OMG

On my boys last weekend stay I heard something from my sons lips that I naively hoped I'd never hear. On approximately 5 or 6 occasions My eldest used the phrase "Oh my God". That is what has prompted this blog. Blasphemy is a hot topic in the world at large right now. Only 2 days ago Shahbaz Bhatti was gunned down for his opposition to the blasphemy law in Pakistan. Shahbaz was a Christian, and no doubt opposed to true blasphemy but for religious freedom. For him it was Literally a matter of life and death. We throw that phrase around so easily in the west "I disagree with what you are saying but I will defend your right to say it".

A W Tozer said "What comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us". If spiritual reality is what really matters then this must be true. I can always remember the way my late mother used to wince when someone on telly or in the street used to say "Jesus Christ" and I wished that I felt that sting as acutely as her. The new testament tells us that Jesus has been given the name above every name. This is the spiritual reality. It also tells us that Jesus "became a curse" to redeem us from the curse. This is the earthly reality working its way out of the mouths of believers and unbelievers mouths alike. Sure it pains me to hear the name of the one person who can save us being kicked around like a beer can in some back ally but in truth....I've gotten used to it. Over exposure will do that to you and to be fair to my Mum....she surrounded herself with people who valued the name she loved so much.

I think the far more socially acceptable form of taking the name in vain is even more disturbing., in some ways. Oh my god is now regularly reduced to OMG. To say that we have a low view of God as a society is, I fear a touch of an understatement. And to know how desensitized we've become to it is even more so. When I challenged my son (very gently I hope) his total incomprehension was a perfect mirror of society at large. There is not even a register of  wrongdoing. It is as if there were no God to get offended. This is exactly what taking the name in vain is all about. Reverence is dead. Tozer argues that your concept of God defines the quality if your worship and life. If we do not revere him or his name....lets be honest...there is no worship.

My ex-wife just smiled to herself when I mentioned this and then shrugged her shoulders. She is not indifferent to the concept of God and is in someways far more reverent (not having that cringe-making over familiarity with the "almighty" that some Christians have) However to her this wasn't really an issue. So now I must accept the fact that for the 80% of his life when he is away from me a completely different set of values are being enforced and re-enforced. All I could say to my 7 yr old son was that God is the a very special name to me and we need to treat it with respect. How do you convey that when words dont sum up your feelings and the world doesnt know him, Lets be frank in a world where the word sacred is trvialised or personalised at best. Telling him these things helps me to re-asses my own thoughts on the subject. As Tozer says "Only after an ordeal of painful self-probing are we likely to discover what we actually believe about God". After all that is where the true blasphemy begins....inside of us, where Gods significance in our lives is initially diminished and his influence is undermined. As Jesus says "blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God". Can we stop long enough in our busy lives to see where the impurities lie and seek Christ for our cleansing..


Bit of a heavy one this and I hadnt planned it to be so but the realisation has dawned on me that we cannot condem the world for what it does not know or understand. We must simply put our lamp on its stand so that it may give light to the whole room!