Do not bear false witness


20 “You must not testify falsely against your neighbour.

The first commandment that we looked at warned us not to make false images of God because the law (Deuteronomy 19:15-21) specified that the testimony of one witness was not sufficient to prove a case, however, the testimony of two or three witnesses was conclusive. There was no CSI, no Inspector Morse, no ‘Silent Witness’, no jury. The investigation of a case was limited to the credibility of the witnesses – and if two or three agreed, that was enough to convict.

Clearly, those motivated by malice could conspire to testify against someone: John and Jane, having a grudge against Fred, might drag him before the judge saying: “We saw Fred steal that fruit” Provided their individual testimonies agreed and the witnesses were therefore credible, poor Fred would be found guilty.

To mitigate this risk, the law instituted the famous ‘eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth’ clause. If the witnesses are shown to be bearing false testimony, then whatever punishment they sought to have inflicted on the innocent party, is levied against them. If the witnesses accused someone of a crime worthy of death, but then proved to be bearing false witness, they themselves would be executed.

This of course is exactly the scenario that played out on that first Maundy Thursday, where Judas agreed to testify against Jesus in a capital trial. When the testimony of the other witnesses didn’t agree, the High Priest called on the court to be witnesses when Jesus affirmed that he was the Christ. “You are all witnesses to the blasphemy, we can dismiss these others”.

Fundamentally then, bearing false witness is presenting an image of someone that is inaccurate. Instead of someone being known for who they really are, a false image is projected. Just as producing a ‘graven image’ of God creates a distorted or incomplete picture of who He is, so bearing false witness disfigures an individual. Producing a graven image and bearing false witness are the same; one is an inaccurate portrayal of God, the other an inaccurate portrayal of a person.

Continuing the courtroom scene, it is an easy step to take from being a witness to being a judge. “I saw him take the piece of fruit” quickly becomes “that boy is a thief”. We move from testifying about an event to judging the person.

And here lies the real problem. Any judgement we make risks being wrong. Either because we have misunderstood what we have seen or heard, or because we lack the context in which to interpret it. God is the only safe judge of who we are. He has the full knowledge of what happened and the context in which it happened. Only He can truly make judgements about who we are. Which means that when we take on this role, we displace God, we take His place.

So, what are we to do? Are we to decline to say anything about anyone, ever? Of course not! But when we speak, we do not pass on other people’s opinions, we do not pass on as fact that which we have not witnessed ourselves. Moreover, we don’t build more than the bricks that we have will support; we do not judge character on the basis of an event. We may have seen a theft, we did not catch a thief. We do not write-off the future on the basis of what we have seen in the past.

But we need to go further still. The opposite to being a false witness is to be a true witness. Not simply by being factually accurate. Not just by sticking to that which we have personally witnessed. But by declaring as true, that which God speaks about someone. We need to be seeking that which is honourable, that which is worthy of praise, that which is excellent – and to call out prophetically that which is, as yet, none of these things.

Of course, that doesn’t mean being ignorant of flaws or foolish in the way in which we relate to someone. But it does mean that even in the process of change, we seek to protect their dignity and value them as a person. Their failings are not for public ridicule or for mob judgement.

‘Do not bear false witness’ is so much more than telling that which is factually true. It’s about leading others to share God’s view of who someone is rather than an image distorted by our prejudices, our assumptions, our pain.

Do not bear false witness.

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