Jason Locke's Blog

"Don't bear false witness." The original context of the 9th Word appears to deal with "courtroom" testimony. Jewish law took great lengths to protect individuals from false witness. A single person's word was never enough to condemn another person. At least two corroborating sources had to agree. The idea of the Ninth Word goes deeper than not lying in court. While deception is the central prohibition, there is much more. God’s people are to exemplify a commitment to truth-telling. Living a lie can wreak mass havoc. Enron hid the truth about their schemes and destroyed the fiscal well-being of countless groups & individuals. Some folks misled the world about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and the world continues to pay a high price for actions even if taken in good faith but based upon those lies. Family relationships and even churches often conceal hidden truths, giving power to the lies that control them. In Death of a Salesman , B...

We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.  (The "first step" to recovery according to Alcoholics Anonymous) Truth-telling is not a natural instinct. It’s not our basic human approach. Rather, we tend to hide our problems—sweep them under the carpet, pretend as if nothing ever happened. "What problems?" we ask. This kind of collective denial can be deadly for a church. We keep trying to convince ourselves that things really aren't that bad. We fool ourselves with these kinds of thoughts: "We just need one or two new, solid people to get us back on our feet." "If we can get a more dynamic preacher, we’ll be as good as new." "If our worship were more contemporary, these problems would go away." "We just need to grow our budget over the next five years." "Our friends and neighbors will want to come when we freshen up the property." All these are technica...