The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Panorama City, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed from the tape, GC 70-19, titled "Bible Questions and Answers."  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE. Copyright 2000 by John MacArthur Jr., All Rights Reserved.

Question

The third commandment--“don’t take the Lord’s name in vain”… So, if a person is an actor and he’s going to play a part in a movie and he is going to take the Lord’s name in vain, should he not take the part? Or, if he takes the part, is he going to answer to God?

Answer

Well, I think the Bible is pretty clear; It says, “Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain.” That doesn’t somehow get set aside if you’re playing a role. I think that, as far as the audience is concerned, the Lord’s name has been taken in vain. For me, I would have a difficult time doing that. Somebody would say, “Well, now wait a minute. People in the world take the Lord’s name in vain, and you’re simply playing a part of someone in the world that takes the Lord’s name in vain.” My answer to that would be, you’re still taking the Lord’s name in vain. In the end, I wouldn’t want to take the Lord’s name in vain. Certainly, I wouldn’t do it myself, and I wouldn’t want to pretend that I was doing it because I was playing a role. I think this is a very difficult thing.

Through the years, we’ve dealt with a lot of people who are, you know, involved in acting. And they come up against this kind of thing, not just in that sense, of taking the Lord’s name in vain, but in playing roles where behavior is dishonoring to the Lord. That is a very great challenge. It’s very difficult for a committed Christian who wants to honor God to find the kinds of parts where they actually are either neutral or honoring to God. That’s a great challenge. But, I don’t think that because I’m playing a role, I have liberty to dishonor God, even through the person whose personality I am only portraying.

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur’s Questions and Answers" by:

Tony Capoccia
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