On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. – Deuteronomy 17:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 10, 2018): Deuteronomy 17

Controversial socialite and the eldest daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, once commented “If you haven't got anything nice to say about anybody come sit next to me,” and with those words revealed the great obsession of our culture; gossip. Somehow we believe two things about gossip that are verifiably false. The first is that those who are willing to sit beside us and tell us a story are somehow speaking the truth. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg sat down and watched a “Saturday Night Live” skit portraying her for a documentary on her amazing life. She laughed as she watched the antics on the screen and seemed to quite enjoy the skit. Then the interviewer asked her if she recognized herself in the actor’s portrayal, and RBG giggled and said “no. That’s not me.” The stories we spread through gossip seldom reflect the person about whom we are speaking. I have heard stories about my life that are totally without any connection to the truth. And it helps if these stories are told in my absence because then there is no one to say “you know, that never happened.”

The second false idea about gossip is that by tearing someone else down, we can somehow build ourselves up. It is as if there is some great miraculous connection between someone else’s failure and our own success. We tell the stories as if knowing something about someone else’s problems will make us important.

Moses raises the standard with regard to capital crime. No one is to be put to death on a single report of one witness. The word witness is important here. Stories told by gossips have no relationship with the truth and should never be used in a trial. But even a witness can be wrong. In recent years, there have been a few capital cases that have been overturned because of evidence that the witnesses in the case were mistaken. As a result, we understand that no one should be executed unless we have the testimony of more than one unimpeachable witness to the events under investigation.

But Paul expands this command. It is not just capital cases in which unimpeachable witnesses are important. In the world of the gossip, reputations are murdered with no evidence that the accusations are true. Often, if there is not enough evidence for a trial, then we proceed to kill the reputation of someone through the stories that we tell. Paul’s condemns this practice. “Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses (1 Timothy 5:19). When that person who has nothing good to say about anybody sits down beside you, do not listen, and definitely do repeat, whatever it is that they tell you. The assassination of character is a serious crime in the eyes of God. And the work of the gossip has no place within our midst.       

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 18