When an utterance of thanks or praise is made to God by a New Testament character, the context is clearly that the person has been moved from their hearts to speak in this way. They are not parroting a learned speech pattern from someone around them. They have not learned a concocted culture that makes no sense except for those who happen to be part of the "inside" group, our special "Christian" club!

Secondly, it is not wise to treat God’s name in vain for a not so obvious reason to many reading this. Whether you realize it or not, not-yet believers have more of a sensitivity to such language and behavior, for lack of a better description, than those of us who have “gotten used” to things in the church scene.

Question: Why do not-yet believers find it strange to see those on “Christian” TV carry on as they do, especially with their chatter about “God told me” this and “Jesus be praised” for that. Many who have virtually nothing to do with a formal relationship with Jesus, God nor knowledge of the Bible, have an intuitive realization that what they are seing displayed in the Christian media is man-made. People ask me if it is normal to talk this way or if it is necessary to begin to talk in that fashion if one were to begin to follow Jesus…

Before you think I am way out of line here, I’m reporting to you what I hear in conversations very regularly with fellow travelers on airplanes, with those I chat with at Paneras, or over a venti mocha latte at Starbucks. People open up when you take the time to listen to them at a heart level.

By all means, let’s be genuine, authentic and heartfelt in our expressions of praise and thanks. However, let’s watch for signs of the instances where we have created our own "Christian" language and behavior that is strange and unintelligible to not-yet believers.