The Lord's Name

Have you ever been in a Sunday school class that was examining the Ten Commandments?  What happens when you get to Exodus 20:7?  "You shall not take the Lord's name in vain."

For me, in classes in which I have participated and that I have taught, the discussion often degrades to a judgmental rant about "kids today" who swear.  Or "media today" that is full of cursing.  Is that what the Commandment is really about?  And should the study of this word of God bring us to judgmentalism?

I read this the other day in a blog called Out of Ur:

If the opportunity doesn’t work, we throw God under the bus and say, “It wasn’t God’s will.” And God says, “I didn’t have anything to do with that. I told you to volunteer or work at Starbucks before you mortgaged your house and started a coffee shop of your own. Don’t associate me with that horrible idea. Don’t put faith flavor on that.”

Please don't misunderstand me.  I'm not advocating the use of the Lord's name in anger.  I just think the commandment is much bigger than that, and we are missing the most important parts.  I think this commandment comes into play when:

1. ...we do what we want and say it is what God wants us to do.  When we look at someone else, and make a judgment, or act righteous, or condemn them, in the name of God, we are taking the Lord's name in vain.
   
2. ...we use the Bible to support our own opinion without placing the scripture in context, or admitting that sometimes our own interpretation of God's Word is colored by our own history, viewpoint, or teaching.  We can act so very certain that we are right, and as if we speak for God.  When we do that, we are taking the Lord's name in vain.
3. ...we fail to follow through on what God has called us to do, and the enterprise fails, we are apt to fall back on the handy excuse that "it is God's will."    Sometimes it is just that we didn't do what we were supposed to do, or called to do, or able to do.  

I think these times that we use to the Lord's name in vain are much more detrimental to God's purposes than the use of a curse word.   Looking at this list, do we really have the firm ground to stand on in judgment of others?