You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
(8th
Commandment)
As we move through this 500th
year since the beginning of the Reformation, many of us are renewing our
acquaintance with various writings and resources from and about that medieval
movement that changed the church and impacted the world. A great place to begin
is with Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. A great time to begin is the
season of Lent.
Local faith communities might shape
Wednesday worship around sections of the catechism or add a brief time for
exploration and discussion of the catechism before or after worship. Families
could briefly read and discuss parts of it once or twice a week before saying
grace at dinner. Individuals might slowly read through, meditate on, and
journal about the catechism in devotional time two or three times a week.
However we engage this important
booklet, it won’t take long to realize that its content is not just for memorization
by kids or catechism classes and it’s wisdom is as relevant today as it was the
day Luther wrote it five centuries ago. Take his reflection on the eighth
commandment, for example:
What
does this mean? We are to fear and love God, so that we do not tell lies about
our neighbors, betray or slander them, or destroy their reputations. Instead we
are to come to their defense, speak well of them, and interpret everything they
do in the best possible light.
If there was ever a time and place when
this understanding of that commandment has been needed it’s here and now, in
this country, in social media and public discourse, and in our churches. Scan
through your Twitter or Facebook feed. Listen to ten minutes of a news program.
Reflect back on your own conversations over the last week. How many lies or
unverifiable false claims have been made about others? How many times has
someone been betrayed or slandered or their reputation sullied in some way?
The answer? Too many. Too much of
our conversation (and thinking) about others these days blatantly breaks the
eighth commandment. It’s one thing to disagree, even vehemently, or to not
understand another person’s choices. But, it is another thing altogether to use
the disagreement or lack of understanding as an opportunity to lie about,
betray, slander, or seek to destroy the reputation of a fellow human being
created in the image of God.
Every time we catch ourselves in or
supporting this sort of sinful behavior it’s time to repent, trust the
forgiveness offered in Christ crucified and risen, and to lean into and offer
to others the new and abundant life of Jesus by taking every opportunity to instead
“come to their defense, speak well of them, and interpret everything they do in
the best possible light.”
Now there’s a Lenten discipline
that, empowered by the Spirit and by God’s grace, will not only change us, but
will transform our churches, our communities, our country, our world.
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