holds His NAME AND HIS WORD ABOVE ALL THINGS. Pretty hard to do when you think God's word isn't inerrant nor completed. I won't even link to the other post on taking God's name in vain, because its riddled with swearing and using God's name in vain (with the cute and sarcastic note that those who are offended are just too immature to handle it).

Even to remove taking God's name in vain and thus making it useless and trivial, even unbeliever's speech will be judged:

Mat 12:36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

Parchment and Pen goes on to say, "Our postmodern culture is smarter than this. Not only can they smell hypocrisy from a mile away, they are on the hunt for it. All this does is serve to confirm the postmodern suspicion that Christians live in a naive world that has no real depth or understanding."

The Postmodern culture wouldn’t know truth if it bite them on the nose. They are the epitome of hypocriscy, so really, they have no “moral authority” much less any absolute truth to make any distinction on anyone else’s behavior. They are the very ones who defy absolute truth. They ask along with their father Pontus Pilate, “What is truth?”, and abhor anyone who dogmatically claims to know truth. They are the group who clamours about being oh-so-tolerant, until you tell them they are wrong or are in sin. Suddenly they have an absolute! So really, without any foundation of the fact that Truth is knowable and God has revealed it to us in His Word and to some extent in our consciences (Romans 2 about simple right versus wrong issues), its not the Christians that have a lack of real depth or understanding, but rather the Postmodernists who claim there is no Truth or that Truth is unknowable.

Jude spoke of Postmodernists when he penned his letter:

Jud 1:10 But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively.

Jud 1:14 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."

Jam 5:12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

Eph 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

For more on Postmodernism's error and how to combat it go here.

"I admire him for doing what he is doing, but he really needs to understand what he is talking about before he hits the street....Forgive me for being simplistic with such satire, but that is what people are hearing when the focus of peoples rebellion becomes such things."

I thought they were supposed to be Irenic? This post was hardly peaceful, rather it comes out running with a kitchen knife at Ray Comfort who at least is out there proclaiming the Gospel. Where's the peaceful way of looking at opposing view points that Reclaiming the Mind prides itself on, here? Its missing.