I'm still reading in Leviticus and I read a verse that piqued my interest today. Leviticus 21:6 says this, "'They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they present the offerings by fire to the LORD, the food of their God ; so they shall be holy." The context is God talking about the ministry of the priests in the tabernacle. I was curious what the meaning of "profane" was. In the Hebrew, the term is chalal and it means "to make common." The priests are called to be holy, which in Hebrew means to be set apart, to be special unto the Lord. The priest is not to make himself common, but set apart. Thus, if the priest undertakes an action that is not holy, he profanes or makes the name of God common.
I began to wonder, how can God's name be made common? How is God's glory and holiness removed in the eyes of man and made common? This was when it hit me. Often Christians will talk about not taking the Lord's name in vain as a support for not using God as a curse word. That makes sense because vain means to make something empty, to give it an empty meaning. Vain can also mean to be deceitful. To use God's name in an empty way can deceive its true meaning. But could there be an even deeper reason not to use God's name as a curse?
"Oh my God" and "Jesus Christ" are words that have become common in our culture. We can't really go a day without hearing them at least on the television if no where else. It hit me--yes, my culture profanes the name of God every day. We take the holy name of God, meant to be set apart, special, and have turned it into a common expletive. Yes, by doing so his name is empty. But even more, it is turned from holy to profane.
Now, I can let secular culture go its way. It places no value on the name of God or the name of Jesus so it doesn't even understand the holy versus the profane. But a Christian is someone who supposedly does understand that God is holy, who seeks to glorify God in his or her life. Should I expect a Christian to profane the name of God?
1 Peter 2:9 says of Christians, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." The Leviticus passage was addressing the relation of priests to the name of God, basically how they uplifted or profaned the reputation of God. Now, all Christians are declared priests. We are God's special possession (notice the definition of holy here). We are set apart unto God. Why? To declare God's praises. We have a special purpose to make God holy, to make God known. Our call is not to make God common. It is to cry to the world, "Do you see my God? He is unlike any other. He is true love, true compassion, true justice. By his uniqueness we are saved!" Could it be that when we Christians use God's name as an expletive we have just brought him down into the common? We have denied our purpose and sullied the name of our God?
I think the answer is a resounding "yes"! But I also think to profane God goes beyond speech. It is not just my mouth that is to be holy to my God. It is also my body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price : therefore glorify God in your body." Not only are Christians the priests, they are the temple, too! Christians are also called to make the actions of their bodies glorifying to God. I am set apart in my body--my body has a special purpose unique to God. When I take an action that is unholy, ungodly, against the character of God, I have once again made God profane, common. I have rubbed his holiness in the dirt, as it were.
How has this insight helped me? I guess I often think of the sanctification of my walk with God in many different ways. But I had never thought of it this way. I want people to be glorified in God through my life. I don't want to turn God into an ordinary, easy to ignore fixture in my life. I want to lift him up for all to see his holiness, his special set apartness. This has fired in me a passion to lift my God out of the common on a daily basis. I hope sharing this might help you, too, unique and precious child of God!
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