Bearing False Witness and Loving Justice- Exodus 23:1-9

This set of laws promotes truth in society. The people were not to bear false witness, neither favoring the poor nor rich nor taking bribes. They were not to make false charges against others or misrepresent them. What is God’s goal? He desires to teach His people what it means to be just. We treat others well, even when we don’t gain anything by doing so. We paint them in a favorable light, even if we don’t agree with them or stand to gain something by perverting their actions or views. We do what is right even for our enemies, returning their possessions and even helping them in their distress. We treat strangers like we treat our kinsmen. If we followed the principles of the Law today, it would be difficult for politicians to become corrupt. It would be difficult for churches or theological groups to oppress others or misrepresent their views for the sake of winning arguments. I’ll tell you what I see most often that breaks my heart, and I am not without fault. As Christians belonging to whatever theological camp we do, we set out with an agenda to disprove other theological categories. We are right to honestly evaluate actual claims being made about God and His work, we often are not doing that. Instead, we assume we know someone else’s position and set out from the start to disprove what we claim another person believes, bearing false witness about them and their beliefs for the sake of winning an argument. This is as unjust on social media as it would be in a courtroom. God has called His people to be a people who love and pursue true justice, which does not favor anyone because of their status or category. Justice begins, it seems, with our learning how to not bear false witness even when we stand to gain from bearing such false witness. God, teach us to learn love, peace, and justice in our time.