With each of our trips to Europe I have found things that stirred my spirit. I wrote about sincere devotions when we visited Italy in 2011 and saints when we visited Turkey in 2016. The thing that stirred me this time was how the British treated the Irish in the name of religion.
You don't have to look far to see the misuse of the Lord's name for personal gain. It's been going on for centuries. The Spanish Inquisition is one I remember learning about in school, but it was just a continuation of the Medieval Inquisition. This was a series of Inquisitions (Catholic Church bodies charged with suppressing heresy) from around 1184, including the Episcopal Inquisition (1184–1230s) and later the Papal Inquisition (1230s).
This article from Britannica shares many facts about the Spanish Inquisition. The first paragraph sums it all up, "The Spanish Inquisition was a judicial institution that lasted between 1478 and 1834. Its ostensible purpose was to combat heresy
in Spain, but, in practice, it resulted in consolidating power in the
monarchy of the newly unified Spanish kingdom. Its brutal methods led to
widespread death and suffering."
As I wrote about yesterday, this also happened in Ireland when Great Britain confiscated land. Conflict continued for centuries and there is still division today.
This has been heavy on my heart since we got home. Les and I have talked about it many times and he finally pointed me to Dennis Prager's book, "The Ten Commandments: Still the Best Moral Code." In the book, Dennis talks about the third commandment, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." (Exodus 20:7)
The way the books explains it, this commandment is not about using the Lord's name as a curse word, but something much more. The word "take" was translated from the Hebrew word "nâsâh." This word means: accept, advance, arise, to bear, bring forth, burn, carry away, hold up, magnify, raise up, respect, set up. The word "vain" was translated from the Hebrew word "shav." This word means: evil (as destructive), literally (ruin) or morally (especially guile); figuratively idolatry (as false, subjectively), uselessness (as deceptive, objectively; also adverbially in vain): - falsely, lie, lying, vain, vanity.
A more accurate translation would be, "Do not carry or bring forth the name of the Lord thy God falsely or for evil or ruin." This is an accurate description of what many have done in the name of God. It not only hurts people, it damages the name of God.
Mankind does not like to be told what to do. Just look at Adam and Eve, they had ONE rule and couldn't even obey it. I can tell you that my favorite coffee is Vanilla Macadamia Nut from Hawaii Coffee Company, but if you've never tasted it, you probably won't agree with me. I can get in your face and yell and tell you that you drink subpar coffee, but that is not going to change your mind. You need to taste it for yourself.
In the same way that yelling about coffee won't change your mind about coffee, bashing your beliefs will not change your mind about God. But worse than that, it may push you further away. I especially like what the book says about people who murder in the name of God - they not only kill their victims, they kill God, too.
Jesus said in John 12:32, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." It's not our job to convince people or change their minds. We must carry the Lord's name in a way that magnifies Him. Only when He is lifted up will people be drawn to him and when they get a taste they can be changed for life!
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