One surprisingly common form of deceitfulness in such contexts is the selective appointment of witnesses intended to give a veneer of impartiality to a legal process that has all the integrity of a sack of damp sewage.

So, for example, Naboth:

So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal, and she sent the letters to the elders and the leaders who lived with Naboth in his city. And she wrote in the letters, ‘Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people. And set two worthless men opposite him, and let them bring a charge against him, saying, “You have cursed God and the king.” Then take him out and stone him to death.’ (1 Kings 21:8-10)

David:

Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence. (Psalm 27:12)

Stephen:

Then they secretly instigated men who said, ‘We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.’ And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, and they set up false witnesses who said, ‘This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.’ (Acts 6:11-14)

Paul:

And after five days the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a spokesman, one Tertullus. They laid before the governor their case against Paul. And when he had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him… (Acts 24:1-2)

And, of course, Jesus:

For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, ‘We heard him say, “I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands”.’ Yet even about this their testimony did not agree. (Mk 14:56-59)

The Lord evidently takes a dim view of this sort of conniving:

If a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. And the rest shall hear and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. Your eye shall not pity. It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. (Deut 19:16-21)

1. It might seem at first glance like the quickest and easiest option,
2. but it damages you right from the moment you start,
3. and it’s completely destructive in the long term,
4. so you’ll certainly regret it afterwards.
5. You’ll find lots of fools saying it won’t do you any harm,
6. and they’ll probably laugh at you if you avoid it,
7. but wise people will certainly warn you against it,
8. and deep down, you’ve got a sneaking suspicion they’re right.
9. In fact, there is probably a law against it somewhere.
10. You’d realise the truth if you could think straight for more than about 10 seconds,
11. but the whole trouble is that once you get started it’s hard to think straight.
12. In fact, it becomes harder to think straight the longer you carry on,
13. so what you really need is someone from outside the situation to come alongside you and do some straight talking.
14. Once the straight talking begins, some of your friends will probably tell you there’s no point in changing now,
15. but they’re wrong.
16. If you stop, those friends probably won’t want to hang out with you so much,
17. despite the fact you’ll obviously be in better shape than before.
18. On the other hand, there’s a chance that you might be able persuade some of them to give up too,
19. in which case they’ll be grateful afterwards,
20. even though they might not thank you at the time.
21. If you stop, you’ll still be tempted to do other things that are just as stupid,
22. and you’ll probably suffer the after-effects for some time,
23. but at least the symptoms won’t get any worse;
24. in fact, you’ll almost certainly get gradually better,
25. and one day the damage will be put right for good.

To forget in this context is not simply to “not remember”. The people of Israel were guilty of much more than absent-mindedness.  Shcch often occurs in parallel with “forsake” (‘zb), as in 1 Sam 12:9-10, Isa 65:11; Lam 5:20. It’s not a lapse of memory; it’s a failure of commitment, a neglect of obligations.

We “forget” the LORD not when we can’t remember the way to church, but when we decide that something else is more important.

“I didn’t much like that song.”

“Why did they have to repeat it 6 times?”

“The sermon was a bit short.”

“The notices were very long.”

“And they used a strange version of the Bible.”

Of course different churches will do things differently. But let’s keep things in perspective. After all, you’re probably only there for a couple of Sundays at most. There are many issues that ought to be hammered out at length within our regular congregation, but which can safely be left to one side when we’re occasional visitors somewhere else. If you’re able to find a Protestant church where Jesus is worshipped, why wouldn’t you be delighted to worship with them?

To my mind, if you’re able to find an evangelical church anywhere near where you’re staying on holiday (like within an hour’s drive, if you have a car), then it would be great to go along. Even if you’re in a foreign country and don’t speak the language very well, wouldn’t it be a great gesture of fellowship in the gospel to join with them anyway? You’ll meet them on the last day; why not get to know them in advance?

• “God gave you a wife for a reason, and not just to clear up after you.”
• “If you’ve just got married, or if you’re getting married, you need to buy a table.”
• “You’re a bigoted male chauvinist pig. Right? And worst of all, you’re a Christian, male chauvinist, Bible-believing, fundamentalist, reformationally-minded pig. So there. That’s what the world thinks of this sermon.”
• “This Psalm is addressed to the men … if [your wife] is not flourishing then it’s your problem, and you need to address it – gracefully – not because there’s something wrong with her, but because there’s something profoundly wrong with you, that everyone else can see.”

Read the Bible. Lots. Bread down the silly, artificial divide between “academic reading” of the Bible and “devotional reading” of the Bible. Remember how little you know. Remember that Christian ministry is about people, not just preaching. Talk to little Christian children, and listen to old Christian ladies. Read Helmut Thielicke’s A Little Exercise for Young Theologians, James Jordan Through New Eyes, Peter Leithart’s A House for My Name and Calvin’s Institutes. While you’re at it, read all of these books too. And read lots of really old books (from the Reformation and Patristic eras). Don’t get caught up in faddish nonsense in worship. Pray through a Psalm every day, and teach them to your children (that way you’ll learn them yourself). Remember that even unbelievers have something to teach us sometimes. Find someone to teach you how to pray. Don’t church-hop. Remember that your wife needs to thrive, not just survive. Remember that the Lord lifts up the humble, and that you (like all of us) have a lot to be humble about.

At one level, this is a fairly amusing image. Imagine the scene: you’re beavering away in the garage, knocking together a set of shelves, and without thinking you blow the sawdust off the newly-sanded surface, only to have it fly up in your face. As you stagger around, half-blinded and cursing your stupidity, your neighbour happens to poke his head through the door. ‘Don’t worry – I’ll help,’ he calls cheerily, as he strides toward you, a huge log protruding from his face, knocking stuff all over the floor.

At the same time, it’s a sobering image. Jesus clearly thinks that such ludicrous hypocrisy is enough of a danger that we need to be warned about it.

It’s therefore worth trying to answer Jesus’ question: ‘Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?’

The answer is obvious, of course. We don’t see because we’re not looking, and we’re not looking because we can’t see. We’re so blinded by our sins that we scarcely think we’ve done anything wrong.

But the Lord isn’t blind to our sins, and he says we need to confess them to him.

Your patient has become humble; have you drawn his attention to the fact? All virtues are less formidable to us once the man is aware that he has them, but this is specially true of humility. Catch him at the moment when he is really poor in spirit and smuggle into his mind the gratifying reflection, ‘By jove! I’m being humble,’ and almost immediately pride—pride at his own humility—will appear. If he awakes to the danger and tries to smother this new form of pride, make him proud of his attempt—and so on, through as many stages as you please.

You must therefore conceal from the patient the true end of Humility. Let him think of it not as self-forgetfulness but as a certain kind of opinion (namely, a low opinion) of his own talents and character … By this method thousands of humans have been brought to think that humility means pretty women trying to believe they are ugly and clever men trying to believe they are fools. And since what they are trying to believe may, in some cases, be manifest nonsense, they cannot succeed in believing it and we have the chance of keeping their minds endlessly revolving on themselves in an effort to achieve the impossible.

To anticipate the Enemy’s strategy, we must consider His aims. The Enemy wants to bring the man to a state of mind in which he could design the best cathedral in the world, and know it to be the best, and rejoice in the fact, without being any more (or less) glad at having done it than he would be if it had been done by another.

Sometimes it can be helpful to sit down and talk about it. Indeed, this is often the Christian’s first instinct – to try to do in the secular world what we are plainly instructed to do when disagreements arise within the church (cf. Matthew 18:15ff; Philippians 4:2ff).

However, don’t be surprised if this doesn’t work. Tragically, the same sinful blindness that provokes gossip and backbiting in the non-Christian world also prevents unbelievers seeing the folly of it. Any attempt by a Christian to discuss the issue rationally will probably just add fuel to the fire.

But there’s still something you can do. Listen to what Peter says to Christians surrounded by an oppressive, ungodly pagan culture:

11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.  12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.  13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme,  14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.  15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. (1 Peter 2:11-15)

Godliness speaks louder than words.