"Watch The Expletives!"

Gary McDade

Whether one knows what an expletive is or not is not at issue. The proper use of the tongue is the issue. James 3:1-13 is the biblical lecture on the importance and difficulty of controlling the tongue. The humble disciple of Christ wants to rid his vocabulary of any word that might disgrace him and the cause of Christ. So, what is an expletive? Webster: “A syllable, word or phrase inserted to fill a vacancy. . .without adding to the sense, an exclamatory word or phrase.” Basically, an expletive is a filler. Many words and phrases correctly serve as useful expletives such as “ah,” “oh,” or “wow.” But, among those which should never be so used, one deserves special treatment. It is the word “Lord.”

        What is meant when “Lord” and derivatives like Lordy, Lawd, etc., are used as expletives? Cruden’s Complete Concordance has the following definition for the word “Lord”: “This word means in general, one with power or authority, a master or ruler. The Hebrew word transliterated ‘Jehovah’ is usually rendered in the Old Testament by ‘LORD’ written in small capitals. Otherwise the word is used for Jesus Christ, for the Holy Spirit, for a husband, and for any one whom it was desired to address deferentially” (p. 390). Unless a British nobleman or a husband is being referenced when “Lord” is used, the danger of taking the Lord’s name in vain exists. It is undoubtedly a matter of habit when “Lord” is used as a filler or an exclamatory expression. But, many Christians who use the word “Lord” in this way are appalled when the words “God,” “Jesus,” and “Christ” are so used. Romans 2:1 details the inconsistency involved: “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.” Bad habits must be broken. Remember James 3:10: “Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.”

        The word “Lord” is not a euphemism. A euphemism is “the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant” (Webster, p. 248). The dictionary gives “heck,” “gee,” “gosh,” “golly” and “darn” as euphemisms. Even those few who argue that the use of a euphemism isn’t the same as swearing have nothing to say in their defense for using the word “Lord” as an expletive. “Lord” calls the name of God, Christ, or the Holy Spirit. Moses wrote, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” (Exodus 20:7).

        The reverence that should accompany the use of the name of God is demonstrated in the book of Revelation. In Revelation 4:8, four living creatures awesome in appearance stand before God and cease not saying, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.” With reverence to God on his throne the twenty-four remove their crowns and cast them down before God’s throne while bowing down to worship him who is worthy of such homage.

In the nineteenth chapter the Lamb comes forth riding a white horse. He is called “Faithful and True.” John describes him: “His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written KINGS OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Revelation 19:12-16).

        Hywel R. Jones suggests, “To take the name of God in vain is to use it with an idle, frivolous, blasphemous or insincere intent” (The New Bible Commentary: Revised, p. 132). Jesus taught this same reverence for the name of God when he told his disciples, “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed [i.e., holy, sacred] be thy name” (Matthew 6:9). And finally, the apostle Paul taught Christians to glorify God in using the Lord’s name. He wrote, “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).

                                                  Gary McDade