Strategies For When You Hear the Lord’s Name Spoken in Vain

I don’t know about you, but my BIGGEST PET PEEVE is when I hear the Lord’s name spoken in vain.

Several people we love speak this way often, and it always makes our toes curl. I’d much rather hear an F-bomb dropped any day… and I’m sorry if this offends you, but I have to admit, I’ve been known to drop one of those now and then. There are times that such a crisp word just fits. But the Lord’s name as a swear word NEVER fits and is always offensive. I’ve even heard people say, “Oh, Jesus, Mary & Joseph” – swearing not just with the Lord’s name, but with the names of the entire Holy Family!

Kent and I also tend to get into the bad habit of letting the “baby” swear words roll off our tongues too easily. To some, this may be just as bad to them as the Lord’s name as a swear word is to us, so yes, we need to work on this.

Think about it, though. This doesn’t happen in any other religion. You don’t hear someone stub their toe and shout, “Oh Buddha!” Why is that?

WE CAN HELP EACH OTHER

I’m hoping that with this post we can all help each other come up with good responses to these situations.

Here’s how we’ve handled it in the past:

• Kent has been known to casually and humorously say, “Hey, don’t bring Him into this…”
• I’ve flat out said to people at times, “Hey, don’t use his name like that.”
• Other times I’ve just said, “Ouch.”
• I’ve also done a visible sign of the cross, this is nice because you don’t have to say a word, although it might cause an eye-roll.  Whatever.
• Sadly, what I mostly do, though, is say nothing. Usually it is because, oddly enough, I don’t want to be “rude”, because often it’s right in the middle of their story… is that twisted or what?
• There have been some times that I haven’t said anything, but I’ve prayed, “Forgive them Lord, for they know not what they do.” (Repeating the words of Jesus himself on the cross, when he prayed for those who were crucifying him, isn’t that powerful? That’s the kind of Lord He is…)

What about you? I’d love to hear some of the ways you handle it when you hear the Lord’s name taken in vain.

Keep in mind, I’m not perfect in many ways myself, obviously, but this is just one that really bothers me.

ADDED LATER:

Well, since writing this I’ve been really convicted about the “baby” swear words I mentioned above, not to mention my occasional stress-reliever F-bomb. Not exactly a holy example for those around me, even if my kids don’t hear it. Sounds like a New Year resolution to me!