Old Testament
Exodus 23:1-3
1 “You shall not spread a false report. Don’t join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness.
2 “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil. You shall not testify in court to side with a multitude to pervert justice.
3 You shall not favour a poor man in his cause.
New Testament
Ephesians 4:25-32
25 Therefore, putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbour, for we are members of one another.
26 “Be angry, and don’t sin.” Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath,
27 and don’t give place to the devil.
28 Let him who stole steal no more; but rather let him labour, producing with his hands something that is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need.
29 Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but only what is good for building others up as the need may be, that it may give grace to those who hear.
30 Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander be put away from you, with all malice.
32 And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you.
Exodus gives Israel a set of instructions that sound like the bones of justice: do not spread a false report; do not follow the crowd into wrongdoing; do not tilt the scales in court, whether towards the powerful or the poor. Truth is not a tribal possession. It is a neighbourly obligation. It is costly, and it is worth it.
Paul writes with the same gravity. Put off falsehood. Speak truth. Let your words build up rather than rot the listener. Let anger be clean, not corrosive. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit. If the Church is to be credible in a world of spin, we must learn integrity at home.
Journalism, at its best, is a form of public service: gathering facts, exposing harm, telling the truth plainly so that neighbours can see what is happening and act wisely. Yet it is also a place of pressure and temptation: haste, outrage, the desire to win a narrative rather than serve reality.
Lord, bless those who report and edit, research and verify. Give them courage, restraint, and a love for truth stronger than the love of attention. Keep us, too, from consuming headlines as entertainment. Make us careful hearers, slow to share, quick to repent.