Elder Tom has already written about how impressed he was with Pastor White’s sermon on the commandment: ”You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” He was impressed with the point that wherever and whenever we are speaking about our neighbor, we are giving testimony, and that we should apply the same standards, and exercise the same care, as if we were giving testimony in court.
But Pastor White made an even more important point. Our testimony about our neighbor affects our ability to bear witness to our Savior and the truth of his word. If we develop a reputation as people who play fast and loose with the truth, how can we expect people to believe us if we try to communicate the most important truth of all – that Jesus is the one and only Savior from sin? If we are constantly putting people down, how can we expect people to believe that we have the one and only message that can truly build them up? If we are constantly dishing out dirt in a loveless and careless manner, how can we expect people to believe us when we come with the message about the blood of Jesus that can truly cleanse us from all our sins? If we are constantly saying things that do damage to people’s reputations, how can we expect people to believe that we are going to turn around and speak the truth in love to them, the truth that is going to set them free, the truth that is going to bring them great blessings?
The personal dimension is important. We can’t go around using words to hurt and harm our neighbor and his reputation and expect to be credible and well received when we try to bring them the good news about Jesus, the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. There is still another dimension. If we are constantly putting people down, what does that say about what we really believe? What does that say about the content of the message we carry and try to communicate? The average person thinks of church-going Christians as self-righteous people who look down on everybody else. They think that the message of the church is that people get in good with God by conforming to whatever moral standards that the church propagates. They think that Christians get together to pat each other on the back and grouse about everybody else.
Elder Tom is well aware that this attitude is going to exist regardless of what we do. The early Christians were persecuted for “the hatred of mankind” – for hating people, looking down of them, and trying to deprive them of their pleasure. Today if you oppose marriage between people of the same gender you can be accused of being hateful. If you suggest to anyone that what they are doing is wrong, you can be condemned as self-righteous. We can’t do anything about that. But if we go overboard in criticizing people and harping on their flaws, then we are the ones who are giving the wrong impression. Our Lord Jesus said that the Father did not send Him into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. We are not in the world to condemn the world, but to tell the people of our world what the Lord Jesus did to save them. While we must communicate the law and condemn thoughts, words, and actions that violate God’s law, that is neither our primary purpose nor our main reason to get together as a church. The primary reason we get together is to help each grow in faith in the Savior by employing the means of grace for ourselves, and to work together to employ them for others; that is, to work hand in hand to communicate the gospel in word and sacrament to one and all.
We need to and want to speak the truth in love to and about people at all times, in all places, under all circumstances. We do this because our Savior is speaking for us in the presence of the Father, not about our sins – that’s what the devil does – and the judgment we deserve, but He is speaking for us on the basis of the work that He did in our place. He is speaking of us in a manner better than we deserve by nature. Our Savior suffered and shed His blood and died to pay for all the times we told lies about or neighbor or gave him a bad name (“belied, betrayed, or defamed” is the way Elder Tom learned it in Catechism Class), along with all our other sins. He was accused falsely during His life and at His trial, and He was bad mouthed even as He was pouring out His lifeblood for those who were defaming Him. Our Savior assumed responsibility for our well-deserved reputation as sinners, and gave us the reputation of being righteous by giving us the credit that He deserves.
We treasure the message of all our Savior did for us, and we want to share that message with everybody. We want everyone to know the Savior’s truth and love. We want people to know that we do not bring a message that is hyper-censorious, but a message that frees people from all censure, no matter how greatly deserved. We want people to know that we want the best for them, and that we have the message that will give them what is best for them. We want to be known as those who speak the truth in love, so that we can speak the Truth of Love, the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. We can speak the truth in love because the Holy Spirit lives in us and helps us, and we do so that He may work though our testimony and create and sustain faith, hope and love in those who hear us. For the sake of our Savior and His holy gospel, Elder Tom says, to himself first and also to you, “Watch your mouth.”
