The Ninth Commandment and the Susceptibility of Sin on Social Media
Law-breaking
When we consider what it means to break one of the ten commandments, we typically consider a sort of unmistakable overt, intentional disobedience that follows (or better yet, doesn’t follow) the strictest reading of the command. However, when Jesus teaches on the ten commandments, He interprets true obedience to God’s commands as matters that first originate in the heart, whether or not an overt, intentional action has been undertaken by the law breaker. In other words, Jesus teaches that a person can break God’s command not to murder with hatred, because true internal hatred dreams of the death of its victim.
If this sort of understanding of the commandments is true, namely, that disobedience to God’s commands may not always be overt, visible, or specific to the very letter of the law, it may be a good question to ask what other commands we may be disregarding or disobeying. Is there a commandment that we may not understand ourselves to be breaking? Is there a law we are particularly susceptible to?
As is plain to expect by the reader, I argue, there is.
I live in the United States of America where, like many parts of the world, our current political, societal, and ideological landscape is particularly polarized. It is a very “us versus them” time in our culture, where if a person doesn’t agree with another person’s viewpoint, they are seen as enemies, and they often truly see themselves accordingly. It doesn’t help that people, like me, have social media accounts where they are able to publicly share their personal opinion. The problem is, false information runs rampant on social media and many are all-together quick to repost or publicly share information that immediately supports their personal bias without praying, discerning, and investigating the information. The Christian is not immune to this. In fact, it is unfortunate that many Christians are guilty of perpetuating this problem and are therefore guilty of law-breaking.
Truth-Telling
One of the basic understandings of what it means to be a Christian, is to be a witness (2 Corinthians 5); but not just any witness. We have received truth from God (1 Corinthians 1-2) about who He is, what He has done, and what He calls His created beings toward. The Scriptures teach us that Christ came to bear witness to the truth (John 18:37), and the Scriptures bid Christians to the same task (Acts 1:8). We are to be truth-tellers. Essential to the task of being a truth teller is (1) knowing the eternal truth of God as revealed in Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16), (2) discerning the truth from lies (Colossians 2:8, 1 Timothy 4), and (3) investigating information we receive before we let it soak in our heart, send it out of our mouths, and share it on Facebook (James 1:19, 26, Proverbs 10:19, 11:12, 17:27, 29:20; Amos 5:13, Job 13:5).
If we fail to tell the truth, or worse, if we find the task of knowing, discerning, and investigating truth to be an exercise in futility, it is obvious our concerns may not line up with the commands of God. What command, you ask?
The ninth commandment: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” - Exodus 20:16
The Ninth Commandment
What does it mean to “not bear false witness?”
The ninth commandment instructs believers how they are to communicate in the world. This commandment is often remembered by the statement, “you should not lie,” and that is true, but that definition alone is altogether inadequate. In context one comes to understand the command concerns how the consistent truthful communicative witness of the people of God in the world is to be altogether distinct. In other words, it’s not just a suggestion to avoid lying, but a command to be a truthful witness. Deuteronomy 19:15-21 gives instruction for individual witnesses in a court setting as well as the consequences for false witnesses. It teaches that those who bear false witness will themselves receive the consequence they wished to bring to their victim. With the God-designed instruction and infrastructure created, one can see clearly that God takes truth seriously.
Promoting falsehood for whatever reason (evil intent, deception, or neglect) in whatever sphere (in court, in person, on social media) breaks the ninth commandment.
We Must Be Better
As believers (witnesses of truth) we must prize truth as the Lord does. Therefore, we have to be better about perpetuating false information on social media. When we fail to investigate personally what we propagate publicly, we will find it easy to break the ninth commandment.
Let me speak personally: Christian, we’re destroying our personal witness before others when our public witness of others is deceptive. Yes, post about injustice, evil, wrongdoing. Yes, post about the gospel, Christ, and the Word of God. But as Christian’s we must stop posting information that infuriates without taking time to investigate that information. This public behavior amongst Christians remains rampant on social media and it’s incredibly disheartening. We must be better.
What if I’ve Failed?
When a Christian fails to obey the commands of God, they have two choices: the choice to bolster up in pride or repent in humility.
Out of the many incorrect and inflammatory posts shared on social media covering a myriad of topics that I’ve seen personally, many believers, who after investigating claims perpetuated, humbly and apologetically retracted their statements. And to those who confess their sin, rather than conceal their sin, there is mercy.
“Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” – Proverbs 28:13
Trent Roseman is the Next Generation Pastor at First Baptist Church Tampa, FL. He graduated from Southwest Baptist University with his Bachelors of Arts in Biblical Studies and is currently an MDiv student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Jessica Roseman, just welcomed their firstborn son, Judah David, into the world. Trent enjoys to read, write, drink coffee, kayak, listen to podcasts, and spend time with his wife and son.
Follow Trent on Twitter: @trentroseman