OST! (Oh Stop That!)

 

Sometimes I can get a little picky and this one may be seen that way but I really think that, as Christians, we have to be careful of what we “say”. Every little facebook abbreviation is received with one understanding by all. LOL – laugh out loud. ROTFL – roll on the floor laughing. UR- you are. Pix – pictures. You get the picture and when we Christians use OMG people read it as “Oh My God.” This is taking the Lord’s name in vain.

I know that the defense of this is that our minds don’t work like that. We are writing “oh my goodness” or “oh my gosh.” But that is not what others are reading. If that’s what you want to say then write it out to honor our God. That would make a statement.

Romans 14:21 says, ” It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.” And Exodus 20:7 says, “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.” When we use abbreviations that cause others to read the Lord’s name taken in vain I think we’re approving of it and possibly causing another to stumble.

Most people know the first part of this command. But take a good look at the second part, God isn’t going to hold anyone guiltless who takes the Lord’s name in vain. If we have a true fear of the Lord we know that we don’t want anyone to have to face God’s wrath. As for me, I don’t want to be the one to cause another to stumble on this issue.

Even I can hear that this may sound overstated, that some Christians are going to think that I’ve gone way to far with this one. When it comes to guilt before God, can we be too careful? Especially about leading someone who does not yet know the Lord down a wrong path?

I have been giving a lot of thought lately to how we live and demonstrate our faith and our love for the Lord. Quite frankly, it doesn’t seem to rate high on the list of what many Christians think we need to do for Him. But, God requires that all we do should bring glory to God (1 Peter 4:11). The more of a presence we have on social networking sites, the more opportunity we have to be “salt and light.” The language we use, the attitudes we convey, and the pictures and videos we put up will speak volumes about our faith.

Paul gives us some wise counsel in Titus 2:7-8. “Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.” Everything we do on these public sites is teaching someone something about our faith.

What is it that we really want to say to the world about our God?

Worship the LOL (Lord of Lords)? Doesn’t work, does it?