Deeper: S3, E2 - Truthful

Exploring what it might mean to live a life of true abundance, we're working our way backwards through the 10 commandments, asking if there's a secret in here for all of humanity, especially for Christians across the world.  This is episode 2 - Truthful, and here we look at commandment 9 - don't give a false testimony against a neighbour.  So what does that mean, and where's the abundance in that?

Transcript

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Hi there, welcome to season three of our deeper podcasts. In this season, we're going to spend 10 episodes looking at how we grab hold of this abundant life that Jesus promises believers. And to do that, we're going to move backwards through the 10 commandments. So in episode 1, we talked about the 10th commandment, do not covet, and we tried to explore what life would be like if, as individuals or as church communities across the world, we lived contentedly, free from materialism, as free as we can be, measuring ourselves not by the things we have or the status we achieve, but by our humanity. Can you imagine if the world as we know it followed this invitation to live this way? I mean, that command alone would have a world-shaking effect on advertising and greed, corruption, the use of the world's resources, on our feelings of inadequacy. So things are already feeling more abundant, just with the 10th commandment. In this episode called Truthful, we're going to explore how we use our words, how we speak about each other in particular, and this commandment, do not give false testimony against your neighbor, which means against anyone, is actually designed to show us how to live abundantly. So brace for action. This is truthful. Father God, as we look at what it means to have this abundant life that you say believers will have, I pray that you help us to have the courage to put things down that we might already think and feel about how we live and who you are. Help us to lay them all at your feet and to re-examine our beliefs and practices in the light of what you might be saying. Help us to weigh up what is being said, to take what's coming from you, and to leave behind anything that isn't from you. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Yes, Amen. Right then. Do not give false testimony against your neighbor. The ninth commandment. Let's get down to what this is actually talking about. So often you will hear this squished down into do not lie. And it's used by parents like me to tell our children in particular that God doesn't want us to lie. The lying is inherently bad and it doesn't reflect who God is. But the trouble with that is there are quite a few places in the Bible where lying is actually the right thing to do. So for instance, in the book of Joshua, chapter 2, Joshua sends two spies out into Jericho so they can look around and take in the space that they're about to enter, which by the way is where they've originally come from. So they're trying to return there, they're not just randomly invading. So they they're about to get caught and they head into the house or the apartment, really, where Rahab the prostitute lives. She hides them. She basically lies through her teeth about not having them there. And at no point in the story do we feel that the right thing for her to have done was to shop them in to the evil men about to kill them. The same would be true about a lady called Cory Temboom who hid Jews from the Nazis in the Second World War, consistently lying about having them in her home. But it was the right thing to do. Even Jesus, at one point in John's Gospel, lies about whether he's going to the festival or not. He needs to go undercover so he can listen to what people are saying about him and then he can appear at the right place at the right time. So he literally says, I am not going to the festival. And as soon as they've gone, he tiptoes off and goes there. So this commandment is not as simple as do not lie. It's actually talking about a motive which is aimed at tearing other people down, lying about somebody in a court of law so that you get your way and they don't. It means do not speak evil about people to destroy them, to tear them down. I don't know if that's ever happened to you. Uh, where someone has said something about you or lied about you or your motives in order to either discredit you or to prove their own point. Uh it has happened to me on a number of occasions, sadly, as a church leader or a faith leader. Sometimes from other church leaders, but mostly from people outside of the church. Uh sometimes things about me have been put in the paper, other things have been spread online or said behind closed doors to make sure that I'm not credible or to make people question faith or my character or my theology. Uh it's not just faith stuff though. My wonderful sister-in-law has just become the deputy mayor of her town in France. Orde, if you're listening, we are super proud of you. In France, this is a significant political position. In the run-up to this, there was so much rubbish in the press and on social media, most of which was just lies. I mean, it hurts when that happens. It strips us of our humanity and turns us into objects or ideas. And it hurts the most when it comes from people who we consider to be friends or people we admire. When suddenly the words coming from their mouths or their pens or their keyboards are derisive or destructive, that is hard. So Jesus had a brother called James, and he writes one of the New Testament letters, and in that letter, the letter of James, he describes the words that come out of our mouth as being so powerful, they're like a tiny rudder on a massive ship, or like a steering wheel of a car. I mean, James says like the bit in a horse's mouth that makes it turn left or right, but the car thing works for me. Um, he also says that our words are such a powerful force, they can be a world of evil set on fire by hell itself. Words can be used to bless or to curse. James describes our words as being like water pouring out from our mouths for other people to drink, and that sometimes the words coming from our mouths are like fresh water, which are gonna restore and cleanse, and people can drink deeply, but other times they're like salt water. I mean, I've been sea swimming and I've swallowed mouthfuls of salty water. It just wants you wanna you just want to vomit it all up. Um, but James also draws us back into the the why is this important? Why would we use our words to build people up instead of tear them down? Here's James's conclusion. He says, the people you tear down with your words, they are made in God's image, just like you. When you criticize them, you're criticizing God. Now I I know that the world's media need to report news, they need to talk about the bad things that happen as well as the good things that happen. I do understand that, but how much of what is reported is done from a position of superiority or judgmentalism, and how much comes from the drive that we just want to hear gossip. It's interesting that from a psychological perspective, the reason we love to hear gossip about other people is because it subtly confirms that we are better than them. We've got this selfish drive towards superiority. When we say about somebody else, look at what that person's done, what we're actually saying is I would never do that. They are lower than me. When we slander someone else's beliefs or practices, we're actually saying we would never make those mistakes. Aren't we cleverer? Don't we have better integrity in some way? We subtly devalue their morals, their intelligence, their decisions, and actually their humanity, and we do it to raise up ourselves over them. It's this seesaw effect that we're trying to get done, and we do it unconsciously, sometimes consciously. I I don't know about you, but I don't want to live like that anymore. That is not a life of abundance. So here's what is. When we decide that we will use our words to build up, to bless, to redress that balance, the amazing reality of this new abundant way of living is that unlike the other way, nobody loses out. You know, when we tear someone else down with a comment or a sentence, uh we push them down to raise ourselves up. But when we speak positively about someone or to someone, both of us are raised up to a higher standard, to a higher level of humanity. Both of us are one of the most life-changing moments for me was when a guest who used to come over and stay with us, when my wife and I ran a guest house for a few years called Joanna Weeks came to visit us. Joanna, if you are listening, you deserve all the praise. So we had just had our first little daughter, and Joanna came over uh and stayed, and our daughter was only a few months old. Joanna took her in her arms, she looked her in the face, and she said, Oh, look at her. This little girl is a gift to the world. And then she just started speaking over her. I can't remember the exact words she said, but it was stuff like, You are gonna change lives, little one. There are things for you to do. You're here on purpose, you're gonna bring such joy and love into the world. And I remember just being so profoundly affected by the first words this girl is hearing are words of such positivity. I probably mentioned this in passing as well, but there's a brilliant Eddie Murphy movie from 2012 called A Thousand Words. He's got this tree randomly growing in his garden that's got a thousand leaves on, and each time he speaks a single word, another leaf falls from the tree, and quickly he realizes he's only got a few hundred words left ever to speak. How does he choose to use them? I wonder if you knew that every word you spoke was limited, and let's face it, it is. How would you choose to use your words? Would you build up? Would you stand up for those who have no words to speak? Would you speak out against injustice? Would you inspire the young? Honor the old? Bring wisdom after listening? Would you confirm goodness and glory in people? Would you want your last words to be words that mattered? And how do we know when our last words are going to be spoken? I am more and more convinced that if our church communities were places of such wholesome, faith-filled words, not just sermons and talks, but over coffee and in cafes and at work and at home and online, we could pour this fresh water into the lives of everybody around us. This would bring about God's kingdom in a whole new way. People would feel safe, they would feel encouraged and uplifted and valued. People would feel human, they'd remember that we are built in God's image. Before we finish, I just want to add in one extra element. I mean, the the world would be transformed already if we just started to speak in this new way, but how much more transformation would we bring about if our timing and our content and our intentions were also guided by God's Spirit? Maybe part of this abundant way of living means us waking up in the morning and asking God simple questions. Who do you want me to encourage today? See who he brings to mind. Is there somebody you want me to message today? Is there someone you want me to write a card to? Can I thank someone today? Can I remember someone who has built into my life and honor them today? Do I need to apologize to anyone today? When we add this guidance of the Holy Spirit into the mix, suddenly words which might have just been good become moments which could be divine encounters and transformation. Do not bring false testimony against your neighbor, transforms into bring wholeness and restore humanity to your neighbor with the way you speak about them and to them. So, so, loving Father God, give us the faith to live contented lives, free from materialism, and give us the ability to speak words that protect and restore and raise up and inspire and honor other people. Would we be fresh water for the world around us, inspired by your spirit? And would this new way of communicating fill the world with your abundance? Amen.