God gave us His Ten Commandments because He wants us to be in relationship with Him and to live in peace with one another. The first four Commandments draw us into a relationship with Him that enable us to keep or return to keeping the other six Commandments. With my son's comment about the lies we experience, Commandment #9 came to mind; “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor".
What is False Testimony? The phrase bearing false testimony is commonly described as lying. However, it is more specifically referred to giving false testimony as a witness. In other words, it is the act of telling a falsehood about something or someone to others in a legal context. In my opinion, it includes telling half-truths (lies), deceiving people to believe untruths, and sharing the deceptions with others even if you were not the original source.
Who is our neighbor? Jesus makes it clear in the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 25-37) that everyone we encounter is a neighbor. In this world of Facebook and Twitter, we can spread lies, deceptions, falsehoods through posts, re-posts and re-tweets, and just by being wrong in our opinions and understandings. I honestly have to confess that probably the most truthful thing I can say is "I don't know." God will give us discernment if we seek it, however we are usually so quick to embrace opinions that agree with our thinking, that we don't question the truthfulness.
As Christians, I have to wonder what kind of impact we can have in the world, if we collectively and deliberately refuse to re-post or re-tweet lies, falsehoods, and half-truths and consciously refuse to participate in deceiving others. Satan introduced sin into this world through lies and deception. Let's not join him in his work.
