Thou Shalt Not Be Worthless

Introduction

Good morning New Hope!

I’m really thrilled to be here with you this morning. Thank you for having me!

I have been here for a few meetings and events, but this is my first time having the pleasure of joining you for a Sunday morning service, and it’s a real blessing to worship with you.

I’ve known pastor Mahlon for several years now, and just recently had the privilege of going through his introduction to Biblical Hebrew class, along with a few of you.

I’m going to throw a few little nuggets of Hebrew at you today, so look out!

Title

The title that I’ve given to the message I’m sharing with you today is: “Thou Shalt Be Worthless.”

You’re all familiar with that verse, right?

It’s a commandment we all know and love, isn’t it? No?

“Thou shalt not be worthless.”

Is that not one of the ten commandments?

Ok, so, no, you won’t find that phrase in your bible. Unless you have a very interesting translation I’ve never seen, and if so please let me know.

So, this is a rather tongue-in-cheek title, it’s a little facetious, but hopefully by the end you will understand why I arrived at this phrase.

It actually is based on one of the ten commandments. We’re going to take a look at the ten commandments together, to review them and their purpose. And we’re going to zero in on one that I think is most often overlooked and/or misinterpreted. We’ll examine what it actually meant in its original context. And then we’ll take a look at how it applies to us today.

The passages we’ll be reading will be, hopefully, very familiar passages to many of you. If not, then great! You’ll have the advantage of seeing them with fresh eyes. But even for those of us to whom they are very familiar, I think we can benefit greatly by intentionally approaching them with a fresh perspective, and walk away with a deeper appreciation for what the message is and what it means for us.

Pray?

Father, I pray that as we spend the next few minutes looking at your word, that your spirit would illuminate the truth therein. That you would soften our hearts to be convicted, and repent where necessary, and also that you would encourage and uplift us, as we dwell in your mercy and grace, and seek to glorify you the way we were designed and called to do.

The Ten Commandments

Alright, we’re going to start off with just a quick review of the ten commandments.

“The Ten Commandments” is a rather ubiquitous phrase; the concept itself is pretty well-known in our society. I would venture to say that most people have at least heard of them, even if they couldn’t name any. But most people could probably name at least one or two.

It’s funny, though, how difficult it can be for even us “church people” to actually recite all 10. And I don’t even mean recite the entire passage in Exodus or Deuteronomy, with all the details (some of them are actually quite long), but even just to list a concise summary of each one, I find a lot of people struggle with it.

I’m curious if any of you are pretty confident that you have them memorized. Anyone? I won’t make you actually prove it, I’m just curious.

Are there any of you who you can say you definitely had them memorized at some point, but you’re not sure if you could name all 10 right now, on the spot?

They aren’t actually presented in a numbered, list format, and I know I wouldn’t be able to recite the entire passage in context. But most traditions, including Jewish traditions, have a more concise, distilled form of the commandments given to Moses and written on the tablets on Mount Sinai. Though, believe it or not, there is some debate as to how they are numbered and even how many there are.

But, in our tradition it’s pretty consistent the way they’re broken up, and for me personally, I grew up with the King James Version of the Bible, and I had the Ten Commandments instilled in me as the great “Thou Shalt” and “Thou Shalt Not” commandments. More modern translations of course use more modern phrases, but when I think of the Ten Commandments I can’t help but think of the old English phrase, and it’s just more fun to say, I think. I am not going to read out of the KJV, but you may find me quoting it out of habit.

Read

With all of that said, let’s go ahead and review the 10 Commandments. You can find them in two place, in Exodus 20 and in Deuteronomy 5. They’re nearly identical passages, with some subtle differences which we won’t get into today. But I’ll be reading from Deuteronomy 5, so if you’d like to follow along, go ahead and turn or tap there with me.

Like I said, I won’t be reading from the King James, I’ll be reading here from the ESV, which gives us modern English, but still a very traditional and formal rendering of the text:

Deuteronomy 5:1–22 ESV

1 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. 2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. 4 The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, 5 while I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said: 6 “ ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 7 “ ‘You shall have no other gods before me. 8 “ ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. 11 “ ‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. 12 “ ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. 16 “ ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 17 “ ‘You shall not murder. 18 “ ‘And you shall not commit adultery. 19 “ ‘And you shall not steal. 20 “ ‘And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 21 “ ‘And you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’ 22 “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.

Summarized

Alright, so those are the ten commandments, in the context of that chapter. I want to look at the broader context in which these commandments were given, but first I thought it would be helpful to lay them out in a list format. So here’s my abridged version of all ten, summarized as concisely as I could:

1. Don’t worship any gods other than Yahweh.

2. Don’t make images (idols) of any kind to worship.

3. Don’t take the name of Yahweh in vain.

4. Reserve the sabbath (seventh) day for rest.

5. Honor your father and mother (it’s good for you!)

6. Don’t murder.

7. Don’t commit adultery.

8. Don’t steal

9. Don’t testify falsely against your neighbor.

10. Don’t lust for/desire what other people have.

The Context

These are the “big ten,” the foundational principles for the rest of the law which would govern Israel moving forward. But, let’s step back for a moment and remember why these commandments are being given in the first place.

This moment in the story of the Old Testament is a pivotal moment in the macro-narrative, the big picture story that begins in Genesis.

When God created humans, he designed them to be image-bearers.

Genesis 1:26–28 LEB

26 And God said, “Let us make humankind in our image and according to our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of heaven, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every moving thing that moves upon the earth.” 27 So God created humankind in his image, in the likeness of God he created him, male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of heaven, and over every animal that moves upon the earth.”

What this passage tells us is that humans were meant to represent God, by reflecting his nature, and ruling creation by his authority. And in that role, they were given a specific task: to be fruitful and multiply, and to rule the earth.

Well, as you continue through the story, humans fail miserably on all counts. They choose to take matters into their own hands, and follow their own desires and their own wisdom rather than God’s. In doing so, they fracture their relationships with each other AND with God. They spiral into violence and destruction, and no longer resemble God. They no longer represent Him to the rest of creation.

But God doesn’t give up on them, does he? He makes promises to them! First, in the garden of Eden where it all started, he promises that he will himself fix the mess they made. Then, after the flood he promises to the remnant that he will never again wipe out the earth, even though he knows humans will continue to mess up.

Then, out of Babylon, the quintessential city of rebellion, he chooses Abraham and promises to raise up an entire people group through his descendants, and bless the whole earth through them. It’s like a renewal of the blessing to Adam and Eve, he’s going to make Abraham fruitful and multiply him and the whole earth will be blessed through them.

Abraham has Isaac, and Isaac has Jacob, and Jacob becomes Israel, and his 12 sons become the 12 tribes of Israel.

But that process of multiplying over generations doesn’t happen in Israel’s home country, does it? It happens in Egypt, during a famine, where they prosper because of the amazing hand of God bringing them there through Joseph.

But after several generations, their prosperity in Egypt turns into oppression and slavery, which of course brings us to Moses.

Moses was called to lead the people OUT of their captivity in Egypt, which began generations ago with Joseph, and finally BACK to the land God had originally promised to Abraham. The “Promised Land.”

The time had finally come for God to take the next step in restoring his relationship with humans, through the people of Israel.

When God gave Moses the ten commandments on Mount Sinai, that’s what this moment was all about. It was the establishment of the covenant vows which would make it possible to restore, at least partially, what was lost in the garden. These commandments are guidelines for fulfilling humanity’s original purpose of being image bearers, representing God in relationship with him and in community with each other.

The Breakdown

The first 3 commandments are guidelines for our relationship with God: our affection and worship.

#1: Don’t worship other gods, worship the almighty creator God Yahweh. Ok, that makes sense. They failed at that, but it’s a fairly straightforward command.

#2: Don’t make images to be objects of your worship. Humans themselves ARE the images, and they should not be worshiping any images of anything, rather be worshipping the object of which they themselves ARE the image. In other words, they are to worship the Creator rather than worship his creation. Of course, they failed at this too, but again, logically, the command makes sense.

#3: We’ll come back to this one.

#4: Reserve the seventh day for rest. This points back to the creation story, and has all kinds of cool implications we can’t get into today, but it’s ultimately for the benefit of the people…it’s for their own good.

#5-10 are all principles for living in relationship with other humans. They are what we would consider foundational moral guidelines. These are the most intuitive and practical, I think.

For example, murder is pretty universally agreed to be morally reprehensible. Defining murder gets trickier and even contentious. Ask any two people and they may not agree on exactly what constitutes murder (think of issues like abortion and capital punishment, or even war), BUT they will most likely still agree that murder, as a general concept, is wrong.

The nuances and applications of each one are vast and varied, but my point is just that most of these commandments are logical and even instinctual or intuitive to cultures across the globe and throughout history.

And I say most…I skipped over #3, because that’s the one I want to circle back to and discuss a little bit more today. I think #3, found in verse 11, is the LEAST intuitive, and MOST ambiguous, particularly because of what has been lost in translation. But if you look at it a little more closely it’s actually one of the most radical, and all-encompassing commands in the whole list. And it’s connected to the very purpose of humanity.

The 3rd Commandment

I’ve come to see the 3rd commandment as one of the most exciting and terrifying commands in the Bible.

But it wasn’t always that way, for a long time, and I think this is true of many people, I had a tendency to either skim over #3, or come to the conclusion, and we basically rewrite it in our heads and think it means

“Thou shalt not exclaim ‘Oh my God’”

That’s not at all what it’s saying! Not even close. Not that I’m saying you should use that phrase, I’m just saying that’s a different topic, and misses the point. The point is actually much, much bigger and deeper, and far more relevant to us than one little phrase of our culture’s language.

So, let’s unpack it.

The Name

First of all, let’s talk about the name. The Hebrew word used here is shem. And it’s almost always translated here as “name.”

God revealed his personal, literal name, Yahweh to Moses, and while it was written in scripture, the Jews considered God’s personal name to be sacred and holy, and even dangerous to speak aloud. Because of that, they went so far as to mask and scramble the name when writing it down, so people wouldn’t accidentally say it out loud when reading it. Instead of Yahweh they would say Adonai, which is Hebrew for “Lord,” which is why most English translations still have the word “LORD” in small caps, where originally the personal name of God was actually used.

So, in that sense, the 3rd commandment can be viewed as relating to the personal name of God, though it has absolutely nothing to do with the word “God” itself. The Hebrew word which we translate into “God” has no distinction between lower case g or uppercase G and nothing about that word was considered sacred.

It’s a title, like “mom” or “dad,” which kids may use as a name, and think it’s their parents’ names, but it’s not really a name. And the Bible uses that word to refer to a variety of different beings, which is a rabbit hole we won’t get into right now.

God’s actual, personal name was, and is, a big deal, but this commandment is about even more than that.

This “name” in the 3rd commandment is also about God’s reputation and how He is seen and represented in the world.

Again, the Hebrew word is shem. And it can be translated as “name” but it can also be translated as “standing” or “reputation” or even “fame.” And that concept is part of what’s being implied by this command.

We need to think of this not just in terms of spoken words, but the entire reputation of God.

We’re talking about how God is viewed and perceived in the world.

To give you an example of this in a different context, take a look at Psalm 72:17:

Psalm 72:17 CSB

17 May his name endure forever; as long as the sun shines, may his fame increase. May all nations be blessed by him and call him blessed.

May his shem endure forever…may his shem increase…it’s the same word in both places, and it’s a poetic play on words that English translations often try to capture with two different words, because both concepts are being conveyed by that one word. It’s not just God’s literal, personal name, but his fame…his reputation. God’s shem is tied to how well the whole person of God is known, and how widespread His influence is in the world.

This isn’t really a foreign concept, we get this concept, and see it on a human scale too. There are certain names…historical names like “Napoleon” or pop culture icons like “Elvis” … you hear those names, and their reputations precede theme…the name itself is larger than life; it has a presence…it brings to mind an entire career, milestones in their lives, and their overall legacy.

A name known around the world is more than just a name. More than just a word. It represents something.

And that’s exactly what God is concerned with here. Whether we’re talking about the personal name of Yahweh, or his reputation in general, this commandment is about what NOT to do with that name.

“Take in Vain”

What is God warning his people, his chosen people, not to do with his name?

“You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain.”

“Take in Vain” is a good literal translation of the Hebrew, but it’s a phrase we don’t really use much in English, so you’ll find a wide variety of other translations which attempt to convey the meaning behind it more effectively. Let’s dissect this phrase a little.

Sidenote: I would encourage my fellow Hebrew students to look up this verse in your Hebrew bibles and come up with your own translation for the whole verse, I think you’d enjoy it.

I’ll spare the rest of you from nerding out too much on the Hebrew, but I do want to just point out two key words, the word translated “take” and the word translated “in vain.”

We’ll start with the first one. It comes from the root Hebrew word nassa. And it packs a broader variety of meaning into it than just the word “take” It’s a fairly common word, occurring 653 times, and the ESV only translates it as “take” 41 out of 653 times.

Nassa means not just “take” but “take up” or “lift up” or “carry” or “bear.”

It’s the idea of lifting up a battle flag and carrying it into battle. It’s also used to describe what we translate as “Armor Bearer.”

And those are excellent examples, because in both cases you have someone carrying something, putting on something, that represents more than themselves. In the case of an armor bearer, that armor represents someone greater than themselves…a general or a king. In the case of a battle flag, carrying that banner represents a higher purpose, an entire nation and its values. It represents everything you’re fighting for.

It’s also an appropriate example because the people of Israel were literally preparing to enter into the promised land and do battle there.

And they were going to be doing so under the banner of Yahweh. In the name of Yahweh.

But of course this applies to more than just battle…God at Mount Sinai was calling Israel to become a nation of priests. A people group who would represent Yahweh to the rest of the world, in everything they did, not just in battle.

And he didn’t want them to do that “in vain.” Let’s look at that word now. It’s modifying the verb “take” and it’s describing how NOT to carry God’s name. It’s the root word shahv, and, like nassa it can be translated a variety of ways. It’s translated elsewhere as “worthless” “empty” and “false.” In fact, in verse 20 of Deuteronomy 5, the 9th commandment, it’s that same exact word and it’s translated as “false” as in “Do not give a false witness.”

Let me show you a couple other places this word is used to give you more context.

Psalm 31:6 CSB

6 I hate those who are devoted to worthless idols, but I trust in the Lord.

It’s a contrast between the true God and false, meaningless idols. Worthless idols.

And again:

Psalm 119:37 CSB

37 Turn my eyes from looking at what is worthless; give me life in your ways.

Another contrast between the ways of Yahweh and the empty, misleading, worthless things which tend to catch our eye.

Putting it Together

So, when you really understand these two words and you put it all together, at least for me, it clicked, and it suddenly made sense. It was also, for me, somewhat intimidating to read it this way and realize that we’re talking about way more than just not saying “oh my god.” Right?

And actually, If you compare different translations, even without knowing the Hebrew, if you compare different translations you can often get a better sense of the meaning when it comes to tricky verses.

The Christian Standard Bible translates it this way, and the New Living Translation is very similar:

Deuteronomy 5:11 CSB

11 Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, because the Lord will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses his name.

The Lexham English Bible is more literal, but tries to take expound on the translation a bit more:

Deuteronomy 5:11 LEB

11 ‘You shall not take up the name of Yahweh your God for a worthless purpose, for Yahweh will not leave unpunished anyone who uses his name for a worthless purpose.

The bottom line is this: God does not want his people to take on, or carry his name, his reputation, his identity, in a worthless, careless, or misleading manner which fails to accurately represent him to the world.

Now, remember, for Moses and Israel, they’re supposed to be the ones restoring humanities original purpose, and restoring humanity’s relationship with God. God was telling the Israelites not to misuse their status as God’s chosen people. Not to misrepresent Yahweh or take it for granted that they bear his image, not only as human beings, but as a people specifically called to priesthood as ambassadors of the most high God. It was a high calling! And he wanted them to take it seriously!

Applying it Today

So, that’s what it meant to the Israelites. What does it mean for us?

Well, if you think of this commandment as “Don’t misrepresent God or tarnish His reputation,” the inverse implication of the commandment would be “You must represent God well, and you must uphold His perfect reputation.”

God created humans exactly for that purpose of representing him in the world, in a relationship with Him, with other humans, and the rest of creation.

We were created for Relationship and Representation.

Our relationship with God should cause us to reflect His image, such that we represent Him to the world around us, and in our relationships with other people.

Adam and Eve were God’s first representatives in the garden, and they failed.

Israel was chosen to be a nation of priests, an entire people group to be God’s representatives, but, as we know, they failed pretty miserably.

In fact, Moses himself, at that point in the story, was the closest and most successful representative of God anyone had seen so far, and that was despite Moses’s best attempts to avoid his calling! And even though he was closer to God than anyone else in the Old Testament, he still had moments of doubt and personal failure, even to the extent that God did not allow him to enter the promised land as a result.

Fast-forward to us, today, and how much better are we doing? Do we live up to this one standard, in the third commandment, let alone all ten? Honestly, not long ago, I kinda saw this commandment as one of the ones I didn’t have to worry about too much.

Like, most days I don’t really struggle with not murdering people…some people legitimately might, but for most people that’s one they can kinda check off like “yep, I’m not a murder, I’m doin alright.”

Some of the others might hit a little closer to home, but, like I said earlier, details aside, most of them seem like pretty reasonable expectations for a civil society.

But then there’s this commandment, this expectation that transcends society and intuition, this ominous commandment not to misuse or worthlessly carry God’s reputation. And it IS ominous, by the way, I know I’ve kind of just glossed over it, but look at the second half of that commandment! “The LORD will not leave anyone unpunished (or the Lord will not hold him guiltless) who misuses his name.” That’s heavy!

I can tell you right now that I don’t always live up to that. And I don’t have to know you to know that we’re in the same boat. We all are. None of us are guiltless.

In fact, I joke about not being a murderer, but when Jesus came and started teaching about these commandments, what did he say about the 6th commandment? What did he say about murder? He said that anyone who has hateful thoughts about another person is guilty of murder. Of falling short of the expectation of this command. And he said that anyone who has lustful thoughts about someone else’s spouse, they’ve fallen short of the commandment against adultery.

Understanding that we, historically as humans, as well us as individuals, have not lived up to God’s standard is one of the primary purposes of the Old Testament teachings. The New Testament is full of good news, but the writers knew how important it was that we understand the gravity of our plight from which we must be saved, before we can understand that the concept of salvation is good news at all.

Roman’s Road

Let’s take a quick trip down Roman’s Road.

Romans 3:23 CSB

23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;

Nobody is guiltless, nobody is righteous. Verses 10-18 of that same chapter go into more detail, and make it clear that every single person has failed to carry and lift up God’s reputation in a way that glorifies Him completely.

Which brings us to the bad news:

Romans 6:23 CSB

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

All we’ve earned, all we’re entitled to eternally is separation from God forever.

But Paul is quick, here, and back in chapter 3, to follow up with the good news. “For the wages of sin is death, BUT the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

If you go back to chapter 3, in verses 24-26 it’s a similar follow-up. Paul gives a stab of conviction, and follows up with grace:

Romans 3:23–26 CSB

23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as the mercy seat by his blood, through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. 26 God presented him to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be just and justify the one who has faith in Jesus.

So clearly, Christ is the key. And I hope that does describe all of you here today, that you do put your faith in Jesus. If you’re not sure, talk to someone here who is, we’d love to share it with you.

Here are a couple more key verses in Romans:

Romans 10:9 CSB

9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

And again:

Romans 10:13 CSB

13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

I love the phrasing here, and Paul is actually quoting from Joel 2:32, which is a prophecy of hope. Paul is saying that hope is fulfilled in Christ, and that now, instead of the name of Yahweh being something we’re afraid of, something that condemns us, it’s the very thing which SAVES us! Thanks to Christ.

The next verse, Romans 5:1 is just a beautiful statement:

Romans 5:1 CSB

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Peace with God, through Jesus. It’s the restoration of what was broken by sin.

One more verse, and this is perhaps my favorite, it’s Paul’s unwavering confidence in this good news:

Romans 8:38–39 CSB

38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God’s love is unbreakable.

The gospel, the good news, of the New Testament is that Christ fulfilled the requirement of the law, and accomplished what we couldn’t: a perfect representation of His Father on earth.

The Christian Application

For those of us who follow Christ and call ourselves Christians, we’re not just saved to sit pretty. We’re saved for a purpose, and we’ve been given a calling, a purpose. It’s the same purpose Adam and Eve had, and it’s the same purpose Israel had.

We, the church, are called to represent God well, as living tabernacles, carrying God’s presence with us into the world, just like Jesus did. That’s what it means to not just call yourself a Christian, a little Christ, but to actually BE a Christian.

Of course, we all do struggle and we will fail at times. But when we do fail, we do have His Grace. We are not to be gluttons of grace, by any means, BUT we can be comforted in knowing that God’s grace is infinitely deep, and that God’s love for us does NOT depend on how and when we do or do not succeed or fail. And that yes, God insists on partnering with humans to achieve his purposes, but at the same time God’s purposes can never be thwarted by human failure.

Christ set a perfect example. He showed us what an ideal human is like, living totally surrendered to God’s will and on a mission to share the good news of God’s kingdom to the whole world, bringing love and life and healing to those humble enough to accept it. He set a pattern which we can strive to emulate.

And in the book of Acts and the epistles we can see the immediate effect of the apostles and the early church striving to follow Christ’s perfect example as imperfect humans. We can read about their struggles internally and with each other, and in tension with the culture around them. They’re not much different form the struggles we face today.

But they did it through the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit, the spirit of Christ and of the Father, leading His people in unity and authority. Even though Jesus is no longer walking the earth in bodily form, his Spirit most certainly is among us, and we must rely on the power of the spirit to accomplish God’s will, because our own is definitely not going to cut it.

Going back to the idea of representing God well…yes, we will have our own internal struggles and failures, but even in the midst of that we are still called to represent God, and in order to represent God TO the world, we must interact with other people IN the world. That’s exactly what Jesus did.

Friends, we ought to approach every interaction and every relationship as an opportunity to represent God, with love and grace and kindness.

I think a good illustration of this is an employee of a company, who represents that company’s brand. Whether you’re a soldier in uniform, or you’re wearing your company’s logo on a shirt while you meet with a customer, or you’re driving the company van with the logo plastered all over the side of it, every interaction you have (or speeding ticket you get) while bearing that company or government’s image is a representation of your employer, and you are expected to behave accordingly.

So what does brand management and public relations look like for a Christian? What should it look like, anyway?

Well, entire books of the New Testament are dedicated to answering that, but I think one good answer is to look at the fruits of the spirit, in Galatians 5:22-23

Galatians 5:22–23 CSB

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.

Think about how many of those apply externally to our relationships.

Philippians 4:8 addresses to what should be happening internally, because ultimately it’s what’s inside that ends up coming out.

Philippians 4:8 CSB

8 Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things.

We also need to uphold morality and justice as defined by God’s nature, and a good chunk of the New Testament is dedicated to discussing what that looks like. And it is important to define the details of morality, BUT in general, the sins which grieve God are all some form of either:

Not worshiping Him and putting Him first, OR

Treating each other poorly.

In both cases, not only does it damage His reputation, but it makes US miserable!

It all comes down to those two things. Which is why, when Jesus was asked what the most important commandment was, He said there are two, and he quotes from Deuteronomy and Leviticus:

Matthew 22:37–40 CSB

37 He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and most important command. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

If we love God, and love others, the rest kind of falls into place naturally, and God will be represented well through our lives.

Conclusion: Equal Parts Convicting & Encouraging

Now, as we come to a close, I want to say that my hope is for this message to have been equal parts convicting and encouraging.

Conviction is one of the primary functions of the Old Testament’s moral teachings: it shows us how we fall short of God’s standard, and each and every one of us can and should take this as a reminder to identify any areas of our lives in which we are not representing God well.

Repent, look to Christ’s example to realign ourselves and seek the guidance of His spirit.

And as we struggle and fail and struggle and fail, just remember that His steadfast and faithful love endures forever, and nothing can ever separate us from that.

And that’s what defines us, not our failures, but His declaration that we are His children, we are His family. So it’s that love and that hope with which we should carry ourselves, both internally and externally as we represent God to the world around us.

He has declared us to be precious and valuable in his site, NOT worthless. So let’s act like it.

Pray