Last Sunday (08-08-10) was a big day for our pastor and his family. Pastor White got to baptize his and Brandy’s fifth son. (He also baptized his nephew after the service.) Christian David White was reborn into the Kingdom of God by water and the word, adopted as a child of the Triune God, and grafted into the body of Christ by God the Holy Spirit. In addition to the baptism, Pastor White had one of his usual high quality sermons. And Elder Tom, who thought he knew the Eighth Commandment (by Lutheran & Roman Catholic reckoning; to others it’s the ninth commandment) very well, got to see it in two new lights.
One insight has to do with the family members who were present at the baptism. Naturally the grandparents were with us, including the pastor’s father. He happens to be a lawyer. In other contexts Elder Tom might be tempted to make a few not-so-smart remarks that might be interpreted as disparaging to the legal profession, but this is for the church and Attorney White is Elder Tom’s pastor’s father. So Elder Tom will resist speak most respectfully of Counselor White and stoutly resist any temptation to do otherwise. The fact that Pastor White’s father is a legal eagle has enabled him to have some interesting approaches to certain parts of the Bible and its teachings.
One of them came in connection with this commandment: ”You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” When we are summoned as witnesses in a trial, we are called on to give evidence concerning the actions of one or more of our neighbors. When we are in court we swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. When we are in court as witnesses, we are not the judge, nor are we members of the jury. When we testify to the truth it must be the truth in context. We are not allowed to utter statements that are irrelevant, immaterial or prejudicial to the defendant. Except in rare instances, we are not permitted to present hearsay evidence. Unless we are experts in some form of analysis, we are not permitted to give opinions. When we testify in court, we have to be very careful about what we say. For one thing we have to respect the oath. For another, what we say is going to have a significant effect on our neighbor’s life, liberty, and property. For still another, we have an obligation to see that justice is done, that wrongs done against our neighbors are requited. We also have an obligation to see that the innocent are vindicated. Some people – lawyers, clergy, doctors, therapists, and the like – can not testify (except for child abuse, where they are required to offer evidence) concerning things that were told them in their professional capacity.
Pastor White’s point, the point that so impressed Elder Tom, is that we ought always speak with the same care that we would use if we were on the witness stand. Whenever we talk about our neighbor, we are giving testimony about him. We are saying things that may affect his reputation, whether for the good or for the bad. We should of course say nothing that is untrue about our neighbor. We should also not repeat things we hear which put our neighbor in a bad light (hearsay; or as usually call it, gossip). We should not speak carelessly about our neighbor, we should not say things about him that might or might not be true, nor dig up things from the past (irrelevant, immaterial, prejudicial – in other words, more gossip). We should never repeat things that were told us in confidence. We should remember that our words have power, that they can help and and they can harm.
When we speak about our neighbor, we need to remember that we are witnesses, we are neither the judge nor the jury. Just as in court, our neighbor is entitled to the presumption of innocence. That is why we are to “put the best construction on everything,” as Elder Tom learned it in his catechism days. (Pastor White quoted it as he teaches it currently: we should take our neighbor’s “words and actions in the kindest possible way.”) When we talk about our neighbor, we are not to be pass sentence on him. We are not to express judgments that will hurt his reputation, put him in a bad light, or cause him to be diminished in the eyes of others. Chance remarks have been known to cause people to lose employment or business, to separate friends and family members and even spouses, to make people sick – emotionally, mentally, and physically – and even to lead people to contemplate and commit suicide.
When we hear things about our neighbor, we are forced into the jury. Any statements like those that would draw an “Objection,” followed by a “Sustained,” are remarks that we should ignore and not hold against our neighbor. Indeed, when we hear bad things about our neighbor, we may also be forced into the role of a litigator in his defense. It may be our task to challenge a claim made against our neighbor, to refute it (if we know for sure that it is untrue), and to urge our partner in conversation to speak with greater charity, and, if necessary, with greater accuracy.
What does this point mean to Elder Tom, and what should it mean for you? It emphasizes the truth that we are to speak the truth in love at all times and in all places. If we think about ourselves as serving on the witness stand when we speak, it will help us to realize the power of our words, their possible effect on people, and that we make sure that what we speak is true, wholesome, and beneficial both to those who hear us and to anyone concerning whom we speak. We are to speak as positively about our neighbor as possible; to paraphrase the Golden Rule, we are to speak about other people in exactly the same way that we want other people to speak about us.
Elder Tom has frequently commended Pastor White for some of the insights that come as a result of the family’s legal background. Last Sunday, Elder Tom got to express his appreciation for those insights to his father. The pastor’s father expressed his thanks to Elder Tom. With all his faults, weaknesses, and sins, Elder Tom is in no position to blow his own horn. But as an elder, he is to set an example, including in the keeping of the Eighth Commandment. And one of the ways that we keep this commandment is by commending our fellow Christians for their good qualities and for their use of those qualities in the service of our Savior and His church. Elder Tom urges himself and everyone who is listening: ”Watch your mouth; use it to speak as your Savior wants you to speak.” This is one of the points from Sunday’s sermon that so impressed Elder Tom. In a day or two he will write about the second feature that left its mark on him.
