"Thank the Lord!"

[concerneduser]

My question to you is that when at a get-together if someone (really almost jokingly) said ‘Thank the Lord!’…When he picked up a card. Is this taking the ‘lords name in vein’…I mean he did not say something like ‘oh my G-d’, which i would say is taking the lords name in vein. Yet, Lord, and God are often interchanged. Therefore, would saying (a seemingly joking) ‘Thank the Lord’, be taking the Lords name in vein the same way that ‘oh my g-d’ is??

 

[rpp]

I think generally, when a person uses the Lord’s name in the same way they would say “Wow!” or “Darn!”, or any exclamation of surprise, regret or disappointment, then yes, I think yes, they are using the Lord’s name in vain. On the other hand, some people have such a habit of prayer, the Lord’s name is always on their lips. For those people, while it may seem like an exclamation to an observer, the intent of the person was actually a brief and spontaneous communication with God.

Since we cannot know the hearts and intent of another, we cannot know whether we just observed a sin or not.