Ex 20:16 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour." Prayer: Lord, You are the God of truth. Thank You that we can depend on Your words. Let Your strong Word pierce the gloomy deceits of the devil the rebellious world, and our sinful selves. Set us free by Your Word, for Your Word is Truth. Fill us with Your Spirit of truth, so that we might be people whose words can be depended on. In Jesus Name, we pray, Amen.
A poor person with a good name, or a rich person whos name is mud. Which would you like to be?
I wonder which would Hansie Kronje (reader: 'Kronyer') like to be, right now? He had a good reputation as a dedicated cricketer, a fine leader of the South African cricket team. Our own captain, Steve Waugh, spoke highly of him as a worthy opponent. The special New Testament printed by the Bible Society, called Towards the Goal includes a Christian testimony by Hansie, along with the testimonies of many other great sportsmen and women. But now, we have learned that he has admitted to taking money for inside information, and may even be guilty of match-fixing, while in India. His country now has a red face for defending him at first. They had been quite indignant in the face of the accusations, and defended him. But then it turns out that at least some of the Indians accusations are true. He has been sacked and is in disgrace. All the good he has done and the example he has been for years, as a leader, a cricketer and an ambassador for his country will be forgotten. At least by many people. May God have mercy on him, and stand by him and his family now, in this hour of rejection and shame. May God have mercy on us all.
Proverbs 22:1 says A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. A good name is one of the most precious possessions we have.Once it is gone, life can be very difficult indeed. Hear what Luther says in his Large Catechism:
Apart from our own body, our wife or husband, and our property, we have one more valuable asset: our honour and reputation. We cant do without it. There is no way we can live among people in public disgrace, with everybody looking down on us. So God wont have our fellow human being deprived or stripped of his reputation, good name, and personal integrity, any more than of his money, and property. A person must be able to look his wife, children, employees and neighbours in the eye. (From Friedemann Hebarts anniversary translation.)
We might say Hansie has deserved his shame. We might say he brought it onto himself. We might think of others we know, who have done things wrong, and been found out. Serves them right, we might says. But sometimes a person is falsely accused. We have a saying: Fair go, mate! But sometimes people dont get a fair go. False accusations or half-truths follow them wherever they go. Take for example someone who has been in prison. He or she did the wrong thing. But the time has been served, and the debt to society paid. Surely the person deserves a fair go. But this doesnt always happen.
God wants us to respect each other. To honour one another as fellow-bearers of the image of God.
When we sin against another person, we sin against God, who made them.
This command highlights the sins of speech.
James 3:5-10 reminds us of the destructive power of words: C
onsider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Verse 2 of the same chapter says: We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.
Just as we are to protect the gift of life by not killing, the gift of sexuality by not indulging outside of marriage, and the gift of property by keeping our hands off anything that doesnt belong to us, God wants us to protect the honour of other people, by watching the way we speak about them.
It is not fair to list a persons bad qualities, and make no effort to highlight any good things about the person. How easy it is to run someone down. Some of us get so use to doing this that we might not even be aware when its happening. Stop and think.
How do you talk about your parents? About your husband or your wife? About your children? About your neighbours? About the pastor? About the leaders of the wider Church? About yourself?
How easy it is to tear down. How hard it is to build up.
I have heard it said, that to counter one negative statement, we need at least 5 positive statements.
This may be a big problem in the way many of us were brought up. We never heard any statements of unconditional love or approval. We may be scared of compliments. But lets think about it. If our children do well, and get recognised by a certificate or a certificate, we are thrilled. What they do reflects on us - simply because we are their parents. Anything we do well reflects back on God, who made us. So lets not be afraid of doing well, and calling a spade a jolly good digging implement! Of course we want to avoid pride. But the only way we avoid pride, is by giving glory to God - for any level of achievement, and by realising that God accepts us and loves us perfectly, regardless of how well or poorly we perform.
We ruin people's reputations and dishonour them by focussing on their failures or what we think are deficiencies. We rob people of honour when we dont want to acknowledge anything good they do. Of course the best of our works are corrupted by our human sinfulness and weaknesses, but nevertheless, we have encouragement from God himself, as he says through Paul in Galatians 6:4
Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else. So there is a place for affirming ourselves and what we are able to do -with the gifts God has given us, and the strength and motivation He provides.
How come some people can't seem to find anything positive to say about other people? Could it be that they have a voice inside their heads telling them over and over, 'You're no good!' This voice then comes out of their mouths, in criticism and put-downs.
Before God's law, of course, this voice has a point. Romans 3 says, There is no one good, or righteous, no not even one. All use their tongues to deceive, and they are not interested in respecting God. Certainly all have sinned, and have fallen far short of the glorious selves God intended us to be. But God has done something through His Son, to cover over our shame, and all our deficiencies. He has done something that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt, that He values us very, very highly! He has transfered our guilt and sin and shame to Jesus. Jesus takes away the sins of the world - which means your sins and my sins too. He takes away the many ways we have hurt other people through our words, as well as through our actions or failures. He takes them all away, and gives us a new heart, a new mind, a new soul. He shares His own righteousness, and goodness, with us.
When Jesus was baptised, God the Father spoke these amazing words of affirmation and approval: You are my son! I love you! I am very pleased with you!
Romans 6 tells us that when we were baptised, we were made one with Jesus. We are counted as one person with Him. This means we share the wonderful relationship he has with the Father on high! It means that God has these words to say to each of us, too: You are my child! I love you! I am very pleased with you!
Instead of words that ruin reputations, and undermine the personal honour of others, God wants us to speak words that build others up. The Proverbs are full of wonderful teaching on how to do this. A kind answer. An apt word. Overlooking an offence. Refusing to revisit a matter that has been laid to rest in the past. God uses His words to build us up.
Before we will be able to build others up with our words, we will need to have His words in us. Instead of the words, Youre no good going through our minds, God wants to give us a new message: You have been forgiven. God loves you. He has accepted you. He sees you in the same way that He sees Jesus!
God's word honours us. He frees us from our sins and from faulty ways of thinking, through his words. He equips us and strengthens us to use the gift of words to bless others, to build them up, and not to tear them down.
Does it matter if a person has failed? Haven't we all failed? We should never excuse sin - all sin should be taken to the cross of Jesus, and receive God's severe punishment there. But for all who believe in Jesus, our Saviour, no failures are final. He lifts us up and makes us people whom God accepts as worthy of honour, through Him. May God help us use our words to build people up. God uses His Words to bless and restore us. Let us use our words to do the same. Amen.
The peace of God which is beyond all human understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, AMEN.
First command (God) | Second command (God's Name) | Third command-a (Sabbath, part 1) | Third command-b (Sabbath, part 2) | Fourth command (authority) | Fifth command (Life) | Sixth command (sexuality) | Seventh command (property) | Ninth command (wanting things)| Tenth command (wanting people)| command against idolatry| 'What does God say of all these commands?'