True Witness (Part Two)

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




Speaking the truth in love does not always mean saying everything we could say or saying it to everyone who has “ears to hear.” We have to be careful judges with our own words. Love, and what the old-timers call “charity,” is to be the motive and operating principle behind our “truth-telling.”

In fact, God through the atonement in Christ “covers” our sin, and we are to do likewise when we can. “Love covers a multitude of sins.” Our desire should be to protect the good name of our neighbor as far as it is possible. If I have a problem in my relationship with someone, God instructs me to go to him alone to work it out. If I still run into difficulty, I may need to get “one or two witnesses” to act as counsel or to help us work through things, but it should still be for the purpose of reconciliation and working through to a solution advantageous to both of us.

So much of the time, however, our motive is our own defense or an attack on the person with whom we have the disagreement, so we start looking for “support” for our case in others—sometimes many others—and that can all too easily slip into gossip, slander, rumor, whisperings, back-biting, and complaining. Love, love for the truth, and the truth in love avoid all of these things like the plague. There is often absolutely no reason to talk to others, even if we think we are “telling the truth.” Here once again we find the golden rule well applied: we are to do as we would be done unto.

It is true that truth often hurts. “Faithful are the wounds of a friend—open rebuke is better than love concealed.” But this sort of hurt is once again motivated by love and a genuine desire for the good of the other, just as a parent’s loving discipline or the surgeon’s use of the scalpel. God is the master at this kind of truth-telling: all that He speaks to us His children—whether rebuke or praise, admonition or promise—is designed for our good and to build up our relationship with Him. His example must be our guide in all of our communications and relationships with others.

The worst of false witnesses we can give is our lying about God. We do this verbally when we complain—as if God has cursed us when in reality He has blessed us beyond measure and infinitely beyond what we actually deserve. We also lie about God without ever using our tongues—in fact through our actions and attitudes we may speak directly against what we do say with our tongues. But because we bear the image of God, and because we bear the name of Christ, we bear a false witness with every sin, whether it is with our tongues or not. Only as we follow the truth and live according to the truth will we begin to bear a true witness to the ultimate Reality, God Himself.

“Great and wonderful heavenly Father, we give You thanks for Your truthfulness and for Your speaking to us the truth—through creation, through Your Word, in our consciences, and through Your own Son Jesus Christ. Thank You for always bearing a true witness, and we pray You would make us like You. Guard us and help us to guard our tongues. Keep us from bearing false witness through gossip, slander, hypocrisy, and complaining. Help us in our communications and relationships with others to speak the truth in love, to cover others’ sins for the sake of love, and to seek peace with one another through loving confrontation, confession, and forgiveness. Keep us from sin, dear God, that we might bear a true witness to Your glorious image, we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.”