The other day, while researching something else, I came across a fascinating article on how law was practiced in ancient Israel—and in particular, how careful the Jewish people were with regard to witnesses.

For example, in order to put someone on trial, you needed at least two witnesses. One person’s testimony—no matter how credible—was not sufficient. Moreover, the witnesses were questioned independently of one another, and if any contradictions were found, then the entire case was immediately thrown out.

Jewish law also provided a specific list of those who were eligible to testify, as well as those who were not. Individuals who were under the least shadow of suspicion themselves were declared ineligible. If you were related to the accused in any way—parent, sibling, even a distant cousin—you were not allowed to testify … nor could you be a friend or enemy of the accused.

In order to discourage false testimony on the witness stand, anyone who committed perjury would face the same sentence as the person convicted. Hence, you could be looking at the death penalty yourself, if you lied during a capital case!

But here’s the one that really caught my attention … Jewish law stated that anyone who failed to come forward with evidence would be judged as severely as the person who presented false evidence. In other words, not speaking the truth was every bit as sinful as deliberately lying.

Now, I’m guessing that most of us probably aren’t going to be on the witness stand in a courtroom all that often. However, Jesus did ask us, as disciples, to be his witnesses out in the world—and unless I’m missing something here, the same standards still apply. That is, if we fail to represent Christ in our daily lives, then we are just as guilty as someone who misrepresents Christ.

“You are the light of the world,” said Jesus. “Therefore let your light shine.” Because the bottom line is this … a light that never shines is scarcely different than intentionally misguiding people … if for no other reason than because of the simple fact that it still leaves them stumbling around in the dark!