If you ask the average person on the street as well as church attendee “What does the command, don’t take god’s name in vain,  mean?” I can assure you people will immediately say, “Using the ‘G.D.’ phrase…”

I too used to think that. While I don’t condone using the G.D. lingo, in my opinion, those who are taking the name of God in vain, who are offending God on a regular basis, are very possibly the people who fill the seats of your church week in, week out. Here’s a surprise – the more caught up in the “Christian Culture” they are, the more they may be offending God’s heart with the way they word’s they use.

Think about it for a second and you will get it yourself. To take something in “vain” is to treat it as common.

We have become absorbed with the vocabulary of western church talk. When one says, “Praise the Lord” many times a day, or “Thank you Jesus” or “God is good” or whatever your tradition carries with it (all traditions have their own set of vocabulary – it is part of the indoctrination process – learning to speak “Christian-ese” fluently) we may be treating God’s name in a "common" way.

When we speak the name of God, Jesus or make reference to things that are indeed holy without pausing to thinking about what we are saying – more of a knee jerk than a heartfelt expression – we may be doing exactly, precisely what God warned us to not do.

What does this have to do with jump-starting your church? All of this Christian-ese is unintelligible to the not-yet believer. It is an inside language only spoken by those who belong. If we can restrain ourselves from what can be empty talk we can create a more welcoming atmosphere for those newcomers in our midst.