Sometimes the world can affect us in ways we don’t expect.  One day I was asked to read a passage of scripture during a worship service.  The passage included Ps. 109:26, which in part says, “O Lord My God.”  That might not sound like anything unusual, but it actually bothered me to say it out loud.  Why?

Expressions

In our society, expressions such as “Oh my God!” and “Oh God!” are prolific.  They are used in a very casual manner by many who are probably not even very God-centered in their thinking and actions.  God is not their reason for living, but merely an expression of exasperation or surprise.    Under the Law of Moses, it was a sin to misuse the Lord’s name in a way that would be vain or common(Ex. 20:7).  It was actually one of the Ten Commandments.  Jesus taught similarly.

In Matt. 6:9, as part of what is commonly referred to as the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus said that the Lord’s name should be hallowed or honored.  It is not something to be flippantly used, but rather should be used as a term of respect or honor.  There are a great many ways that people do this today, and it bothers me to even mention them, as I do not wish to be guilty of the offense myself(yes, I did mention two above, and that bothers me, too).  So in the interests of NOT creating such a list, let me suggest that anytime that we refer to God in a way that is cheap or meaningless, we not honoring God.  He is the Creator of the universe and the Sustainer of the universe.  He sent His Son to die for our sins.  The list of things that He has done and continues to do for us is endless.  Based solely on this, we should not need to be told to honor Him.  That should be an automatic response to everything He has done for us.  But for so many, it is not.

Unexpected Effects

Getting back to my unease about reading a passage in Ps. 109:26, due to the sheer volume of misuse, and in particular the expressions I quoted above, I now have an aversion to thinking those things, let alone saying those things.  And so, when I was reading and came to the part that says, “O Lord my God,” I all but tripped over my own tongue.  I didn’t want to say those words, even though I was reading from the Bible.  Reading from scripture is clearly not doing something in vain or dishonoring God.  But over-exposure can create understandable reactions, which are good, but can leak into areas where we do not need to avoid the conduct we might otherwise think objectionable.  That is a convoluted way of saying that sometimes our society will make us think something is wrong, when it is not.  Respectfully reading from God’s word is never a bad thing, regardless of what we are reading.  But when something that is meant for good has been so misused, it can make the good seem bad.

What Can Be Done?

First of all, we cannot make our society do anything.  We can encourage those we deal with in life to do what is right, or avoid what is wrong, but in the end, it is their choice and their decision.  Unless we stay at home and never let anything outside come in(basically, a hermit), we will be exposed to sin.  And God did not save us to secret us away from the world(John 17:15).  He saved us so we could be saved AND so we could help others to be saved, too(Jude 23).  And the only way to do that is to interact with others, so that hermit thing is off the table, out the door, or any other euphemism you want to employ.

We will have to live in this world, regardless of the level of sin and corruption(of God’s Word).  It is our responsibility to try to avoid its effect on us.  Can it affect us?  Absolutely,  if we are not careful.  That is why Jesus prayed for His followers that they would not be affected by the evil that is so pervasive in this world(John 17:15).  So let’s work on that.  Instead of allowing this world to [negatively] affect us, let’s [positively] affect the world.