21 Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molek, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. ~ Leviticus 18:21NIV
When we think or talk about profaning the name of the LORD, rarely do we think about our actions. Usually, when we think about profaning the name of the LORD, we think about the way we speak. We think about how we use the name of the LORD, but this is a little bit more subtle than that.
See, the Israelites weren’t going through the streets using the name of the LORD as a cuss word or even to curse people. It was their actions that profane the name of the LORD. In this specific verse, the Israelites took their young children and forced them to go through the fire as a sacrifice (a burnt offering) to the demon (a false god of the Ammonites), Molech. They didn’t curse God as they did this. No. They simply took part in the wickedness of the world around them, refusing to separate themselves from the wicked acts of those people.
Today is no different. We are covered by the name of the LORD (Proverbs 18:10). We literally dwell in His name. The LORD cleared the way before Moses by going before Moses and speaking His own name and attributing His own good deeds He had done to reclaim Israel as His own (Exodus 34:5-7). When we are saved, we are known to the world by the name of Jesus (Matthew 24:9). So if we are dwelling in the name of the LORD, and the world can see that, our actions directly affect the name of the LORD.
If we refuse to give up our sin and deliberately continue sinning, then we have now profaned the name of the LORD that we are dwelling in and represent. Our actions represent Christ to the world. Jesus said show your good deeds to men that they may praise your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). Our actions directly impact the way the world sees Christ. For instance, Mahatma Gandhi originally sought out Christianity because he desired to know Christ better. When he went to enter a church in Durban, South Africa, in the 1890s, a white South African man refused to let him in because of the color of his skin. He denied the man the opportunity to hear the hope of the Gospel because he felt Gandhi was the wrong race and, in doing so, profaned the name of the LORD. This interaction solidified Gandhi’s search for spirituality in Hinduism instead. He even went on to say these famous words about Christians:
I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.
We represent Christ to the world. Our actions, especially the way we treat others, directly impact their opinion of Christ. Our actions don’t impact us alone. They either glorify the name of the LORD or profane it.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Do Not Profane His Name.