Conspiracy Theories and Bearing False Witness

As is typical many on the internet and social media are spreading absurd conspiracy theories. This is nothing new. Unfortunately, many who claim Jesus as Lord are jumping on the bandwagon and posting this same stuff. Even more unfortunate is that this is nothing new either.

Ed Stetzer has a wonderful article on Christians spreading such false info “On Christians Spreading Corona Conspiracies: Gullibility is not a Spiritual Gift

I really appreciate Stetzer’s article and I like the point that he makes concerning “bearing false witness”. It is something I have thought about for quite sometime. Literally this post started as a draft in 2015.

If you knowingly share false information against a person (even a politicianđŸ˜‹) that you disagree with then you are committing the sin of bearing false witness against them (if you unknowingly do this you still might be). You are speaking (knowingly or unknowingly) evil against another upon who God’s image sits. If your argument is “how do we know that this isn’t true” then you are still bearing false witness. Unless you positively know something is true then you aren’t supposed to speak it to others. To do otherwise is a sin against God because you have defamed another who bears the image of God. You have spoken lies against one who is a physical reminder of our Creator. This should shame us when we do it because I am certain that it hurts Jesus when we falsely defame the character of one of those whom He loves.

I bring this up because bearing false witness is a pretty big sin. It is one of the sins specifically mentioned in the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments).

“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16)

Let’s call this what it is. When you spread this info not only are you spreading misinformation and thereby possibly hurting your brother and sister, but you have sinned. You need to repent. Do not give false testimony against your neighbor. God cares deeply about this.

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