The Lord’s Name in Vain

I wanted to take a moment to share a bit about my family so that you understand why I am so passionate about this blog. I have a wonderful husband, to whom I have been married for over 30 years. I am about as basic, white, heterosexual as they come. However, God saw fit to give me three amazing children that have broken every single mold. Our oldest daughter (23) is gay, has a beautiful girlfriend, is studying to be a librarian, and is an amazing artist, our middle child is non-binary (18), has an awesome boyfriend, works at a clothing store, sings, plays bass and electric guitar and is in a punk band (check out Baby Bugs on Spotify….shameless plug 😉 ), and my youngest (13), is still figuring a lot of things out, but is the most incredible, outspoken, advocate on the planet. At 13, she already knows that she wants to be a human rights lawyer, and work for those against whom our society unfairly discriminates. I do not recommend getting into an argument with her! 🙂

This amazing 13 year old approached me last week and said, “mom, let’s talk about what it means to take the Lord’s name in vain”. Well, okay! I have learned over the years to let her go first, because usually when she comes to me she already has something pretty fantastic to say, and once again I was not disappointed. She shared with me that she didn’t think taking the Lord’s name in vain was simply saying, good god…or oh my god, or even god da**, she said, don’t you think it’s more about using God’s name and His word to make people feel like they don’t belong, or that they are falling short of deserving God’s love somehow? Maybe, mom, it’s about using God’s name to tell people they aren’t okay just as they are. Maybe, mom, it’s using God’s name to tell a trans person that they are a sinner. Maybe, mom, it’s using God’s name to tell a gay person that God is disappointed in them. Maybe, mom, it’s a family using God’s name to tell a loved one that they are going to hell because of their sexuality. That stuff is using the Lord’s name in vain! She finished by saying I just don’t think God is so basic that he really worries that much about us using His name when we drop a dish….but I do think He cares, a lot, about us using His name to wrongfully and hurtfully tell people that how they are made…by Him…is sin.

Needless to say it was a bit of a mic drop moment. I was truly speechless and I had genuinely never thought of it in this way. I wonder how many times in the past I have done this very thing. Before I began to reconstruct my faith I was VERY careful to never say oh my god, but I would look at someone, maybe covered in tattoos or piercings and think…”oh goodness, they need Jesus”. Or someone dressed in drag….”they just need Jesus”! It breaks my heart into pieces that I ever thought that way, but worse, I was most definitely using God’s name in vain. God didn’t feel that way about those beautiful souls……I DID….God loved them just as they were…sadly…I DIDN’T. It was my hateful, confused, judgmental heart that thought ill of them and I was using God’s name to pass that hateful, confused judgement.

I want to share a final story before I close. I was in downtown Richmond last week and ran into the sweetest couple. They had beards and very deep voices, yet both of them were wearing dresses and had the cutest little bows in their hair. One of these beautiful people seemed to be neuro-divergent in some way and became very concerned that my flip flops were going to break before I got back to my car. 🙂 They sat and talked with me at length about the problems associated with flip flop straps, and the partner of this young person was so kind and so loving and was taking great care to see that I was being kind in return. I had the most incredible conversation with this couple and as they walked away I almost cried, because I know just a few short years ago I would have looked at these beautiful people that God created, and thought “they just need Jesus” :(. I would have been kind, but I would have had judgement in my heart. I would have been kind, but there would have been a veiled message of….”they just need Jesus” in my small, sad heart….and trust me….they would have seen and felt that judgement coming from miles away. You see, I would have been taking the Lord’s name in vain! These people were fearfully and wonderfully made, JUST AS THEY ARE. Their relationship was perfect. Their kindness was so apparent. Their love was written on them. And God’s handiwork was apparent in every fiber of their diverse, unique, beautiful selves. I left their presence filled with God’s love more than I have any church service. God was there in that store! God was there in that relationship of love and care. God was there in my heart, and gave me the great joy of experiencing and sharing in a moment with such beautiful, loving, spirit-filled people.

Thank you baby girl, and all my babies, for continually challenging me and encouraging me to open my eyes to ALL the beauty that surrounds me every single day!