"You Shall Not Bear False Witness against Your Neighbor"
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December 14, 2014 |
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 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor" (Exodus 20:16).
Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
Some people confidently say they do not lie. But from the viewpoint of God, who is the truth itself, most people lie often. It is just as a tiny bit of dirt or the most minor staining can be seen when bright light shines that would not otherwise be easily seen in darkness. So, let's now look into such falsehoods.
1. To say that you did what you did not do and say you did not do what you did
During a legal trial, it is clearly shown how a false witness might have a seriously negative impact. In court proceedings, the words of a witness directly affect the verdict. Because of the impact of a false witness, an innocent person may be condemned, and he may be sentenced to death according to the witness.
The Bible says that both the witness and the judge must be very prudent. It tells us that people must not listen to only one witness, but two or three people should be heard to understand the situation correctly. We also understand that a false witness should be punished (Deuteronomy 19:15-20).
It implies that God's children should not tell any kinds of lies in their lives, no matter how trivial they appear to be. Furthermore, if they keep quiet when they should tell the truth, this is also a deed of falsehood. For example, say we see somebody being wrongfully accused for a mistake that we made, but we remain quiet about it. Or, if we buy something in a shop and the shopkeeper gives us extra change by mistake and we just receive it, we cannot say that we are truthful people. God wants us not only 'not to lie'. But He wants our heart itself to be true and all our words and deeds to be truthful.
Sometimes people tell 'white lies'. For example, if somebody asks you if you have eaten yet, in consideration of the person, you might say that you had already eaten though you actually did not. In this situation, still, it is better to say honestly, "I didn't, but I don't want anything to eat."
Let's look into such a case in the Bible. When Saul was trying to kill David, Jonathan hid David in the field and didn't tell his father, Saul, the truth. Instead, he said David had gone to meet his brothers. Though it was not a perfect choice, he still did his best to save David.
As seen in this case, if we lie with good intention and no desire for our benefits, God does not unconditionally condemn us for that lie you told. But if we enter a higher level of goodness, this kind of situation is not made in the first place and we won't be trapped in telling a 'white lie'. God works in such a way that we will avoid such a situation. Since God knows even our inner heart and we can't deceive Him, we first should have truthful hearts, receive wisdom from above, and always speak virtuous and gracious words.
2. To add or omit something through your personal thoughts and feelings
When people deliver a message from one person to another, they often add or omit something. If they do it with a good intention, that may not seem bad. But if it is with an evil intention, then it may cause misunderstanding between the persons. It is a problem. Even if they deliver exactly the same words, according to their intonation and accentuation, the meanings can be changed.
For example, saying "Why", with an imploring tone of concern, and "Why?" with a tone of contention and anger, conveys completely different meanings. Of course, it is hard to deliver somebody else's message exactly the same way as it was spoken, like an audio recording. But, we still have to try to deliver the original intention of the one who said those words as precisely as possible.
Also, even if we can deliver the intention correctly, if it is not gracious or edifying and is not truth, we should not deliver it. Although we are delivering the message with good intention, the listener's heart will be broken, and this results in alienating people from each other.
Matthew 12:36-37 reads, "But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." I hope you will say only gracious and edifying words so that you will be recognized as a righteous man by God.
3. To speak words that judge and criticize somebody without really knowing his heart
When one sees others' faces and actions, or he hears them, he often judges their heart with his own thought and feeling. Your friend passed by you without even noticing you. His eyesight may be poor or he may have been mentally pre-occupied thinking of something else. But you may think, "He ignored me" or, "Does he have some bad feelings towards me?"
Though we may be quick to sense a person's feelings and we are very close to that person, it is still hard to understand the person's whole heart. So many people misunderstand, judge, and have ill-feelings; they slander and criticize others and it is only because they use their personal standards as the standard. It is a case of 'false witness' because they may spread something that comes from their judgment though it is not true and may be different from the person's heart. If we join in judging others, it is also the foolish act of participating in false witness.
Most men of flesh think others will show the evil that they had shown if others are in the same situation that they were in. That is, a person with a lying heart doubts whether others deceive him. A person who ignores others thinks that someone will ignore him as well in a certain situation. Therefore, we must not judge and condemn others by our own standards.
If one talks about others' faults and criticizes them, he should realize that he is doing an even greater act of evil (Matthew 7:1-5). We can discern the wrongdoings of other people only when we cast off our evil and become sanctified. But in fact, after we cast off all evil we wouldn't want to see the faults of others. Rather, we would see only good things of them and cover up their faults.
James 4:11 says, "Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it." This tells us that judging and condemning brothers is a great evil. It is trying to become like God who is the only Judge.
One more thing we should remember is that we should not judge God's Word with our thoughts. God can do even things that are absolutely impossible within the limits of men. Therefore, we must not think and say something is wrong or erroneous with the Word.
Sometimes, although they do not have evil intentions, people often tell lies. They exaggerate or diminish a fact. One person might say that someone has eaten 'much' of a certain dish. But another might say that the person 'has eaten it all'. One person might say that 'there is nothing left' though there may be a small amount of remaining. We may hear, "Everybody agrees" though only some of them actually agreed.
Some people report a specific number of something though they are not sure how many. Though they didn't intend to lie, it is still lying. Here is an example where a person delivered a message in his own thought. At a dinner table, a superior was eating with many people and said, "The table looks a little meager." Somebody heard it and said to another person, "He said there is no meat on the table." It may seem trivial, but it is still adding or subtracting things.
If one's heart is filled only with truth, he won't add or omit anything. He doesn't add his feelings and thoughts. Therefore, if you lack truthfulness in your words, even though they are small things, you should realize you still have nature of falsehood in you. If you haven't cast off the root of that falsehood, in a very desperate situation, you may also tell a lie that causes harm to others. Thus, I urge you to cast it off completely.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as children of God who is the Light, I urge you to achieve a pure heart that is free of falsehood concerning even the smallest matter. I pray in the name of the Lord that God will shine in your ways, become a shield in your difficulties, and pour down good things abundantly in your lives of walking in the truthfulness (Psalm 84:11).
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