The Ninth Commandment

My dear friend Mary Ann Moman stopped by (as usual) around Christmas this year. And as usual we exchanged gifts (that is to say, books). The one she gave me was by Miroslav Volf entitled The End of Memory: Remembering Rightly in a Violent World. It is a good book to have read with recently returning from South Africa and thinking a lot there about the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (and the more I think about it he more remarkable and holy the whole thing seems).

But, I digress. In this book I came across the following passage that got me thinking about something else. The author offers some insight on the 10 Commandments and the ninth commandment in particular that I had never thought of before. Here is what he says, "Many Christian theologians view the prohibitions of the Decalogue as the negative side of implied positive injunctions. For Martin Luther, the father of the Protestant Reformation, the ninth commandment does not only prohibit false witness; it also urges us to speak well of our neighbors. What fulfills the ninth commandment, he insisted, is not just 'a manner of speech with harms no one,' but further, a manner of speech that 'benefits everyone, reconciles the discordant, excuses and defends the maligned.' The way we talk about neighbors should be more than just formally true; it should also benefit them individually, as well as help repair and sustain bonds between them. This broadened interpretation of the prohibition against false witness is a consequence of Luther's belief that we should be concerned as much with our neighbors' interest as with our own. We fulfill the prohibitions against bearing false witness when we love our neighbor (including our adversaries) as ourselves by speaking well of them."

I thought of this for two reasons. One is I have had some anger recently toward someone who has been getting under my skin. I had not thought of my outward response to this person as "bearing false witness" -- but I will, now. The second thing is that I recently discovered that an acquaintance of mine had taken a shot at me, in print, without talking with me about their concern/issue with what I had said. I realized, in the wake of this, that I will think more carefully about what I say about others, obliquely or not - and try to find ways to keep the ninth commandment so that people are built up, rather than feeling attacked or torn down. It was a good thing to think about as the new year moves ever closer.