Godspeak

Beware of godspeak, especially when if falls from the mouths of preachers or professional athletes. 

What is godspeak? It’s casualizing the name of God to draw attention to our own religiosity instead of glorifying the Divine.  Like biblical Pharisees, godspeak gives the pious an opportunity to make a great show of their piety. Quite simply, godspeak is “name dropping” a name that is best not dropped.

At one time or another, most of us are guilty of godspeak. In fact, people like me, those of us who speak on behalf of God, may be more prone toward godspeak than others. It’s not uncommon for us to throw God’s name into the conversation whenever we think it will further our cause. Without intending to, we besmirch the name of God by attaching his holy title to everything from a proposed budget to recommended changes in the church bylaws. We casualize the holy name that should rightly be whispered in awed reverence.

I love football but I’m not always comfortable with the way players bring God into the game. It’s not unusual to see players genuflect before kicking a field goal or pointing to the heavens after scoring a touchdown. And in postgame interviews godspeak is regularly heard.   The postgame interviews often go like this. The interviewer will begin, “Great game. I guess you’re excited to put this one in the win column.”

“We sure are,” replies the burly player. Then, as he gazes piously toward the heavens he says, “And before I say anything else, let me stop and give credit to my Almighty God in heaven. If it wasn’t for him our team would never have gotten this far.” Then he quickly moves on. “You know we played hard out there today. We played hard, gave it our best, and we deserved to win.”

Least I sound too harsh and judgmental; I’ll first admit my appreciation for the player’s acknowledgement of God. Obviously, he wanted viewers to understand that God held a significant place in his life. Good for him; but, for me, God’s name is too holy to attach to a football game.

To be quite honest, I’m not sure God favors one football team over the other. At times, I wonder if he even approves of such violent games. I also wondered about the player’s theology. Was the victory a matter of God’s grace or did they win because of their superior athletic prowess. In one sentence, the player says that the victory belonged to God. In the next sentence he announces that his team won because “they deserved it.” Grace or works? Only God knows.

I suspect, of all 10 Commandments, we are most inclined to break the third.  Remember the third commandment? “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.” Most of us have viewed this commandment as a prohibition against cursing or attaching God’s name to pronouncements of damnation, but I think the commandment’s intent goes so much deeper. We take God’s name in vain any time we treat it casually. We take his name in vain any time we attach it to our agenda instead of his. 

Let us beware of godspeak, or of anything else that casualizes the holiness of God.