A few days ago Tim Challies posted two blog posts about the ninth commandment, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor,” here and here. He focused on how the ninth commandment applies in a day of social media, when vitriolic watchbloggers are violating the ninth commandment by calling out abusers.
Tim Challies and I go way back. Just kidding; he doesn’t know who I am, except as the author of a devotional book he had his daughter read and promoted in the video I referred to in my explanation of awkwardness in this Facebook post. (The awkwardness is born of the crossover between my two fields of writing: first, missionary books and biographies, and then, abuse in the worlds of fundamentalism and conservative evangelicalism, which is Tim Challies’s world.)
To be fair, his accusations of lies in social media weren’t directed at me at all, but were directed at much larger websites like perhaps The Wartburg Watch. They expose evil; I generally only examine the teachings of those who support the evildoers (and in some cases those who turn out to be the evildoers themselves).
So with that intro, I’d like to examine the teachings of Tim Challies regarding the ninth commandment. The quotations are from his two blog posts (here and here).
What does the ninth commandment encompass?
Based on the Westminster Larger Catechism’s lengthy expansion of the ninth commandment, Tim Challies draws out many applications to Christians as they interact on social media. Here is part of his introduction to his two posts about the ninth commandment:
I had become convinced I was violating the spirit, even if not the letter, of [the ninth] commandment, especially through social media. I wasn’t telling lies about other people, but I was reading lies.
I notice two things about this statement. For one thing, he has expanded the law from speaking or writing false witness to hearing or reading false witness. Expanding the law to claim other things to be sins beyond what the law stated is what the Pharisees did. (Which is different from what Jesus did in the Sermon on the Mount when He examined heart intent.)
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Part Two of “Tim Challies and the Ninth Commandment” is now published here.
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This article contains many links, some giving further information about the abuses I refer to, and some giving commentary. The Here’s the Joy blog posts I link to in this article are these:
Rachael Denhollander lost her church over her advocacy for abuse survivors
Maintaining a false unity (a commentary on the SGM scandals)
Tullian Tchividjian, Tom Chantry, BJUGrace, and gossip
Paige Patterson and a culture that breeds a generation of abusers
The “innocent until proven guilty” question: a response to Ryan Fullerton
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Go here to download your free Guide, How to Enjoy the Bible Again (when you’re ready) After Spiritual Abuse (without feeling guilty or getting triggered out of your mind). You’ll receive access to both print and audio versions of the Guide (audio read by me). I’m praying it will be helpful.
Courageous Truth!!!!! Thank you for your voice!!!!!!
Bless your heart Rebecca! thank you! and thank You Lord!
this is our watch, and scripture calls us to be discerning, that’s part of being a mature believer… test everything, discern the good from the bad (not stick your head in the sand or be the hear/see/speak no evil monkey)… and we are called to speak out on behalf of the vulnerable, the voiceless, and help bring healing, and empowering and equipping for the victims to become victors through the power of the Holy Spirit.
when EVERY single US Attorney General (top AG in ALL 56 states & territories) are in 100% agreement that silencing the victim is harmful, and perpetuates the culture of silence protecting the perpetrator, I think that is a very credible and very powerful testament of the harm silencing causes…
here’s the link… absolutely amazing letter (link in article) to congress from the 56 US AG’s in in our very divided political climate and HUGE answer to prayer!
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/attorneys-general-forced-arbitration_us_5a83484fe4b0cf06751f5abe
and a few MLK Quotes on silence:
“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right.”
“There comes a time when silence is betrayal.”
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
I feel Tim’s response is part of the backlash from leaders to undermine and discredit those who are bringing abuses of power into the light. It’s leaders’ fear and resistance of being exposed because this is SO SYSTEMIC!
This is such a great analysis of his blog. Thank you! One thing that struck me forcibly is that the one who tells you who to listen to, who you can’t listen to is the one who holds the power. Anytime I have seen the kind of arguments he uses it comes back to men who are either trying to hold on to power or men who are trying to gain power. It is, in my experience, never about how we are to obey God although they may put that veneer on it.
Yes, so true.
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I have a YouTube channel that exposes the transgender and transhumanist agenda that involves many celebrities – and I struggle with the slander issue being a Christian woman…even though I feel the Lord has laid it upon my heart to do this work. Your article brilliantly highlights the need to be the voice for the vulnerable, especially children and women, and our duty to speak up for the truth. Thank you for this – so much! God bless you!
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