10 C's #9: Lying, perjury and slander, part c

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Exodus 20:16 (ESV)

Why the lawyerly finesse on this command? Why doesn't it just say, "Don't lie?" I think the concept of neighbor is important. It is so important a scholar asked Jesus for a definition of neighbor, in the context of the command, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus responds with a story, the good Samaritan, in Luke 10:25-37. At the end of the story Jesus asks the scholar, which one was the neighbor, to which he replied, the "one who showed him mercy." Neighbors are like extended family in the same way that families look out for each other. It comes back to community, which God values. So if the command was simply, don't lie, then there would be no opportunity for devout Christians such as the ten Booms to hide Jews from the Nazis with clear consciences. In the context of loving their neighbors, hiding them and lying to protect them was the right thing to do. There are justifiable occasions to lie. Consequences will come as they did to the ten Booms, many of whom eventually died in the concentration camps.

Not every believer thinks that there are justifiable reasons to lie, but I do believe it's right in the cause of mercy for my neighbor.

Previous entries on commandment 9 are here. Part A, Part B, the whole series the 10 Commandments can be found here.

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