The Second Commandment
The Second Commandment: Speech and Character
One
The Second Commandment is you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
Human character, who we are and what we become, is largely conditioned by our language. That’s because words are how we crystallize our thoughts, and how we hang on to them.
For most of us, our very first memories go back right about to the time when we started learning how to talk because before you can talk and form words, it’s very difficult to hang onto your thoughts.
That’s also why totalitarian regimes always work very hard to restrict a population’s vocabulary. Because if they can reduce the words that are available, they can reduce the thoughts that can be preserved and developed.
Finally, the discipline of logic, which is the art of thinking clearly, is only accomplished by using tools connected with language.
In other words, we put order into our thoughts by putting order into our speech.
We make our ideas sharp with clear definitions.
We make our judgments sharp with clear propositions.
And we make our arguments sharp with clear syllogisms.
What’s the point of all this? The point is that how you talk will shape how you think. But of course, how you think will shape how you act. And how you act will determine the kind of person you will become.
So it’s no surprise that when God gave His commandments, the second on the list had to do with being careful with how we speak.
Two
St. James on Speech and Morality
So many of us act as though what we say isn’t that important.
We justify speaking sloppily, or inappropriately, we say, “I’m just saying,” or “It’s just words.”
But that’s not how the Bible sees language. It sees the way we speak as a crucial dimension of whether or not we’re living morally.
Take St. James: this is his famous warning about the tongue.
“The only man who could reach perfection would be someone who never said anything wrong - he would be able to control every part of himself. Once we put a bit into the horse's mouth, to make it do what we want, we have the whole animal under our control. Or think of ships: no matter how big they are, even if a gale is driving them, the man at the helm can steer them anywhere he likes by controlling a tiny rudder. So is the tongue only a tiny part of the body, but it can proudly claim that it does great things. Think how small a flame can set fire to a huge forest; the tongue is a flame like that. Among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a whole wicked world in itself: it infects the whole body; catching fire itself from hell, it sets fire to the whole wheel of creation. Wild animals and birds, reptiles and fish can all be tamed by man, and often are; but nobody can tame the tongue - it is a pest that will not keep still, full of deadly poison. We use it to bless the Lord and Father, but we also use it to curse men who are made in God's image: the blessing and the curse come out of the same mouth.”
What we say will steer the whole ship of our lives. And speaking immorally is a flame that will burn down a forest of good deeds.
So we’d better take our words very seriously.
Three
Christ on Speech
Jesus warned about the evils of careless speech.
In fact, one of the only graphic images He ever used involved the dangers of the tongue.
This is what he says,
“…not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man... Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and so passes on into the latrine? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”
Why does Jesus bring up the toilet in this description?
Maybe to point out that when we eat something unclean, it will simply go out of the body the right way. And that won’t defile a person.
But when we say unclean things, the filth is coming out the wrong end. And that, He says, will defile a person.
Four
Blasphemy: the Worst Sin of Speech
The worst violation of the Second Commandment, the worst sin of speech, is blasphemy. This is where we speak ill of the All-Holy God, or of His Mother, or His Saints, or His Sacraments.
If St. James is right, and the way you talk shapes your personality and your destiny, then cursing and insulting the God of Heaven and Earth is not a good sign.
So since so much is on the line, you might consider gently remonstrating with the people in your life who blaspheme.
It may feel awkward, but you might say, “Oh, would you please not say that?” or “I’d really rather you didn’t talk like that.”
One of my favorite football players, Barry Sanders, used to say, “If you guys don’t stop taking the Lord’s name in vain, I’m not running the ball again!”
And if you hear blasphemy, on the street or in a song or in a movie, you might get into the habit of saying, “Christ have mercy. Jesus have mercy on us. Holy Mary, pray for us.”
Every sin should be counteracted by its opposite virtue – so use blasphemy as committed by others as an opportunity for praise that you can do in reparation.
Five
The Name of Jesus
The Holiest of all words, the Holiest of all names, is the name of Christ Jesus.
This is the name He has allowed us to say with great reverence, and the Catechism tells us that when we say this name, it causes Christ Himself to be present.
The second commandment tells us not to take the Lord’s name in vain. But our faith tells us that we should take His name in earnest.
Jesus means in Hebrew: “God saves.”
This name expresses both his identity and his mission. Jesus is God and He is the only one who can save us from sin and death and the power of evil.
The evil spirits fear his name, and in his name his disciples perform miracles, for the Father grants all they ask in his name.
The name of Jesus has a power that surpasses any other name.
A simple but powerful prayer is to close one’s eyes, say the name of Jesus with faith, and welcome him with his power into your life.