Ask 100 people what that means and 98%+ will tell you it is to not use the profanity God d**n. That is not taking God's name in vain. That is telling God what to do, which we shouldn't do either. It seems like only when it comes to this commandment people forget what in vain actually means.
In vain means to no avail, useless. For no good purpose. As in "all our work was in vain because the rain washed it all away." So, to take God's name in vain means that you use God's name but you don't really want to talk to God. You're using His name for no good purpose. It would be like me calling out your name when we're in a room or house and you turn to me to see what I need but I don't have anything to say to you. I ignore you and keep doing whatever it is I'm doing. That is using your name in vain.
To use God's name in vain would be for me to be surprised at something happening and me crying out, "Oh my God!" I don't want to talk to Him. I'm not praying to Him. I'm just simply calling out His name for no purpose.
The sad fact is that I hear many, many people who are followers of Christ who say His name a lot for no purpose. I've heard preachers do it. I've heard singers do it. I've heard congregation members do it. Because somewhere along the way the devil convinced us that the "in vain" part of that commandment did not mean the same thing it means in every other use of the phrase. Somehow the devil convinced Believers that in the command to not use God's name in vain the "in vain" only meant the word damn. And so many Believers have been using God's name in vain ever since.
We need to wake up and realize just how far from the original followers of Jesus we've come. We need to wake up and realize our purpose as Believers is to love and help others. To serve others. We're called to be servants, not leaders. Not masters. Not overseers. Not judges. Not jury members. Servants. To take care of the needs of every person we come into contact if we have the means to do so.
It's time to stop living the life of a Believer in vain.
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