Sermon Tone Analysis

Exodus 20:16

 

/You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour/.[1]

Christians, fellow believers, have caused the death of more of God’s saints than all the inquisitions and pagan attempts aimed at extirpation of the Faith combined.

The advance of the Kingdom of God has been more surely halted more frequently by the devilish work of Christians than by all the opposition of all the demonic efforts of those openly opposed to the Faith.

The work of God has been damaged sufficiently to render preaching ineffective more often by Christians than by all the attacks of agnostics and atheists.

Christians have done this, not through direct assault and attack, but through innuendo, slander and gossip.

An unwarranted word, a slighting remark, a rumour repeated as though true, each alike can assassinate another, destroy reputations and leave such carnage in their wake that recovery may never be fully accomplished in this life.

Is it any wonder that slander and gossip are so thoroughly condemned in the Word?

Is it any wonder that so few messages are preached on the topic?

By and large, contemporary Christians have become masters of innuendo, and gossip has become the most popular pastime practised wherever the saints of the Most High God gather.

Standing opposed to this veritable plague among God’s righteous people is this ninth commandment—/You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour/.

Among the worst offenders of this rule for living, I regret to say, are religious leaders.

They are frequently masters of gossip, at the earliest stage of ministerial development almost unconsciously absorbing the concept that they advance themselves in the Kingdom through destroying their fellow ministers.

Do you want the latest dirt on some minister?

All you need do is attend the various ministerial meetings.

There, the dagger of gossip accomplishes its deadly work while masked in tones of deepest concern for the glory of Christ and for the welfare of the one slandered.

What the spokesmen of Christ do, the people over which they have received oversight adopt as the standard for Christian concern.

Thus, the plague advances inexorably to kill and destroy the innocent.

While serving in Africa during her first missionary tour there, our daughter Rochelle wrote that she was disappointed that missionaries invest so much time in gossip when they meet together.

They do this in the guise of issuing “prayer requests,” a warning flag that what you are about to hear is likely to be sheer gossip, raw innuendo.

At the outset, I believe it would be to our benefit to present concepts which will guide us through the morass of deadly gossip which we seemingly encounter almost daily.

In order to avoid repeating anything injurious to another, I recommend that we apply several tests, asking several questions, to discover whether repetition of a story is needful.

Is it true?

Is it necessary?

Is it relevant?

Is it beneficial?

Does it edify?

Does it glorify?

I will speak of these issues again as I draw the message to a conclusion; but we will do well to memorise them at this time and list them in the front of our Bibles.

Perhaps we would do well to write them on a card and paste them to our telephones.

Let me present these tests once more and request that you write them down.

Is it true?

Is it necessary?

Is it relevant?

Is it beneficial?

Does it edify?

Does it glorify?

I invite you to confront wicked attitudes and evil actions too frequently tolerated.

I invite thoughtful contemplation of your role in halting slander and gossip.

I invite deliberate rejection of sin tolerated too readily among us as we equip ourselves to halt this veritable plague even now running rampant throughout the churches of Christ.

Though we know the rule, recite it with me: /You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour/.

Now join me in exploring this rule for living, that together we may equip ourselves to honour God and to insure that we build one another instead of destroying one another.

*What is Meant by Giving False Witness?*  Superficially, giving false witness would appear to be solely concerned with matters of jurisprudence—issues of law.

Without question, this particular matter would be encompassed by this rule for living.

Judges and juries cannot make accurate decisions unless they are provided reliable witnesses to events under review.

Indeed, false testimony may defeat the ends of justice.

Certainly, we remember that it was the false testimony of men identified to be /worthless men/ who brought about the death of that good man, Naboth [*1 Kings 21:8-13*].

Searched out by Jezebel, who perhaps did not need to look far since she was herself a slanderous embodiment of evil, these men were willing to sell their testimony for a price.

They would lie—it needed but to appeared monetarily profitable to them.

However, one may bear false testimony without ever making a positive statement.

Satan bore false testimony against Job when he asked God, /Does Job fear God for no reason?/

[*Job 1:9*].

The slanderer did not say that Job was a hypocrite and a crook; he is far too shrewd to make such a crude declaration.

Instead, he insinuates, asking a question designed to instil doubt.

You will recall that it was the same approach which had worked so well in the Garden with our first mother: /Did God *actually* say…/ [*Genesis 3:1*]?

The shrewdness of such slander is seen in the fact that it is at once effective and safe.

Had Satan declared that Job had stolen a camel or that he had murdered his neighbour, he could have been challenged to prove his statement.

By asking the question, however, he put Job under a cloud without incurring any risk!

Nobody can punish us for merely asking a question.

Does Dave Roszmann eagerly pay his taxes?

Does Ian Munro always worship God in sincerity and truth?

Is Lynda Stark true to her husband?

By thus asking questions, we can obtain all the effect of bearing false testimony without incurring any of the dangers of such slander.

You see, Satan revealed his cunning by asking a question rather than making an assertion, a question so framed that nobody could give an authoritative answer.

One could answer accurately if questioned whether Job had killed his wife, or whether he had robbed the poor, or whether he had lied about his dedication to God.  Satan, however, did not question Job’s outward conduct; that was an open book.

No!  Satan questioned motives and cast doubt on Job’s innermost desires.

Anyone other than God hearing the question would draw the conclusion that Job might just be serving God for what he could get out of that service.

Have you ever considered that we can bear false testimony by remaining silent?

We can remain dumb as an oyster and slander another.

When we hear a disreputable story and remain silent, even though we know the story to be a lie, we are guilty of bearing false testimony.

We can bear guilt in this matter of bearing false testimony even though we may speak up, if we speak in a half-hearted manner.

This is the case when we:

 

/Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer,/

/And without sneering, teach the rest to sneer;/

/Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike,/

/Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike/

[Shakespeare]

 

This rule for living may be violated by exercise of a critical spirit.

Jesus warned us, /judge not/ [*Matthew 7:1*].

This does not mean, as outsiders and some who are light thinking imagine, that we are not to be discerning.

It means that we are to avoid a critical spirit.

Mh; krivnete, states the Greek, and you will notice that the word translated /judge/ sounds very much like our word /critical/.

That is precisely the impact of that language.

We Christians are to be capable of making decisions based upon the expression of the heart, without being critical.

Though we must be willing to forgive and eager to accept those who repent, we are not to be foolish.

Jesus cautioned us to be as /wise as serpents and innocent as doves/ [*Matthew 10:16*].

Likewise, at the same time He warned against a critical spirit, Jesus stated that we /will recognise / [false prophets] /by their fruits/ [*Matthew 7:16-20*].

Where I spent my childhood years, vultures are sometimes seen flying across the skies.

What does a vulture find when it flies over a landscape such as those verdant Ozark foothills?

Perhaps it sees a dead opossum under a dried bush.

Again, it may see a dead armadillo stuck down on the roadway.

This does not mean that all that is found in south-east Kansas is carrion.

That land consists of rolling hills carpeted with long prairie grasses and verdant valleys filled with luscious broadleaf trees.

Throughout are small farms with wandering brooks and creeks sluicing through rich pastureland.

The area is replete with songbirds and deer and pastures filled with livestock.

The vulture misses all this, because it looks only for something rotten.

People, also, may look upon their fellows with similar eyes, seeing only the bad, and all the while assuring themselves there is no good to be found in mankind.

In that state of mind, such people are led to quickly slander others, believing only the worst and refusing to believe the good.

Above all else, giving false testimony, however it may be accomplished is the act of slandering others.

To slander is to surrender to devilish attitudes or to adopt the viewpoint of the devil.