# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1901_S18 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 18 The Lutheran Pioneer. (For the LUTHERAN PIONEER.) The Eighth Commandment. Which is the Eighth Commandment ? Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. What does this mean? We should fear and love God, that we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, nor de- Jame our neighbor; but defend him, speak well of him, and put the best construction on every- thing. In the third chapter of his epistle, James writes: ‘‘The tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature ; and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed, of mankind: but the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.”’ These words plainly tell us that the tongue is a most dangerous member of our body, and that it is of the utmost importance that we guard it at all times. That such is our duty is most forcibly impressed upon us by the fact that God has given a special Commandment, in which He forbids us to use our tongue to the injury of our neighbor’s good name. The good name of a person is of great value to him and, therefore, God in this Command- ment specially protects it against the attacks of malicious tongues. A little thought will | soon convince us that the good name, or honor, of a person is of greatest importance to him. In the sixth chapter of the Acts we are told that the apostles advised the congregation in Jerusalem to choose seven men out of their midst whose duty it should be to minister to the wants of the sick and needy in the church ; but these men, added the apostles, should be of ‘‘honest report,’’ who would have the con- fidence of all. The very success of these dea- cons, the apostles well knew, would depend upon the good name they had among their fel- low members. So also the success of a pastor and teacher depends upon their good name. Let it once be said of them that they are un- truthful or unjust, and success can no longer attend their labors. And thus it is in other callings, too. Let it be reported of a grocery- man that he sells poor goods or gives light weight, and his customers will soon drop off. Let it be rumored about that a certain me- chanic is careless and lazy, and he will find it very difficult to get work. You see, then, the great value of a good name and the truth of “Solomon’s words: ‘‘A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.’’ Great is, there- fore, the sin that he commits who injures his neighbor’s good name. __. We injure our neighbor’s good name when “we “‘bear false witness against him.”’ I bear false witness when I make an assertion which does not agree with the facts. And such false witness, or assertion, tends to injure my neigh- bor’s welfare. Potiphar’s wife bore false wit- ness against Joseph, and it lodged him in prison. Naboth was stoned to death in con- sequence of the false witness spoken against him, 1 Kings 21, 13. When do we bear false witness against our neighbor? There are some people who think that this is done only by giving untrue testi- mony in court. But that is not thecase. Be- cause of the oath which we sre under when tes- tifying in court and because of the direct. evil consequences which follow it, an untrue testi- mony before the judge is particularly sinful and is so regarded by everybody. Therefore Luther does not particularly refer to this kind of false witness in his explanation, but rather calls our attention to certain sins against this Commandment which are far more common, happening every day in our midst and often not recognized as very great sins, though they do more harm in the end than the giving of untrue testimony in court. We sin against this Commandment in every- day life when we deceit/ully belie, betray, slan- der,. or defame our neighbor. Luther men- tions four particular ways of bearing false witness. But before we proceed to consider these sins of the tongue let us pause for a moment to remember that the fountain out of which they flow is the heart, the false, de- ceitful heart. If we would not think evil against our neighbor, we would also bear no false witness against him. Hence God says, Zech. 8,17, ‘‘Let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbor.’’ 1. The first sin against the Kighth Command- ment which the explanation mentions is that of deceitfully belying our neighbor. An example of this sin is given 2 Kings 5, 20—27. Naa- man the Syrian was stricken with leprosy and came to Elisha for relief. The prophet bids him bathe seyen times in the Jordan. After some hesitation, Naaman obeys the man of God and is cleansed from his dread disease. Returning to Elisha, he offers the prophet a royal gift, but his gift is not accepted, and Naaman goes on his way. Now Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, an avaricious man, is anxious to obtain at least some of the costly things his master has refused, and runs after Naa- man with this purpose in view. He proceeds to tell the Syrian that Elisha has changed his mind and is willing to accept a talent of silver and two changes of garments for two young prophets who have just arrived. Naa- man, only too happy to be able to show his gratitude to Elisha, gives Gehazi two talents of silver and the desired garments. Some time after Gehazi’s return, his master asks him where he has been. Gehazi denies hay- ing been anywhere. Whereupon Elisha says, ‘