“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” (Deuteronomy 5:11)

The third Word of the Covenant is grounded once again, in a relationship with God. As such, it’s helpful to think of it in relational terms. The question being: how do you talk about someone that you know and love?

Take a marriage, for instance. When a marriage relationship is healthy and strong, it is highly unlikely that you will hear one of the partners in that marriage use the other’s name as a swear word, or as the butt of a cruel joke. Now, behind closed doors, they may indeed exchange some heated words with one another, but in public: they are not likely to dishonour the other’s name. In fact, if and when we do hear a partner to a marriage start to speak more critically of their spouse in more public spaces—we recognize it as a red flag—presuming that they might be struggling and in need of our support and care.

This is the idea here as well. We use God’s name with honour and respect, because we know God and love God, even as we are known and loved by him. We care for God’s good name because there is a mutual caring between us. The New Testament’s imagery of Bride and Bridgegroom invites this comparison of mutuality, even though we certainly also understand a difference and deference between God and ourselves.

Further: God’s name is not misused when we angrily shout or cry out at, to, and with him in the context of prayer and lament. The Psalms do this all the time, sometimes in rather harsh and bluntly honest language that makes us blush. But the critical point in the psalms is that these fights remain within the context of the relationship. The name of God continues to be used in the context of personal address to God, which honours God and our relationship with him.

Another concerns of this command is oaths. The Catechism suggests we may use God’s name when required to for an oath, though it cautions us against it if it isn’t needed (as does Jesus: “let your yes be yes, and your no, no”). The idea here again is relational: God knows us and can vouch for our truthfulness. The reverse is also true: should we be found to be lying, it is with God that we will have to do for he “will not hold anyone guiltless who missuses his name.” Of course, lying under such an oath also reflects a heavily distorted image of God to the world. This too has an analogue in other relationships: we tend to mention loved ones offhandedly as people who can vouch for our character and story, but at the same time, they do not take well to being dragged into our lies.

When God’s name is misused—as in the example of bad oaths above—what’s at stake is a sin against the relationship that God has established with us. God reveals his name to Moses and to Israel so that they might know him more intimately and understand his character more deeply. His name is meant for personal address, as in the conversation of prayer or worship—always within the context of the relationship. But whenever we speak about someone rather than to or with them, we are always in danger of depersonalizing or objectifying them and so betraying our relationship in small, but significant ways. This danger is all the more profound when it comes to the God whom we have not seen.

Hopefully this all gives a sense of the force of this Third Word of the Covenant. So today: how will you honour your relationship with God in the ways that you speak to him, and of him to others?