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WORDS MATTER
Happy New Year to Everyone!!! The last year, 2009 has been many things; sad, joyful, full of surprises, bumpy, smooth, awesome, bleh, etc. The fact is, words would not be able to describe how much the past year meant to every one of us. By now, I can see a whole lotta pens scribbling down ‘stuffs’, papers are being torn, more ‘stuff’ are been written and yet again, the pages are ripped off, squeezed into the trash bin. I’m sure you probably know what I mean by ‘stuff’ at this moment. Stop for a while and take a good guess.
Waiting…. Waiting…. Still waiting…. You ready? Yeah, you probably guessed right, New Year Resolutions. I’m sure your journals and diaries and every piece of paper you could get hold of are filled with those. If you wouldn’t mind though, do you have any more space to add just one more resolution? Why not, right?
You are probably thinking you wouldn’t be able to keep the resolutions you have already but, a simple solution to that is not just to make it a list, don’t just write in down on a sheet of paper you can decide to throw away any time, let it be written on the table of your heart by taking the resolutions to God in prayer. Hebrews 10:16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them”.
Alright, so what do you think this resolution I want you to add is? Well, James 1:26 says “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain”. From that, it can very well be deduced the resolution is about the tongue. That might actually be right. Most, if not all Christians know for a fact that we should not use the name of the Lord in vain, a direct violation of the third commandment. Ex. 20:7, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain." But what about representing the name of the Lord with euphemisms? But first, what does it mean to take God’s name in vain?
J.W. Hiebert in his article which he titles “Christian Cursing” wrote extensively on what it means to take the Lord’s name in vain. The word "vain" in itself means "empty," "as nothing," or "lightly." When referring to the subject at hand, it applies to "false-swearing" or "light-swearing." These are words that have little meaning, or an empty purpose or something that is said lightly.
Now that we understand what taking the name of the Lord in vain means, I know you would say, “I’m a Christian, How could I ever do that?” But wait, I remember I mentioned something about EUPHEMISM. Now, what is that? Permit me to use Daniel Webster's report: "...to use good or auspicious word for an evil or inauspicious word..." Euphemisms can be defined thus:
1. It is the use of a word or phrase that is less expressive or direct but considered less distasteful, less offensive, etc. than another.
2. A word or phrase so substituted. Thus, it is a form of cursing that replaces a direct curse word with a more acceptable word which in effect does the same thing.

Having defined what Euphemism is, it would be good to list or at least try to, due to the fact that the list used as a substitute for God is innumerable. Interestingly though, the Jewish/Hebrew man reveres the name of God so much that he does not mention it, unless in the context of prayer. He refers to the Hebrew Text YHWH, as “The name” in order not to violate the third commandment. But, we acknowledging the fact that we are New Testament believers take for granted this important fact. I was talking to a person the other day. Let me try to give you the set-up of what transpired between us.

He was struggling to get something done, flip over a container with his feet. I watched intently, without saying anything (the behaviors of human beings have always fascinated me for some reason). Anyway, I watched this young man as he tried several times to flip this container over. After several attempts, he became frustrated, and the next minute, what I heard from his mouth was using the name of God directly next to a dirty word. Our conversation went something like this:
Me: What did you just say?
For a while, he remained silent. He tried to ignore the fact that he had just used the name of God in vain, without any concrete reason at all. I wasn’t going to stop at that. I resumed.

Me: Dude, did you just say what I thought you said?
He: Nooooo (he smiles, guilt plastered on his face) I said Gothdang it.
Me: What is that supposed to mean?
He: It doesn’t really make sense.
Me: Then why did you say it? See, that’s what happens, I heard what you said, but you lied to my face.
He: Common, people say stuff that doesn’t make sense all the time.
Me: That was wrong, and you shouldn’t have said it.
He: Dude, Life is difficult already as it is, why make it more difficult?

I could have said something, right? Really? I don’t think it really adds to someone’s burden to tell them how to speak normally. Well, that’s just me. I got big news for anyone who has that kind of mind frame though. The news is, frankly, life doesn’t get any easier at this point. It would be advisable we start preparing for the journey; no matter how rough it may be, starting now. Maybe he would understand as he grows older.
Anyways, back to the Euphemistical Representation of God:

A. Euphemisms of God.
1. Gosh: "...an interjection, an exclamation of surprise: a euphemism for God." The world would make light of the use of this word but the saints ought to heed the meaning of words. It is the using of the word "gosh" in the place of the word "God" to make it seem less offensive. Grab a dictionary and you’ll understand what I’m talking about.

2. Golly: "it is an interjection, an exclamation of surprise, etc.: a euphemism of God." It is a milder, socially acceptable way to use God's name in vain. This also includes all the shortened forms as in "gol" (gol-darn).

3. Gee: "it is an interjection (a euphemistic contraction of Jesus), (slang), an exclamation of surprise, etc." All forms of Gee, Geez or Cheez, Cheese, Cheece, Sheece, still relate back to the Lord Jesus Christ when used as an exclamatory remark.

4. Jiminy Crickets: has been used by many professing people, however, it is also a euphemistic expression of Jesus Christ. It is just a way to try to exchange acceptable words with which to euphemistically use our Lord's name lightly. It is an interjection. Some people also take the liberty to use the Letters JC, which represents the initials of the name of our Lord.

5. The expression "man at the wheel" has a direct reference to the Sovereign God of the universe who is in control of all things, but here euphemistically applied and taken lightly or disbelieved altogether. It is not a light thing to acknowledge God's sovereignty in an empty statement. For He is Sovereign.

If you are unsure about any of these words, make use of the Dictionary to confirm and decide if this article in correct so far. Well, it is, but the decision would be if you want to believe it and admit you’ve been wrong all these while.


B. The usurping of God's authority of judgment or making light of His character.

1. Darn: (all forms of this word included) an interjection, a euphemism of the word damn and is a form of a curse. A curse is never inflicted seriously except it calls upon God to do the damning. It places the curser in the seat of authority in God's place to sit judgment over the one being cursed and makes God subordinate to the one using the curse word to inflict damnation at their will. It is calling God to take ones own side and condemn the other person to Hell. It matters not whether the person says, "dagnabit," or "gosh-darn," or "darnation," all of these words use God's authority and name lightly and wrongfully.
2. Holy Cow: Holiness is an attribute, a perfection of God in which we view God separated from all sin (morally and spiritually). A cow has no soul, it is a-moral and is without a spirit. These kinds of words have a way of making light of God's character. There also is nothing Holy about smoke. It too, is a euphemistic way of using a word with a wrong intent to make it seem acceptable, and with lightness (in vain).
3. The Lord willing and the creeks don't rise: is a mockery of the Lord's sovereignty. As a matter of fact He does control the creeks; therefore, the two are not contrasts.


Words are used for several different purposes and would therefore have different meanings at each occasion. When you read the Bible, you would find out that David the most, in the books of psalms used the word “O MY GOD” extensively and for the purpose for which he had used it, it was acceptable. Permit me to explain myself. It has become a fashion among teenagers as well as adults to express themselves in this term at any slightest opportunity, but when I do hear it, I am tempted to ask “Is he really your God? What God are we even talking about? You mean the same God?”

The Bible tells us about the fact that the Lord knows our hearts and therefore, he can discern the reason for which we have used a word, be it for no particular reason at all, or because we want to reverence him and actually have a personal relationship with him to the extent where we can say “O My GOD”. God as we already know is omnipresent and is everywhere. When something happens, say something surprising like you see a friend you haven’t seen in a long while and then, knowing God is already there, using the term would be irrelevant at this occasion because it even further draws the awareness of God to that situation, a practice David used in the Psalms to draw the attention of God to his situations.

Now I do know we are in the technology age, and therefore we rarely speak in sentences anymore, we have expression like lol, idk, the list goes on and also emoticons like , , :D, :p, etc to express ourselves. But I’m sure by now; we know what the expression OMG means. The G could be any of the above representations of the Almighty. Please let’s remove this expression from our dictionary as you find it deeming fit. Someone once said of this generation, “this is a generation that has everything to live with, but nothing to live for”. This is a sad compliment, if at all a compliment in my own opinion. Let us show the world that we as Christian youth can make a difference.

Now, the ultimate question is “Am I Taking God's Name in Vain?”

James L Melton writes below, in some of his words to ask the ultimate question and how guilty we all are, or at a point in our lives have been.
You say, "Well, my word! I wouldn't take God's name in vain!" You just did! John 1:1 says that "the Word" was GOD! Satan tricked you, didn't he? You need to CONFESS to God that you've been taking His name in vain, and you need to REPENT of this sin!
"Well, my goodness!” you say. If you are saved then your "goodness" is none other than God Himself (Psalm 144:2). You just took His name in vain again. You have no goodness of your own (Isa. 64:6; Rom. 3:23; Psa. 39:5), so "my goodness" is a reference to God!
"Good grief! I had no idea!" There you go again! Jesus Christ was a man of sorrows and acquainted with GRIEF (Isa. 53:3). His grief was "good" grief because He bore your sins. You should show more reverence and respect for your Savior and quit throwing God's word around too loosely.
"For crying out loud! Can't I say anything?" How about reading your Bible for a change?! Matthew 27:46 says that when your Savior was suffering on the cross He "cried with a loud voice." What's your logic in using such speech? Could it be that Satan is just having a good laugh at your ignorance and disrespect of God's word?
"Well, geeeeeeee!" Did you say "G", as in "GOD"? Yes, you certainly did! You've also said "Gosh" and "Good Golly"! You've also said "Jeepers Creepers" when you really wanted to say "Jesus Christ" (JC!). You've also played around with the letters "G" and "D" together. You said "dad gum" and "dog gone" when you really wanted to say "God" and then follow with the word "damn". Think about it, Christian! Is God pleased with this kind of speech?
There is no intent to go into all the foul, filthy words of modern-day vocabulary, it should not be necessary. Eph. 4:29, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." Col. 3:8, "But now ye also put off all of these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth."

Remember, it is not always the words by themselves that we use, but often it is the intent of the expression, whether anger, frustration or disagreement that we feel toward God or others around us.

Now what can we do? It is simple. Don't use words (actual or euphemistically) that will break fellowship with our Savior. And as important: learn to direct our thoughts, words, and feelings to the Lord. He is Sovereign. Also, Remember: "But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." (Mat. 12:36)

God Bless you all as you spend your New Year and be like Isaiah, saying “O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD”. This would help to “Let our light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven”. Happy New Year once again.

Ayokunle F.