True Witness (Part One)

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16)

In a courtroom, the witness takes the stand. “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” “I do.” If the witness tells partial truths, mixes fantasy with fact, or exaggerates one element of the truth while minimizing others, those making judgments—the judge and the jury—may condemn an innocent when the truth might have set them free. God is a just God and a merciful God, and His law is designed to protect against such injustices.

In the courtroom of life, we are continually and simultaneously the accused and the accuser, the judge and the judged, the witness and the one being witnessed “for” or “against.” We are making judgments about all sorts of things, including other people, and others are forming their judgments about us. We also give our witness about ourselves, others, and all the rest of our world; and others are “sharing” what they think about us, the world, others, and God Himself.

Because God is Truth and cannot lie, He calls for the truth in all of this. We are called upon to speak the truth, to speak it in love for God and for our neighbor, and to believe the truth as well and make our judgments according to it alone. God, of course, is the ultimate Judge—we are accountable to what He says is true and right and good; but He is also the ultimate Defender and the true Witness, who knows the truth about those who trust in Him, who look to Him for deliverance, who are repentant in heart and deed.

Satan, “the Accuser,” on the other hand, is a murderer and a thief and a liar from the beginning. His motive was the death and destruction of man and the theft of God’s glory for himself, but his tactic was false witness and deception. He twisted God’s Word, lied about God, lied about Adam and Eve, lied about creation, and lied about the consequences of sin. Mankind’s undoing, including yours and mine, was the result of believing Satan’s false witness, making false judgments, and becoming deceivers ourselves just like our adopted “father.”

The more we become like Christ, the more we know the truth and love the truth, and the more we discern the lie and hate the lie. When we come to Christ, we are coming into the light—and light exposes the lies for what they are. When liars and their lies become exposed, like roaches, they often begin to scurry for the dark places again, attempting to cover up with more lies. That approach will always fail in the end because the light always triumphs. But if we come to the light, live in the truth, walk in integrity—if we run into the light ourselves—we find there a loving and forgiving God, who knows the truth about us anyway and calls us to be true witnesses who truly admit the sinfulness of our sins—including our sins of deception and lying—and turn from them to the truth as it is in Christ.

“Lord God, Judge of the whole world, have mercy on us for Christ’s sake. Forgive us for our attempts at hiding from You. Forgive us for lying about You, ourselves, and the world. Jesus is the Light of the world, and nothing can be hidden from You. Shine Your light on us. Jesus is the Truth, and no one can come to You except through Him. Teach us the truth—about Yourself, about ourselves, about the world in which we live. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, and lead us into all truth. Make us lovers of the truth, men and women of integrity, and keep us from lies, deceit, slander, secret-keeping, and hypocrisy—that we might be like our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.”