Putting Words In God’s Mouth
“In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”
Many of us have heard or said these words at the end of a prayer our entire lives. God has empowered countless helpful teachers and leaders to share words of wisdom and guidance with God’s people for centuries. Earnest people seek, find, and share God through new revelations for the benefit of the world every single day.
And…
We have also heard hurtful words attributed to God. From something as individual as “God told me to break up with you” to a church leader twisting God’s words for his benefit to broad statements made by world leaders that have wide-spread cultural implications.
Here’s past me doing my best to properly represent what God was teaching me in 2018. Nerve wracking!
The problem of using God to give weight to words has been as longstanding as humanity itself.
In the Church, we can be desensitized to the idea of taking God’s name in vain. We were most likely taught a watered down version of what this means: “Don’t curse. Don’t say ‘Ohmygod!’ Don’t use Jesus’ name as an exclamation.”
And sure, this is one layer of taking the Lord’s name in vain, but what if it’s deeper than that? What if we’ve been following the advice of the people who have violated this command more deeply and intentionally than we have ever imagined? They baptize hate, manipulation, control, othering, and dehumanization “in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.”
Many of us are feeling the churn in our guts right now as actions that contradict the commands of our faith are baptized in “will of God” language in America. But we’ve not been taught how to discern what is truly from God, and what isn’t. We’ve only been taught how to categorize.
We know the categories of people who are ‘right’ and people who are ‘wrong.’ We know broad strokes of ideas or policies that are ‘right’ and those that are ‘wrong.’ We’ve learned to cast aside the nuances, contradictions, and personal examples in favor of the talking point. Love is overlooked for law.
But what’s the balance? Where is the wholeness in this? When we’ve never been taught discernment, how can we be sure we aren’t supporting the taking of God’s name in vain?
I used to look for certainties as anchors in my faith. I grew up Southern Baptist, did Bible Drill, memorized more verses than most ever will by the time I was 10 years old, and then flowed quickly into the Apologetics movement.
I still have this Bible.
Certainty was a balm to the scariest parts of following an invisible God.
If my human eyes and human brain could make sense of the Invisible Force of the Universe God, I could follow that God.
And this worked out ok for me until God started chiseling away at the certainties of my faith.
I was dubbed “Miss Perfect” in middle school. I was a policing 11-year-old who called out my classmates for saying the word “crap” and passing notes when my teacher looked away. (Pre cell phone days y’all!)
The motivation for little me to behave in this obnoxious way was tied to a faulty theological ideal I held then. This theology is often taught as watered down prosperity gospel in the conservative evangelical church. I call it “Vending Machine God” theology. You put good works and a good, moral life in, God gives you a blessed an easy life out. Vending machine God. The policing of my middle school classmates was my moral obligation, because if I ignored their “sinful behaviors” then my good, blessed life would be under threat.
I lived this way confidently into high school. I decorated my New Orleans-public-school-required mesh backpack with the phrase “DO U KNOW JESUS?” I found myself quickly overwhelmed with the amount of shady behavior running rampant through my large high school and put my head down to witness to as many people as I could.
My parents quickly decided this environment wasn’t for us and we moved from Louisiana to Texas between my freshman and sophomore years of high school.
Once there, the Texas schools seemed shiny and better behaved. I was relieved that my upright living in an immoral place delivered me to an easier three years ahead.
Until they weren’t easy anymore.
My family quickly fell apart in divorce after moving states. I watched horrified as my home life and my theology crumbled.
I had done everything right. And now the very fabric of my personal life was under attack. My response was respectfully “WHAT THE HELL, GOD?!?”
Why was this certainty of faith I was taught – promised even – failing?! What did I do to deserve this trial?
Most importantly, how do I avoid this happening again?
As my first wave of faith deconstruction took hold in my life, I found myself unraveling ideas and wondering who I could trust? Could I even trust myself?
I was never given the tools to know for myself if I was following God “the right way” I was only given authority figures to which I should defer.
It’s been a couple of decades since this part of my life, and I’ve been walking the road that chases after these questions consistently.
This pursuit has led me through enough experiences, revelations, deconstructions, reconstructions, consolations, and desolations to fill a book. So surely I have a simple framework to offer you when it comes to discerning God’s voice. What is the answer to the question I posed above: how can we be sure we aren’t supporting the taking of God’s name in vain?
I don’t have an easy answer, but I do have an invitation.
I told you the story about God clawing my faith in certainty out of my tightly gripped hands because as I let go of certainty, I discovered the God who is very near to me.
There is a role for community, mentors, and spiritual teachers in your discernment life. But what I’ve noticed in the greater American Church right now is that we have deferred much of our discernment work to human authority outside of ourselves instead of the still small voice at work in our very souls.
How do we begin to balance this out? By believing that you have the capacity and wisdom to discern the voice of God. You.
Let’s turn our attention to you.
Knowing yourself well will help you discern the voice of God.
Knowing yourself well, will allow you to carefully decide when to stamp your words with “in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”
Knowing the fears that fuel the darkest corners of your soul will allow God to shine light there.
Knowing the desires you’ve tucked away will allow God to unearth them and set them in line with God’s Kingdom.
Knowing and embracing your weaknesses will keep you from harmful overcompensating.
Embracing the longing of your soul will allow your ears to hear how God has been speaking this truth over your entire life.
Knowing myself well has given delineation between my own motivating voices and the still small voice of the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes I buy myself Tshirts to remind myself that God speaks to me too.
And let me tell you, the Holy Spirit’s voice is not the one I would tend to pick. Her voice has been deeply challenging to my protective behaviors. Her voice has been validating to my God-made design in ways that scare me. In ways that are risky. In ways that break me beyond the comfortable boxes I prefer to reside in.
The voice of the Holy Spirit begs me to slow down. To see myself fully. To see other people fully. The Holy Spirit isn’t concerned about my ego and how my ego would like to validate my efforts, instead the Holy Spirit invites me to more deeply trust and find my worth in God.
So how do you know if you are speaking in line with God or if you are taking God’s name in vain?
Discover your Masterpiece design. Know yourself deeply. Engage in a tool like the enneagram to hold up the mirror and then be brave enough to stare at your reflection long enough to see the truth. Hire a coach or teacher like me. Invite a spiritual director into your life. Get coffee with that person who just exudes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control and listen to them.
Get rooted in your soul. The Holy Spirit is already there, she’s just not into shouting matches.
There is much to discern in our day and age. Your fears and desires are being exploited unbeknownst to you on a daily basis. As a marketer, I know it is because we talk about it during conferences. (Don’t believe me? Look up “pain point marketing” and be amazed.)
If you want to divest your trust from human spiritual authority and move toward your relationship with God, the first step is to know where you end and where God begins.
Know I’m here for you as you choose to take that journey. Here are some ways I can help, free or paid:
Start getting free enneagram reflection questions each week to help you better understand yourself. Sign up.
Learn your enneagram type by grabbing a copy of The Road Back to You or by booking a Enneagram Type Discovery Session with me.
Get serious and sign up for one-on-one Enneagram Coaching. A 7-week deep dive into your type and how it manifests in you. Learn more here.
Do you appreciate Resources like this? Here’s How you can show your support.
Join My Email List
Buy Me Coffee
Buy Me Coffee
Send ☕️