Articles
Hallowed Or Hollow
I hope I'm wrong, but after watching reporters walk around some college campuses asking questions about various things and hearing the answers, I feel somewhat comfortable saying most people probably don't fully understand what "sacred" means?
OK, they probably can get in the ballpark, but if you look at the language our society uses, their references to God, their misuse or abuse of His name, I'm not sure they understand what it means to hold His name sacred.
Now I don't have book, chapter, and verse that says "thou shalt not say 'gosh', 'golly', 'good golly', 'oh my lord', 'oh my god'" or any of the numerous similar slang terms that lack sacredness. But both OT and NT are cram packed full with examples emphasizing the sacredness of the names of the Divine, and we have verses that pointedly say, we are NOT to use God's name flagrantly or in a common way (Ex 20:7).
It still bothers me to hear "oh my god" used like an exclamation mark by a huge percentage of our younger society. Some older folks do the same, but certainly, there seems to be more restraint by the older ones. I wrote a similar article about a year ago. It was about taking the Lord's name in vain. But today, I'd like to address what Jesus meant when He said in His example prayer of how to pray, "hallowed be Your name" (Matt 6:9).
We still, even at the objection of many in our society, hear people recite this prayer in public assemblies, which many call "the Lord's prayer". I'm very grateful people still do, and I sincerely hope they understand the sacredness of God's name when they do. But saying "hallowed be your name" is pretty hollow if we don't know what "hallowed" means, or if we follow up with conversation filled with the frequently used slang substitutions for His name that we noted above. God's name deserves respect in our everyday conversations, not just our prayers. Hallowed simply means 'holy' or 'sacred', even 'sanctified'. It means His name deserves tremendous reverence and respect.
God still demands reverence, respect, and demands that His name remains "Holy and awesome" (Ps 111:9,10).
Most likely, many people don't intend to disrespect God or have never been taught otherwise. Let us help educate them about the necessity to respect the very name of God, and hold His name sacred, and not misuse it like so many do.
