I was watching a video of one of those so-called Christian bands at an award show. They kept chanting the name of Jesus over and over, singing about how amazing He was, lifting Him up, making it sound like it was all for Him. But as they did, they were gyrating and swirling across the stage, dressed in tight leather, moving like the world, looking like the world, embracing everything the world celebrates. And in that moment, the Spirit of God gripped me and said, “That’s what it means to take My name in vain.”
Not just a cuss word. But a life, a stage, a song that pretends to honor Jesus while living in open rebellion against Him.
And it’s not just the music. It’s the whole machine. A celebrity worship culture where people build careers on Jesus’ name but refuse to carry His cross. A false apostolic and prophetic movement where men and women chase platforms, money and applause more than they chase the presence of God.
They wear the cross around their neck while refusing to carry it on their back. They sing about Jesus while living for self. They say, “Look what God is doing,” but the only thing growing is their bank balance and their brand.
This is not anointing. This is the golden calf remade for the modern Church, and the name of Jesus is being used to build it.
And we cheer. We clap. We go gaga. We cry when the music swells and say, “Isn’t God good?” And we don’t even realize the whole thing reeks of flesh and self and showmanship.
You might be nodding in agreement about now, saying, “Yes. Lord, expose it.”
And then I remember when Paul Washer made a statement at a famous youth meeting that cut to the heart. The room clapped in agreement. And he stopped and said, “Why are you clapping? I’m talking about you.”
And that’s where this needs to go. It’s not enough to just talk about the platform. We need to take this to the pew as well.
Most of us grew up being told, “Don’t ever say ‘Oh my God.’ Don’t use the Lord’s name carelessly. Don’t cuss like that.” So we learned how to watch our mouth, how to say the right thing, how to be well-behaved Christians who don’t swear. And we thought that was holiness. We thought that was reverence.
But no one told us that you can say all the right things and still take His name in vain. No one told us that you can whisper “Jesus” through tears while living in disobedience and still be in danger of judgment. No one told us that you can sing the worship song and raise your hands and never once give Him your heart. We taught people how to be clean on the outside, how to speak carefully, but not how to die daily. And in doing so, we taught people how to appear holy while their affections were far from God.
We’ve raised up a generation who think sincerity is surrender, singing “I surrender all” while holding back part of their heart.
We can quote the words of Christ but ignore the weight of them.
“If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23)
Daily. Not occasionally. Not symbolically. He said if we do not take up our cross daily, we are not worthy of Him.
Do we understand that?
If you are not dying daily, you are not walking with Him. You’re using His name while following a version of Him that doesn’t require surrender. And that is what it means to take His name in vain.
It goes deeper than what comes out of your mouth. It’s the condition of your heart. When you say, “Jesus is Lord,” but refuse to obey Him, you are a liar. When you sing, “You’re all I want,” but chase the approval of man, you are a hypocrite. When you shout, “Have Your way in me,” but guard your pet sins, you are mocking Him with your worship.
This is what He meant when He said: “These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.” “In vain do they worship Me.” (Matthew 15:8–9)
In vain. Their worship means nothing. It is noise. It is a clanging cymbal. And many of us are guilty. Not just the stage performers. Not just the celebrity worship teams. Us. In the pews. In the prayer meetings. In the mirror.
I know what I’m talking about because I lived it. Twelve years of willful sin, pretending I was just “falling.” Confessing over and over again, convincing myself I was repentant when I wasn’t. Quoting Scriptures about the righteous man falling seven times, while I loved my sin and refused to crucify it.
I was a hypocrite. I wore the name of Jesus and lived like I didn’t know Him. I was acting. That’s what hypocrite means.
And Jesus said of people like that: “They have soiled their garments, and they will not walk with Me in white.” (Revelation 3:1–6)
And shockingly He warned they were in danger of having their names removed from the Book of Life.
Some think feeling bad or confessing often is the same as repenting. But the Bible says the only ones who are truly His are those who put to death the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit. (Romans 8:13)
But it’s not just the obvious sins of the flesh. We are to cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the flesh AND spirit. (2 Corinthians 7:1) Sins of the spirit, pride, jealousy, bitterness, self-righteousness. These too defile. These too stain our garments. These too take His name in vain when we sing about loving Him and living for Him, but walk in a spirit that doesn’t reflect Him at all.
You can be admired, anointed, and applauded, and still not be abiding. To remain in Him, you must keep dying to everything that pulls you away. To truly worship Him is to say, from the gut, “Not my will, but Yours be done,” and mean it.
So yes, we better check our own hearts while we point the finger. Because if we lift His name with our lips and refuse to lay down our lives, if we sing about the cross but refuse to carry it, if we shout His praises while walking in rebellion…
Then we too have taken His name in vain.
And He will not hold us guiltless.
--Mark McCourt
www.washingtoninstitute.org
