Facts about a truthful witness and a false witness are elsewhere in Proverbs (6:19, 12:17, 25:18). So being a truthful witness is important to God. A truthful witness does not deceive.
Jesus called his followers to be his witnesses. He meant that in everything he taught and did his followers were to say and do the same. “You are witnesses of these things,” he told us (Luke 24:48). So am I a truthful witness who does not deceive? Or am I a false witness who pours out lies?
If those who I associate with know that I am different because of my faith in Jesus, then perhaps I am a truthful witness. Yet, being different isn’t a good indicator that I am true. It just indicates that others know I am different.
If no one turns to Jesus for salvation and leadership does it mean that I have not been a truthful witness? Perhaps. Yet, even a donkey –a beast without speech- spoke with a man’s voice and restrained Balaam, a prophet from madness, when it was a truthful witness. (2 Peter 2:16) A truthful witness talks and does as the Spirit enables no matter the response to his or her message. When I allow the Spirit to carry me along, then I am a truthful witness who does not deceive.
