THE IMPORTANCE OF REPUTATION
Exodus 20:16
Exo 20:16; Pro 13:1-9; Zech 8:1-17; Psalm 141:1-10.
We now come to the second last commandment, which is number nine. “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour”. The implications of this commandment are wide and far reaching, but the major principle underlying it is honesty. When we are open and honest, we are free to enjoy stronger relationships not only with God but with all those we come into contact with on daily basis. It keeps us free from the increasingly tangled webs that lies and deceit spin. Equally, it not only safeguards your reputation but that of others also. God knows that a reputation untarnished is a precious thing and it is His will and purpose that no one’s reputation is stained by a false report.
Reputation can be best understood by comparing it with the word “character”. Character is what a person is within the depths of their being, reputation is the estimate that other people form of them. A person with good character can have a bad reputation because of false reports. Many people, include Christians, have suffered from this. Many people reading this line now are in that position maybe. If so, let us take courage. Jesus know exactly how you feel. For He was rushed to the cross on the basis of false witness. No one knows more than Jesus the weight and burden of this sin. Scripture says of Him :”He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering (Isa 53:3). God’s care for reputation of His children is such that in time, His time, He will fully justify and vindicate them.
This commandment demand that any statement made by one person to another or by one person about another to be in harmony with the truth. As the 3rd commandment which warns against misusing the name of God lays down the guidelines that our relationship with God should be based on sincerity and truth, so this 9th commandment instructs us that in our relationship with one another we should be actuated by the very same principles. One theologian ever say:” God ever deals with man upon the basis of His full and accurate knowledge of what man is.” In other words, the divine attitude towards men and women is not governed or influenced by the appearances that they might like to present to others, nor by the opinions that others might have on them. God bases His dealings with us on His intimate and accurate knowledge. And that is the way He wants us to deal with others. God requires us as far as is possible to relate to one another in sincerity and in truth. Our whole social fabric rests on the testimony that one person bears in relation to another, and there can be no just society where this is not so. Beyond knowledge, no testimony can be borne and in giving of testimony, no facts are to be withheld.
The truth underlying this ninth commandment is one that as Christians, we need to be so familiar with that it becomes part of the fabric of our beings. God wants us to relate to others in sincerity and in truth, so any departure from this is a break in the divine will and purpose. No man or woman must be helped or harmed by statements made concerning them which are not in accordance with the facts as far as they are known. One Bible teacher ever say:” One of the greatest test of character is this : when under pressure, will this person tell a lie?” What is your attitude to a lie? It’s surprising how many Christians wriggle on this hook. Some say:” well, there is nothing wrong with a little lie if it saves me from embarrassment.”. Be careful about rationalizations, your attitude to a lie will reveal the kind of person you are. It has often been said that if you tell a lie you become a lie. The deepest damage of a lie is to be the one who tells the lie – the liar. He or she has to live with a person they cannot trust. That is an uneasy and divided restless place. In the Christian life there are to be no “white lies” for they leave a black mark on the soul. This is just not the way God designed us to live.
The most straightforward application of this commandment is off course, to evidence in a court of justice. This is why perjury is rightly a punishable offence, otherwise many crimes might go unpunished and the innocent will suffer. However, this commandment has a broader application. And it is this wider perspective that we want to focus now for our daily lives applications. It has been said that there are seven ways in which this commandment can be broken. The first is by libel and slander which are lies that are written or spoken about someone and passed on with a malicious intention. It is hard to think of a worse form of bearing false witness than this. The second form of bearing false witness is by tale-bearing. This is when someone repeats a story about someone else when there is no necessity to do so. It’s deeply saddening (and damaging) that Christians who would never dream of committing murder, adultery or theft engage in this deadly sin of gossip.
The third form of bearing false witness is through the giving of a false impression. A slight has been cast upon many a person’s reputation by such questions as, ‘Have you heard about so and so?’, when the answer is “No” then says the other person :”Ah well, the least said the better”. Though the first speaker may be drawn no further, an unfavourable impression has been created and the innuendo has had all the deceiving effect of false witness. These kinds of statements and unfinished sentences can cause untold unhurt and divisiveness in relationships, which is why God says to speak truth and love and you’ll be considered trustworthy. The fourth form at first may seem surprising, but we can break this commandment to not bear false testimony against our neighbour simply by our silence. If we hear someone being misrepresented and we know the words being said are not true, then if we keep silence, we are as guilty of false witness as the person who utters the disparagement.
The fifth form is by imputing to a person a wrong motive. “Have you heard how well so-and-so is doing in business?” “Ah but how do you think he’s got where he has? Don’t you think he must have been involved in some shady business practices?” We have no hesitation in saying that to impute to another an ulterior, selfish or ignoble motive is to bear false witness against that person. The sixth form is flattery. To tell people things you do not believe to be true simply to please them, or to pander to their vanity or win them over to your side in some issue. Manipulation is always ugly and never pleasing to God. The seventh form is by an untrue testimonial. Whenever we give unwarranted praise, provide a testimonial to character that is untrue, or recommend an unsuitable person simply because he or she is our friend, we inflict injury upon the one requesting the testimonial. Can you see now how subtle a danger false witness is? There is no lower form of rebellion against God and one’s fellow human beings than that of creating impressions in the minds of others that are simply not true.