Teach not by lies

Labor Day approaches and the vast majority of colleges and universities are commencing the 2026-2027 academic year. It is a fraught time for many of these institutions. Enrollments in some schools are plummeting. Much of the drop has to do with population, as the birth dearth that accompanied the Great Recession of 2007-2009 has reached college age. Moreover, more young people are skipping college and going directly into the job market, discounting the story that all must get a university degree to succeed. A number of institutions already have closed. Many more will in the coming years.

Demographic and market changes generally reside beyond the direct control of colleges and universities. Yet another problem lurks, a self-inflicted wound exacerbating many institution’s struggles: a failure to follow the Ninth Commandment.

The Ninth Commandment declares, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Certainly, this precept of the Decalogue forbids lying under oath in a court of law, but it proscribes speaking falsely about our fellow men in other settings as well.

We should note that the confessions and catechisms of the Reformation saw a much broader prescription in this commandment. For our spiritual forefathers, the Ninth Commandment committed us, not only not to lie, but to tell the truth. The Westminster Larger Catechism, for example, interprets this commandment as, “appearing and standing for the truth.” A catechism for the Church of England, written by Alexander Nowell, said this commandment requires us “to be lovers” of the truth and be “ever readily to take upon us the defence of truth.” The same document also urges Christians “to bring forth all things diligently into the light of truth.”

These admonitions are well-focused on education. We should seek to bring the truth to light, to investigate so as to reveal the truth to ourselves and to others. That purpose should inform our syllabi and dominate our classroom discussions. Insofar as we uncover truth, we do more than learn what we did not previously know. We see more of God’s work in the world. In that sight, we find revealed more manifestations of His character. In better seeing God’s deeds and character, we should be driven more to worship Him.

At the same time, truth not only needs to be found, for it must at times be defended. Truth has faced attack since the serpent first spoke in the Garden of Eden. The distortions do not take the same form in every time and place and their manifestations are legion. Education must not only seek to know the truth but to make a defense for the truth. In its fullest form, truth not only tells us what is, it tells us what should be. It speaks to us God’s perfect will in His works of creating, sustaining, and redeeming.

In seeking to know and being willing to defend the truth, we must obtain another quality: love. We must be lovers of the truth. Due to sin, that love is marred and distorted. We must cultivate an affection for it and thereby learn to love the good. Otherwise, we will not have the desire to know the truth. We will not have the courage to defend it from deceptive and malicious attacks.

Education, then, is not just the formation of the mind but of the heart. It is not merely filling the brain with facts but encouraging love that revels in what is true.

Thus, the Ninth Commandment pairs well with Philippians 4:8: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Much of our education system, especially collegiate education, was founded in obedience to the Ninth Commandment in a love for, a search for, and a defense of, the truth. Too many of these institutions have rejected that calling. They have actively hated it, hid it, and attacked it. They have done so in rebellion against their Creator and Sustainer, a rebellion as old as the Fall.

Christians in collegiate education do not control all forces testing and threatening the institutions in which we work. Yet we can and must do our part to make the education we offer worth it. That worth will not fundamentally be in job training, but in true education. That worth is found in following the Ninth Commandment and its demand that we commit ourselves to the truth. Our task is to raise up a people of the truth, inside the classroom and out.