God's "Brand"

In business a brand is an identity--not only a logo or "look" that people immediately associate with the business, but every characteristic that consumers associate with that company. Companies painstakingly work to build a strong and positive identity.

I hesitate to make this comparison because God's name/purpose is infinitely more important that a business plan, yet hopefully it helps to illustrate the point: With the second commandment (Deuteronomy 5:11) God is basically protecting his brand. The name of God is to be revered. He is the all-powerful, holy creator. He is the merciful redeemer. The name of God means nothing less than our eternal salvation.

But not to those whose only acquaintance with him is when his name is used at times of surprise or angry outbursts. Or when his name is used to add weight to man-made arguments without anyone caring enough to check the Bible to see what God actually has to say. Or even when using parts of God's message, like the very real teaching of his judgment and hell, to curse or joke.

Recently I read in the book Life in the New Testament World by Armin Panning about how Jewish scribes would ceremonially wash themselves before each time they wrote God's name. Perhaps that seems a bit much, but I feel that  is so much closer to how we should be handling the name of God than our thoughtlessly dropping OMGs all over the place. There is too much at stake--people's souls--to have his name emptied of its incredible meaning.