“How do you know a [insert profession with bad reputation] is lying? Their lips are moving”. This joke plays on the cultural reputation of certain industries and certain people within them to lie, exaggerate, or make false claims to further their interests. Not like us. Honest as the day is long, right?
Wrong. We all lie, deceive, gossip and slander, and fail to stand up for the truth. The Ninth Commandment condemns us. Deceitful words destroy trust in society, in relationships, and offend God. Using the capstone of truthfulness in court, the Ninth Commandment commands us not to lie and deceive, and to stand for the truth.
The Ninth Commandment forbids bearing “false witness against your neighbour” (Exodus 20:16). In other words, lying, deceiving, or omitting facts and the truth in a legal setting against any person who was on trial.
In New Zealand, lying in Court is taken seriously. The Crimes Act offers penalties for perjury of up to seven years, or fourteen for certain cases (eg, murder). This is with a legal system where we are “innocent until proven guilty” and with forensic evidence, DNA profiling, and at least in criminal cases, guilt beyond “reasonable doubt”. When justice miscarries, there are safeguards and prison is not always forever (though the stain of conviction usually lingers long after the sentence).
In Moses’ day, the stakes were higher. Many crimes were met with death. You were assumed guilty unless proven otherwise (why else would you be in front of the judge?), and conviction or otherwise relied entirely on witnesses… sometimes only one. A false accusation, and false witness could literally condemn someone to death.
This is why the Ninth Commandment singles out false witness in Court as the example of lying and deceit which is forbidden by God. Deceitful words destroy trust in society and destroy justice. False witness was forbidden; further, more than one witness was required in Israel to convict (Deut. 19:15), and failing to speak the truth was equally as wrong as lying (Lev. 5:1).
If this is true of the legal system, how also of everyday life. Lying and deceit ruin friendships, hurt relationships, destroy careers and livelihoods. Spreading gossip and rumours, either false or true (but to ears who do not need to hear), starts a forest fire of destruction (James 3).
Taking words out of context is just as destructive; it bears false witness about what someone believes, and thinks the worst of them rather than the best. Omitting all the facts misleads and leads people astray. It causes hurt and harm, affecting reputations and relationships, destroying trust in and amongst society.
Sadly in our society, fighting back against slander and libel takes deep pockets for lawyers expenses and time. False statements in the media can be challenged, but the retraction and apology gets buried far deeper than the original harmful statement. Offensive and demeaning comments flow easily onto social media feeds to reach millions, but the retractions and apologies struggle to reach hundreds.
While the world as a whole might treat the truth casually and relative to the individual (unless they are affected), God does not treat it casually. The Ninth Commandment forbids lies and deceptions that harm others.
God condemned those who lied and cheated (eg, Hosea 4:2). He demonstrated how seriously he takes lying to him by killing Ananias and Sapphira for attempting to deceive the Church and the Holy Spirit (God himself) of their degree of generosity (Acts 5).
The Apostles single out lying, gossip, and slander as examples of conduct which Christians should not engage in (eg, Romans 3, James 3, 2 Cor. 12, Eph. 4). They did so not just for practical reasons, but because it violates God’s Law and offends his standard of holiness to which we should strive.
In a world which treats the truth as an internal matter, we are called to a harder task. To mirror the author of truth, and speak the truth… in love (Eph. 4:15). Not using the truth as a blunt weapon which can sometimes wound just like a lie, but lovingly and in a manner which seeks to draw people to Christ.
When others seek to gossip, we should close the conversation down; chances are, we do not need to hear it. When others seek to cut people down, we should seek to lift their reputations up. When others hide the truth to condemn, we should reveal it lovingly to condemn the guilty and free the innocent. When the temptation comes to lash out with untruthful words, we should hold our tongue.
Most of all, we should be truthful when we come in prayer to God, acknowledging our sins and shortcomings, our iniquities and transgressions. Not hiding or sliding, but trustingly confiding.
It was false witnesses, whose testimony did not even agree, that condemned the righteous Jesus to the Cross. There he suffered the ultimate penalty, so that our lies and deceit which just as surely sent him there might be forgiven by God. And then in knowing that truth, we are set free.
