“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16)
What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way.” (The Small Catechism)
Who doesn’t love a good election season? I say this, of course, with tongue firmly in cheek. For weeks, months, and honestly, years we have heard both sides say terrible things about each other. What’s amazing to me is that most of it is not set in the context of policy. It’s most just about the character of the other guy or gal. We should grieve over this. I encourage you to look up President Reagan’s debate with Walter Mondale, where the late president made a joke about the age of the presidential candidates at both of their expenses, and everyone laughed—including Mondale! Those days are gone.
We can blame those at the top for modeling such course speech, but the responsibility for those who are up for election this coming week is ours. In other words, the way the presidential candidates speak is not the disease, it is a symptom of the disease that clings to all of us.
We have all failed to speak well of our neighbor in one way or another. We take to Facebook to complain about people and situations rather than addressing the offending brother or sister face to face, as Jesus bids us do: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother” (Matthew 18:15).
St. James warns us of the great damage we can do when we air our grievances toward others publicly: “And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell” (James 3:6). People loved by God, it should not be this way. Curses and blessings ought not come from the same mouth (James 3:10).
I urge you, in the Name of our Lord Jesus: take honest stock of how you speak of others and in what venues you do it. Do not speak ill of others, for they are made in the image of Christ. Consider Christ, who bore the false accusations of His enemies and still cried out to His Father to forgive them. Let us season our speech with the Lord’s Word.
Let us pray: “Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips! Do not let my heart incline to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with men who work iniquity.” (Psalm 141:3-4) Amen!
Written by: Pastor Jordan McKinley
