The Obligation to Tell the Truth—Even About Those We Oppose

Our highest allegiance is to truth, not to tribe.

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

One of the most dangerous temptations in the modern world is the urge to bear false witness, not always by telling outright lies, but by shading the truth, amplifying faults, muting exculpatory facts, or selectively presenting information that paints those we oppose in the worst possible light. It is a temptation that seduces both the powerful and the ordinary, the secular and the religious, the left and the right. And it is a temptation precisely because it feels justified. They deserve it, we tell ourselves. Or, They’re wrong on everything else, so this must be true too.

But Scripture does not grant us carve-outs for dishonesty. God’s command, “Thou shalt not bear false witness,” does not come with footnotes. When we distort the truth, even against those we believe to be harmful or wrong, we forfeit a piece of our integrity. And when enough of us do that, society itself begins to wobble, like a house built on shifting sand.

The Contrast: The World Sells Narratives, God Calls Us to Truth

The world trades in narratives calibrated to win battles. Truth, however, exists to set people free, not to score points. We live in an age where editing the frame is more important than seeing the whole picture. We clip videos to cast blame. We share headlines without context. We circulate rumors because they serve our side.

And yet, truth needs no manipulation. Truth stands on its own feet.

The ninth commandment is not merely a prohibition; it is a protection—for others, yes, but also for our own souls. When we become comfortable misrepresenting the faults of an opponent, we soon become comfortable misrepresenting the faults of a neighbor, and eventually we misrepresent the faults of ourselves.

Self-deception begins with the small lies we tell about others.

And into this, the old hymn speaks a timeless warning and a gentle rebuke:

Should you feel inclined to censure
Faults you may in others view,
Ask your own heart, ere you venture,
If you have not failings, too.
Let not friendly vows be broken;
Rather strive a friend to gain.
Many words in anger spoken
Find their passage home again.

The hymn invites us to look inward before we speak outward. It calls us to consider our own fallenness, our own blind spots, our own moments of ignorance or immaturity. When we do that honestly, we become slower to judge and quicker to understand.

The Mirror Test: Are We Truthful, or Merely Useful?

Truth is a mirror, and mirrors are unforgiving. The question each of us must ask is this: Do I want the truth, or do I want ammunition?

The human heart loves the intoxicating rush of confirmation bias. We gravitate toward stories that affirm our moral superiority. But this is not righteousness—it is vanity dressed in moral clothing.

The Lord commands us to weigh with “just measures,” which means we cannot scale the truth based on who benefits from its full telling and who suffers from it. Yet many today handle truth like a sculptor handles clay, molding, trimming, and shaping it to suit the desired outcome.

But truth is not clay. Truth is stone. And if we build our lives on anything softer, the storms of life will expose us.