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Eighth Commandment Treasure Reputation People often think that the main point of the eighth commandment is that it forbids lying and requires that we tell the truth. They have missed the heart of this commandment. The old translation that many of us grew up with says that we are not to “defame” our neighbor. If you look this word up in the dictionary you will see that this is a way of harming our neighbor’s reputation. Here is the heart of this commandment; it is about our neighbor’s reputation. We can harm his reputation by lying, but we can also do it by telling the truth. That is why Luther goes on to say that we are “to defend him, speak well of him, and put the best explanation on everything.” So then what God wants us to do is to protect, and even enhance, our neighbor’s reputation. To do this, sometimes what is needed is that we remain silent about the bad things that we know our neighbor has done. At other times, we are to speak up and talk about only the good things that we know about our neighbor. Reputation is something that our neighbor cannot do without. If this is taken from him, others in society will avoid him. It will, for example, become difficult for him to get a job and a loan. Our neighbor’s reputation, therefore, is a great treasure, and God forbids that we diminish it. But what if you know that your neighbor has done something evil? What should you do? You should turn to the people to whom God has given the authority to judge your neighbor. Crimes should be reported to the police, and then if the DA has enough evidence to bring it to court, you should willingly testify to what you saw and heard. In secular courts, the goal is that the guilty be punished and the innocent be exonerated. In the church, however, the goal is to lead the person to repentance. We want to welcome the person back as a brother or sister in the Lord. Jesus gives instructions on what to do if a member of the church sins against you in Matthew 18:15-17. First you are to go to the person privately. Then if he does not listen, you are to take witnesses. And finally, if the person still does not listen, you are to take the matter before the church. But what if we know the person is guilty? Why then can’t we talk about it if it is the truth? Luther, in his Large Catechism, responds, “My answer is, ‘Why don’t you bring it before the proper judge?’ ‘Oh, but I can’t publicly prove it; it might be thrown back in my teeth and I be packed off in disgrace.’ Ah, friend, can’t you smell the roast burning? If you do not trust yourself to come before the proper authorities to make your charges, then keep your mouth shut. What you do know for sure keep to yourself and do not share it with anyone. For by repeating the story you will seem a liar even if the story is true, since you cannot prove it. Besides, you would be acting like a scoundrel, because no one should deprive another of his honor and reputation unless these have already been taken away from him publicly.” “Thus every report that cannot be substantiated in the proper public manner is false witness. Therefore, no one should make public or assert as true anything that is not already public on the basis of sufficient evidence. In short, what is secret should remain secret, or at any rate should be reproved only in private.” Notice that we are remain quiet about the bad things our neighbor has done unless it is “already public.” When both sides have had the opportunity to present their case in a courtroom, we can certainly discuss it. And also, if a person openly sins in front of dozens of witnesses or willingly admits to a sin in front of a TV camera that person has only himself to blame when his reputation is damaged. Such open sins are not to be treated lightly as many in our society are doing. Such public sins can be talked about, and it should be pointed out that God’s will for us has not changed. A sin is still a sin. |
