What’s in a Name?
By Doug Culp

Have you ever given any serious thought to your name? I mean have you ever considered the significance of the name you were given? What about nicknames? Who has given you nicknames in your life? How did a particular nickname for you arise?

The theme for this month’s issue is the second commandment given to Moses in the book of Exodus: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain (20:7). It was this topic which got me thinking first about our names. For you see names carry with them a great deal of meaning. For instance, many cultures have naming ceremonies and rituals and look at the care parents take in choosing a name for their new born baby. Often the name someone is given will reveal the hopes and aspirations society and the parents have for this new addition to the world. Names like Jessica, which means rich, and Hope capture these sentiments. Perhaps the name will represent a feeling such as David, dearly loved. Geographic locations and personality traits can also be described or represented by the names we give. Then there is the ability of our names to be the carriers of a tradition as we receive the names held by our grandfather, grandmothers, great aunts, etc.

Later in life, we may take on new names, such as our confirmation names, or our names might change as people get to know our personalities, abilities, or features. Suddenly we find ourselves with nicknames which have grown out of a certain intimacy with others. Like our birth names, these nicknames too have the power of a symbol. A warm nickname can convey feelings of belonging; of being loved. A derogatory nickname can attack a person’s feeling of self-worth or can exclude one from full participation in a group or society.

One thing is for certain, the names we use for each other reflect always and everywhere our relationship to each other. For example, married couples will often use special names for each other when they are alone. Parents will create "pet" names for their children or will suddenly pronounce the child’s entire full name when the child transgresses a parent’s decree. More formal relationships will be accompanied by titles being placed in front of people’s names, as when we are speaking to a doctor or judge.

All this points to the sacredness and power, which largely goes unnoticed by the world, names carry. Names are expressions of who we are, where we come from, what we have seen, experienced, desired, how we see others and how others see us. And like all sacred power, names can create or destroy depending on our relationship to them.

Relating with God

All of this talk about names brings us back to the topic at hand: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

In the Old Testament, we have the story of a people’s relationship with God. Like any relationship, there were starts and stops and the constant need for the next generation to enter into the covenantal relationship anew. In the Moses story, we see an example of this. On Mount Sinai, God responds to Moses’ request for a name with the word YHWH. This Hebrew word, pronounced Yahweh when the vowels are added, is one which really cannot be said. It is almost a non-word in this sense. It signified simply, "I am who I am" and reflected the fact that Moses did not yet know God and thus more formality was perhaps in order. But it also foreshadows the spirit of the second commandment, i.e. the name of God is not to be used lightly.

The commandment itself reflects the distance between God and the people’s knowledge of God, or relationship. This distance, which could seem cold and domineering, in fact could be viewed as an initial invitation into an ever-deepening intimacy with God. Like any new relationship, respect for the other as other must be maintained and that distance must be loved for a true relatedness to emerge. The ground rules so to speak must be outlined in order to create the space for the relationship to exist at all. Otherwise, our own images of the person, or who the person should be, can prevent true communication and interrelatedness. How often in our own lives have we inappropriately assumed a "too-quick" intimacy with another that has been received as "off-putting" or disingenuous?

As we move the discussion to a consideration of the commandments in general, we immediately notice the negative language of "You shall not" throughout. This actually reminds me of the prohibitions issued from adults to their children. Like those prohibitions, the commandments continue the work of creating the space for relationship by spelling out the basis for a right relationship with not only God but each other. In this way, the commandments hope to protect us from harm and/or to teach us respect for people and things.

Fear, Trust, Understanding

In our society today there is a great resistance to and distaste for any "command" as such and to the implied concept of "obedience" which accompanies any such command. How dare anyone tell us what to do!

Yet, it seems to me that the motivation for obedience seems to stem from one of three sources which all represent potential stages of spiritual development and growth. There is the situation where we feel compelled to obey from a fear of punishment. There are the times we obey without question because we trust in the love and goodwill of the one issuing the command. And there is the chosen obedience because we genuinely understand the wisdom and necessity of the command.

Now if compliance is based solely on fear and stays at this level, there will more than likely come a time when we reject the prohibitions outright because we do not trust the intention of the one issuing the command nor do we understand its necessity. In fact, it is the desire to understand which often plants the seed of rebellion, although the rejection of the command and the emotions and energy that accompany such an action can destroy one’s desire to ever understand its value.

If based on trust in the love and good intentions of the one who gives the command, we may not feel the need to ever reject or rebel against the command. While this stance can lead to a deeper relationship with the one who gives the command, it cannot stay at this level because this, like obedience from fear, is at the level of spiritual adolescence.

Christians believe that humans are made to know and love God. Thus, relationships based on solely fear or undiscerning trust can act as an invitation to a more mature knowledge and love of God or can actually hinder and retard one’s development. In terms of human relationships, not progressing beyond either of these stages can result in the dangers of the destruction of good relationships through rebellion and rejection as well as a naïve trust and obedience to those who seek to exploit and hurt.

On the other hand, growth in a true understanding of a command, which may necessarily start in fear and trust but calls for an examination of the fruits of such obedience, will lead one to a greater depth, knowledge of and appreciation for the instructions. In terms of the commands given by God, who is Love and is Goodness, this process leads us to the appropriation of the Lord’s commands into our own lives because we now grow to see their value and goodness and maturely decide positively for them. In other words, the relationship established first by command grows into a relationship based on mutual understanding and love.

From Old to New

Now the Ten Commandments, as well as a great deal of the Old Testament, can be read as the attempts at control by a jealous, heavy-handed God who seeks the complete and utter obedience of His people. Only two of the Ten Commandments avoid the famous "you shall not". It is not completely unfair then to say that the commandments were initially based on a fear of God. After all, this was the God who would smite those who did not do His will. While the people experienced moments of trust in the love of the God of Abraham who had led them out of slavery in Egypt, such trust was fleeting as is illustrated by the fact that Moses was greeted upon his return with the commandments by a party dedicated to a golden calf. Exodus and much of the Old Testament story then seems to follow the rhythm of the people being "held in line" by the fear of an all-powerful God, the people in open rebellion to God’s law, the people being exiled and/or destroyed as a nation, and the people repenting and again getting in line.

Yet throughout this cycle, God continued to invite His people into a deeper relationship, a relationship based on a more mature trust, respect and understanding. This commitment brings us to Jesus Christ. Jesus sought to establish more fully this relationship with humanity, a relationship mirroring His own relationship to the Father. He sought to re-orient our relationship to this second commandment, as well as all the commandments. He sought to replace a relationship based on fear, fleeting trust, and misunderstanding with one based on mutual love. For example, when Jesus was asked for the greatest commandment, He replied, "Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul" and secondly "Love your neighbor as yourself." These two, He explained, captured the wisdom and sentiment of the Ten Commandments given to Moses.

It is with this relationship based on love in mind that we now return to a consideration of our own relationship to the second commandment: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

"In Vain"

Webster’s Dictionary suggests to take, use, or do something "in vain" is to take, use, or do something fruitlessly; lightly; profanely; and/or to lack real substance but only appear to be genuine, sincere, worthwhile.

Thus, we are forced to ask ourselves how we use the name of the Lord our God in our daily lives: Does our use of the Lord’s name manifest respect? affection? disregard? disdain? love? hate? fear? anger? Again, the second commandment demonstrates an understanding of how the way we use the name of someone or something reveals our feelings for or the state of our relationship with that person or object.

For example, when we really feel love and care for another, our use of their name will afford sacredness in regards to that person. There will be limits and a protectiveness of their being and dignity as demonstrated by our tone, inflection, and pronunciation. So much more then should be the case with our use of the name of God. While the words we choose can either clearly reveal our hearts or hide the true intent of our hearts to others and society, words cannot cloud or confuse the intent of our hearts as they relate with God. And ultimately, even with regard to others, the heart will express its true self in either words or actions and we will be exposed.

Conclusion

We mentioned earlier that the Christian believes humans are made to know and love God. For this intimate relationship with God to flourish, the proper space and necessary environment must be created. This means establishing an environment of respect and awareness of how we use the name of the Lord. In this special way, our hearts are prepared to receive the seed of a mature love for God.

We have free will and this means we have the choice to not respond to or to reject God’s invitation to enter into a relationship based on love. Developing a manner of speaking which incorporates God’s name in the use of profanity, in condemnations, in justifications for destruction of life, in the manipulation of others, or in the glorification of ourselves reveals a hardening of one’s heart against a right relationship with God.

By not responding to or rejecting God’s invitation to relationship, however, we would be choosing to not acknowledge our relationship with God, our Creator, our Ground of Being. This has consequences which God seeks to protect us from until we reach our "spiritual" maturity/adulthood.

It is against such a disorientation of the heart that the Second Commandment is directed. It seeks to orient the heart towards the love of and for God. This orientation of the heart is all that matters and that is why how we use the name of God is so crucial. For Jesus tells us, "A good person brings forth good out of a store of goodness, but an evil person brings forth evil out of a store of evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will render an account for every careless word they speak. By your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." (Mt 12:35-37) Further, "This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts." (Is 29:13 as quoted in Mt 15:8-9) And finally, "It is not what enters one’s mouth that defiles that person; but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one." (Mt 15:11)

Thus, the "command" that you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain stands as a gift given to humanity to aid in the maturation of one’s heart that stands oriented to Love Itself.

Douglas Culp is the Assistant Academic Dean at the University of St. Mary of the Lake and a graduate theology student at Catholic Theological Union. He currently resides in Oak Park, IL with his wife Yvette. He can be reached at dculp@usml.edu.