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YOU SHALL NOT SPREAD FALSE REPORTS (EXODUS 23:1-12)

REFLECTION

The theme for our reflection is “You shall not spread false report” To spread a false report means to defame or damage the image, reputation or integrity of another person before right-thinking people in society. It also means publishing inaccurate information about a person to destroy or cause harm to a person or cause others to shun the company of the person whose information is being published. We shall reflect on the fact that God detests a person who spreads false reports about another.

Dear friend, as part of the law to promote justice and the communal life of the Israelites, many instructions were given to them. An example of such a law is “Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness. 2 “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, 3 and do not show favouritism to a poor person in a lawsuit…“Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. 7 Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty. 8 “Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent. (Exodus 23:1-3, 6-8) These instructions do not need further explanation they are unequivocally clear. The most important lesson is that a believer must always be on the side of justice. Never should we perpetuate injustice by spreading false reports about a person or bearing false witness against an innocent person for financial or material gains. Again, as a person who perform judicial functions, we must be meticulous in scrutinising facts so that we do not end up harming or destroying innocent lives based on false reports or false information about a corrupt witness.

God’s judgement will come upon us if we maliciously spread false reports about others or bear false witness to destroy or harm an innocent person. The Lord says “I will not acquit the guilty.” (Exodus 23:7) Paul again reminds us, “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. (Romans 12:19). Let us be careful as Christians in our speech so that we don’t fall into the sin of defamation, slander and gossip. Defamation is a statement that injures a third party’s reputation. Slander is also the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person’s reputation. Gossip is the casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people, typically involving details that are not confirmed as being true. Defamation, slander and gossip are all ways of engaging in the sin of spreading false reports about others. They are also known as sins of the tongue. We are greatly admonished in Proverbs 21:23, Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity. (Proverbs 21:23). Again, we are told, “With the tongue, we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. (James 3:9-12)

In summary, we have discovered that God detests a person who spreads false reports about another. Let us not engage in defamation, slander and gossip but always build one another up with the Word of God even as we seek each other’s welfare. Shalom.

PRAYER

Holy Spirit, strengthen us to overcome the temptation to spread false reports about others. Amen.