Deliverance By Truth

“A true witness delivereth souls: but a deceitful witness speaketh lies.” (Pr 14:25 AV)

 

The meaning of the proverb is quite simple.  A true witness seeks to expunge the innocently accused while the deceitful witness speaks lies so the innocent are wrongly convicted.  On the face of it, we may think this proverb has little or no value because the judgment of the court will determine who is and is not a true witness.  However, in this proverb, there is a third group of people.  That is, those who are true witnesses yet their testimony can convict an innocent person.  They bear witness to what they know, but their information is insufficient to the cause at hand.  Like someone who witnesses a brief moment and is coupled with another who also witnesses a concurrent brief moment.  Putting those two pieces together, one might convict.  However, there might be a third event that would acquit the innocent that is never considered.  These two witnesses were not deceitful.  The prosecution was.  This is not the witness spoken of here.  The deceitful witness deliberately twists the truth to seek a conviction of someone who would be acquitted otherwise.  The key here is motive.  The true witness is motivated to deliver the accused while the deceitful witness is motivated to convict regardless of the truth.

Current events aside, we can apply this to the saint in the pew.  We are of one mindset or another.  We either think the best of someone and wish to protect who and what they are, or we think the worst of people, and our words are intended to hurt others.  We are one of two witnesses.  Gossip is a horrible thing.  The intent is only to cause harm.  There is always at least one of these people in your church.  He or she is “in the know” when it comes to others.  In one of my churches, the county was a close-knit community.  Everyone knew everyone else.  Or at least their family history.  I had two individuals.  The first knew the entire family tree of the thirty-plus-thousand population of our county.  This sweet Christian saint knew more about different people and families than anyone in the county.  In conversations with this person, never was there spoken a critical or unkind word.  Even if one was warranted.  However, I had several others who knew almost as much as the first.  Yet, when they shared information, it was usually with the intent of causing harm.  It was couched in the form of truth.  After all, the preacher needs to know what he is dealing with and the more information he has, the better he can do his job.  Funny thing is, people like this are seldom self-critical.  The first individual was extremely personable and the entire community loved this saint.  The second was either loved or hated depending on how much damage this soul did.

The point is, we can either testify for deliverance.  Or, we can speak words that are intended to cause harm.  In my experience, these two types of people are this way because that is their character.  It really has nothing to do with the individual about whom they are witnessing.  Deliverance or condemnation is pretty much without bias.  The first seeks to build up others.  The second, only to tear down.  A motive isn’t really mentioned above because it is irrelevant.  Self-righteousness, deep-seated anger, pride, etc could all contribute to a destructive witness.  The only cure is to fall in love with the truth.  If we are that second witness, we need to seek truth and honesty far more than an outcome.  We are all wicked sinners.  We all have a good and bad side.  To paint someone only one way is not honest.  To hide a transgression is love.