Have you ever considered how vanity can take you away from the righteousness of God? Even more, what about using the name of God in vain? It’s something many people do, including many Christians. How does using His holy and precious name in this way cost us?
Pastor Greg Locke shared that the problem with vanity goes deeper than just saying a filthy word or two. Christians are called to live in, but not be of, the world.
“I cannot rejoice and promote something that God clearly says is wrong in the Bible,” Locke says. “That’s not open-mindedness. That is disobedience. And so, He says don’t walk like these other people in the vanity, in the emptiness of your mind.”
Locke says vanity goes deeper and showcases the condition of the human heart.
“The Bible says don’t take the name of the Lord thy God in vain,” Locke says. “That doesn’t just mean that you use the name of God in a cuss word. It means that you live a life that is empty and void of who God really is, and so He says don’t have a vain mind.”
Vanity isn’t just about using words that dishonor God, though that plays a major role in how we view Him. It’s about being stuck in a cycle, a pattern of darkness that takes a person further and further away from the truth of God’s goodness and His gospel.
“There are a lot of people that claim to walk in light that are full of darkness,” Locke says. “The innermost being of who they are, their understanding is darkened. That is why there are some people in your life, many people in your life, most of them will be on social media; you’ll never meet them, but you’ll waste time fighting with them. That is why there are some folks you will never be able to convince them against any of their beliefs at all because their heart, their mind is darkened.”
It is this kind of darkness that we cannot live in. If Christians are supposed to be the light of the world, a city set on a hill, then it’s impossible to think or believe that we have the right to sit in the dark. God’s holiness demands that Christians seek after His righteousness to be made known here on earth as it is in heaven. Because Christians know the righteousness of God, we must not ignore it as the world does.
“The two worst things you will ever argue with a lost person about are religion and politics,” Locke says. “Because they are not going to see the nation the way you see the nation. They’re not going to see the Bible the way you see the Bible. They are incapable of righteous thinking because their understanding is darkened.”
The darkness of vanity is something Christians must be aware of so we can evaluate our heart and mindsets to make sure that we are truly living according to His ways. {eoa}
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Abby Trivett is a marketing copywriter and coordinator for Charisma Media.
