The 3rd Commandment, celebrities like Gerry Brooks, and me

By Elizabeth Prata

The Post That Caused It All

I love educator-comedian Gerry Brooks. He used to be a principal in Lexington, Kentucky. He now goes around speaking about the education profession. He is beloved, because he says accurate things about all aspects of schools from Central Office to principals, teachers, children, custodians, lunch ladies, bus drivers, and parents. He advocates for them all (except for State Education Mandates, Central Office, and parents who don’t parent- that’s why he’s beloved). He says true things about our profession in a hilarious way in videos on Instagram and Facebook. He is highly sought after as a Professional Development speaker, and fills themed Education cruise ships. He has millions of followers.

But I’ve noticed lately that he’s added a tagline at the end of his videos. When he gets off the ‘phone’ in one of his skits, he will roll his eyes exaggeratedly and exclaim, “Good LORRRRD!”

This is unfortunate. Using the Lord’s name as a curse word or as a vehicle for human exasperation is in fact, using God’s name in vain, which violates the Third Commandment that says NOT to do this (Exodus 20:7).

Here is a GotQuestions short explanation about using the Lord’s name and there is more to it than just using it as a cuss word.

What does it mean to take the Lord’s name in vain?

I will have to stop watching Gerry Brooks videos.

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“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7).

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A Surprising Melee Erupted

I posted the above on my personal Facebook page. I tagged Brooks in it. It was a thoughtful and heartfelt post, gentle I thought, and related to my conscience and my decision. I posted the address to the Third Commandment and said I’d have to stop watching his videos.

Social media is perplexing to me. I never know what will catch people’s attention and take off, for good or for ill. This one took off for ill.

The verse literally says not to do it AND that people who do it will be punished. The Lord God above has promised punishment for those who use His name flippantly and vainly. This is serious!

Instead, hundreds of comments came flooding in. I didn’t know my post had made such a scene, because I’d posted it before school, and while in school and doing errands, I do not have access to social media. Nine hours later I arrived home to find the result of saying “don’t take the Lord’s name in vain”. I didn’t read them all but of the scrolling I did I saw only 2 positive and affirming comments agreeing with the Third Commandment. The rest were the usual ad hominem, or dismissing the exhortation “Good Lord” as NOT vain, redefining the name ‘Lord’, or just resorting to mocking.

Well OK then.

What Do the Commentaries Say?

Matthew Henry opens his comment on Exodus 20:7 this way:

The first four of the ten commandments, commonly called the FIRST table, tell our duty to God. It was fit that those should be put first, because man had a Maker to love, before he had a neighbour to love.

So not taking God’s name in vain is of first importance, and a duty.

Matthew Poole Comments:

You shall not use the name of God, either in oaths or in common discourse, lightly, rashly, irreverently, or unnecessarily, or without weighty or sufficient cause.

Is sufficient cause to take the Lord’s name in vain because you need a tagline to end a comedy skit? No.

GIll’s Exposition says,

Thou shall not take the name of the Lord God in vain,…. Make use of the name Lord or God, or any other name and epithet of the divine Being, in a light and trifling way, without any show of reverence of him, and affection to him; whereas the name of God ought never to be mentioned but in a grave and serious manner, and with an awe of the greatness of his majesty upon the mind.

Is Violating the Third Commandment now a ‘Respectable Sin’?

In Christendom there are a few (and getting fewer) sins we agree are bad. Homosexuality, transgenderism, child molestation, or abortion are pretty much agreed-upon as sins and are thus evil. But there’s lots more sins we tolerate. Jerry Bridges wrote an important book called “Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate“. Here is the Table of Contents:

Wrong is Wrong

I’d never imagined that one of the Ten Commandments would be dishonored and dismissed to the extent that was. Apparently Brooks gets a pass on this because he’s popular.

It’s like when Michelle Lesley @MichelleDLesley said on Twitter “Why do doctrinally sound Christians keep giving Rosaria a pass on preaching to men? If it’s wrong when Beth Moore does it, it’s wrong when Rosaria does it.“

Contrary to popular opinion, a celebrity’s popularity does not excuse his or her violation of the scriptures. The acceptability of the content of their speeches does not excuse violation of the scriptures.

Comments like those replying to my Gerry Brooks post about taking the Lord’s name in vain say more about the individual saying the regretful things than anything else. And the bulk of comments being weighted toward accepting the sin of taking the Lord’s name in vain just tells me again where society is at the current point in history.

Keep Your Conscience Sensitive!

My admonition for you, dear reader, is to stand guard over your conscience. Be vigilant about the commandments. It is easy to fall into accepting things God does not want us to accept when it seems that ALL of Christian society is doing it. We ARE surrounded by paganism, atheism, and apostasy. We are living in a moment where we ask ‘Does a fish know it’s wet?’

We have to know when we’re wet. Even though we may feel submerged in sin all around us, keep your conscience clean and clear.

Peter’s conscience was absolutely seared after he had betrayed the Lord:

And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and cried bitterly. (Matthew 26:75)

David’s conscience was bothered about his adultery and murder of Uriah-

When I kept silent about my sin, my bones wasted away
Through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was drained away as with the heat of summer. Selah.
5 I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not cover up;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to Yahweh;”
And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. (Psalm 32:3-5).

Those are pretty ‘big’ sins: betrayal, adultery, murder, for which their conscience should have been pierced.

But what we may in today’s time consider a ‘little’ sin was Daniel’s choice to eat or not eat the King’s food. Daniel’s conscience would have been wounded by eating the King’s delicacies.

But Daniel set in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. (Daniel 1:8).

Ignore the conscience long enough, it eventually scabs over from all the pricking. It gets seared. You know that seared skin has no nerve endings.

by the hypocrisy of liars, who have been seared in their own conscience, (1 Timothy 4:2).

Paul guarded his conscience. He said twice,

We do our best to obey Jesus, when we fail we rush to repent (and will be forgiven), and we move on with renewed vigor to protect our conscience from becoming dull. Heed your conscience when you feel those prickings.

Celebrity Can Be Deadly

As for thin-skinned celebrities- here are my thoughts. Very often, celebrities live in a bubble. This means they are often isolated and insulated from anything that doesn’t explicitly affirm their every move. The more famous, the stronger the bubble. They only see or hear or expect affirmation and approval. I’ve been blocked by Beth Moore, Rick Warren, and now Gerry Brooks. We saw this with Alistair Begg recently. Internet famous, beloved by his congregation, never really had a melee about anything he’s said, then BAM! His advice to attend a trans wedding caught fire and people pleaded with him to reconsider. Not only didn’t he reconsider, but he came out with a defensive and angry sermon the next Sunday that revealed his disdain and contempt for Americans he’d held inside all along.

In 2010 Sarah Pulliam Bailey wrote a long article about Beth Moore, who had recently ascended to her international popularity. Look at the hoops Bailey had to jump through to get this interview:

[Moore is] closely protected by assistants who allow very few media interviews. After several interview requests from CT, her assistants allocated one hour to discuss her latest book and ask a few questions about her personal life. Each question had to be submitted and approved beforehand, I was told, or Moore would not do the interview. Follow-up interview requests were declined. I was permitted to see the ground level of her ministry, where workers package and ship study materials. But Moore’s third-floor office, where she writes in the company of her dog, was off limits.

It is dangerous to be protected from gentle correction, rebukes, or criticism. Dangerous to be protected from the people we are supposed to serve. The more protected, the thinner one’s skin.

If you say, “well, it’s dangerous these days to rub shoulders with a general populace’, I’d agree. So in this case perhaps, dispense with focusing on international celebrity and say no to speaking engagements, and concentrate on your church and your neighbor. I am going to write more about that in a real life example shortly.

I am grateful for a Spirit who sanctifies me and makes me realize that I am participating in a violation of the 3rd Commandment. If Brooks’ using the Lord’s name as a curse of exasperation previously and I didn’t realize it, I am doubly thankful for the Spirit bringing this to my attention so I could repent.

Conclusion

I hope and pray that the obvious thorn that flew into Gerry Brooks’ conscience will do its work to spiritually rebuke him for using the Lord’s name this way. And I pray that the people who affirmed this as a ‘respectable sin’ will also eventually find their bones melting like David’s in regret and then repent. I hope this happens before they meet Jesus, ‘for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.‘

Further resources

GotQuestions: What Does it Mean to Take the Lord’s name in Vain?

Ligonier Essay: Using God’s Name Frivolously
Yet, of all the Ten Commandments, only the third commandment adds the grave warning that God will not “hold guiltless” those who misuse His name (Ex. 20:7). Obviously, God does not hold anyone guiltless who does not repent and trust in Christ, but the attachment of this warning shows that the Lord pays special attention to how His name is used.

Book: The Vanishing Conscience by John MacArthur