August 30, 2025 -Profanity

EZEKIEL 34:1-36:38

Chronological Bible Readings

Ezekiel 36:22 “Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone.

I read this and wondered how do we profane God's name?

This is not just about things we say. But it does include what we say. When we speak in un-Christlike ways. That would surly profane His name especially when those who hear us know that we are Christian.

But it is always about more than the words we say it is our actions and our hearts. For example, when we say things that encourage others to pursue things that direct them away from God or participate in things that would encourage the same. I think of things like seeing a psychic even "just for fun", self-reliance/worship where self is the ultimate importance, karma as a way to get over harm, or yoga that practices middle eastern meditation. All these things are moving toward false idols. Just as the Israelites did. They may have started off making sacrifices at a temple for a false God because they didn't have access to the temple in Jerusalem. A worldly justification for why. But that is the first step onto a slippery slope that led them down a path to being ignorant of God, about God and to God. We need to avoid that slippery slope.

Say you are at a party with friends, and someone pulls out a deck of cards and says that they can do card readings with them and offers it to the party. I believe that this kind of thing is usually a big hoax or scam and I could justify doing it in many ways. I know it's a hoax so I will prove it wrong. I have Christ in me so it won't have any spiritual effect on me. I don't want to turn people away from Christianity by acting too pious. But they are all justification that leads to others seeing me participate in something that God clearly says we should not and encourages them to do the same. Self-reliance/worship is a big thing today. You do you. You do what makes you feel good. Live your best life. On and on the sayings go. When we point people to themselves instead of God we are encouraging them away from God. When we live as though our life and choices are made based on what we think is best or to achieve what we want to achieve we are denying God and pointing other away from Him and encouraging a lack of concern for others. What about karma? This is a word that is thrown around even by Christians as though it is from God. Whether it is saying that something happened because of karma like when someone says something unkind to you then trips on the sidewalk, or you have been wronged by someone and you say you can let it go because you know that karma will pay them back. Karma is a middle easter religion (Hindu & Buddhist) concept. A religion that are vastly different from Christianity and put the onus of salvation onto the believer and denies Christ. Yoga is also a middle eastern practice where you are trying to work toward a place of uniting yourself with a higher consciousness. Even in more modern and secularized forms of yoga the wording and teaching all reflect back to pointing the person to self-actualization not to God. I could come up with other things on this line as well as think of other directions to take this thought, but I think we need to remember we profane God's name when we profess to be Christians that follow God's word and then live something else. When we live like the world, we too then are being ignorant of God, about God and to God. How profane.