Lying For The Lord
On Sunday evenings, I just completed a two-part series entitled Great Escapes. Last week we considered the accounts from the Bible of the escapes of Lot and his family from Sodom (Genesis 19:14-26), Samson with the help of the jawbone of an ass (Judges 15:11-16), and Paul and Silas from the Philippian jail via an earthquake (Acts 16:25-34). The accounts we studied this time were a bit more obscure. First was the story of Rahab who helped the Hebrew spies to escape from Jericho down a rope from her window (Joshua 2:1-20). Then we considered how David's wife, Michel, helped her husband to escape from King Saul by placing an idol in the bed with goat's hair (I Samuel 19:9-17). Finally, we observed how an obscure servant woman hid Jonathan and Ahimael in a well (II Samuel 17:15-22).
An interesting theme runs through all three of the accounts from this week. All three escapes were enabled with the use of a falsehood. And I will call it not a prevarication, or a stretching of the truth, but a downright lie. In each matter God's purpose was advanced through the breaking of the ninth commandment, "Thou shalt not bear false witness". So, the question that begs to be asked and which I was just foolish enough to present to the congregation: Is there ever a time when lying is the right thing to do?
I need to be clear with what I am asking my congregation and readers to consider. I know there are people, for whatever reason, who are adept at grabbing a snippet of a statement with which to build an entire judgment of a person. I can clearly picture such a person, with Bible in hand and fire in eyes, proclaiming far and wide, "PastorDave thinks you ought to lie." and "PastorDave doesn't believe the Bible." Next the said individual would gather with like-minded persons to collect kindling and soon to start the roasting, with me as the main item on the menu.
No, I am not encouraging people to lie. But I am encouraging you to deal with a complex issue that confronts us from the scriptures and in everyday life. The three accounts I have shared have as their "heroes" servants of God who lied in order to accomplish their purposes, and are held up for us in the Word of God as worthy examples. If we are to be honest, we need to consider: Are there times when a lie best serves the purpose of God?
Two scriptures from the New Testament help me to find an acceptable answer:
Ephesians 4:15 (KJV)
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
I am exhorted not just to speak the truth, but to "...speak.. the truth in love". The naked truth can be a very unloving thing. You and I need to be very careful about how hurtful can be words spoken without a loving heart, even if they are technically matters of truth.
James 2:8 (KJV)
8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
The law, that is king of all other laws, that trumps all other guidelines for human behavior, is the royal law of love. In every situation, and especially matters of lasting import, the question must be asked, "How can love best be served?" Then, it is answered with action.
Thus, the Royal Law Of Love meets the Ninth Commandment. Here are some challenges for consideration:
(1) Your wife (or girlfriend) just spent $100 plus on a major change with her hair. You find it a bit disturbing. She asks, with a big smile and anticipation, "How do you like my hair?"
(2) Your little boy, with tears in his eyes, is grieving the loss of a pet. "Mommy, is Scooter in Heaven?" At his age and state of fragility, he is not needing a theological discussion.
(3) You live in Vietnam. The officials are raiding churches and arresting church leaders. The pastor of the local house church is hiding in your home. The authorities knock on your door, and ask if you have seen any of the church leaders.
(4) You work with teenagers, perhaps through your church. One of the kids who attends your meetings needs structure, but most of all needs love. He has a strict and physically abusive father. The child has not behaved well at the last youth group meetings. When dad comes to pick up his son, he asks, "Did my boy behave today?" You can see fear in the eyes of the teen.
I submit, in 99% of the matters of life, the ninth commandment is to be literally followed. Never is one to stray for strictly selfish reason. Exceptions are rare, and worthy of consideration and prayer. And, always, remember the Royal Law of Love.
02.19.07 (10:47 am) [
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posted by:
graceshaker (
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post date:
02.19.07 (8:37 am)
what amount of trust in god does a lie represent?
posted by:
FinalyFree (
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post date:
02.19.07 (9:23 am)
Excellent post, Pastor. I know lying is wrong, but just as the examples you give above, there has to be times when out of love and respect we've all 'bent the truth' a little. And I don't think that's wrong...or do I? Hmmm I may need to ponder this a little longer.
posted by:
heavyarms (
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post date:
02.19.07 (10:05 am)
PDave, I'm one of the few Christians I know of that doesn't necessarily believe that we should follow the Ten Commandments to the letter. 1) I believe the Ten Commandments were given to specfically to Moses' merry band of misfits. In the next breath, God tells Moses to tell the Sons of Israel to make an earthen altar to sacrifice their burnt and peace offerings and their sheep and oxen. He also says that if they make an altar of stone, to not use cut stones because if they use their tools upon the stone, they will swear at their tools. Exodus 20:24-25. I haven't built very many altars lately (although I do swear at my hammer too frequently.)
God continues on to give his ordinances for setting your slaves free (you can keep Hebrew slaves for six year, but you must let them go after seven years. Exodus 21:2), and lets us know that if we give our male slave a wife, we get to keep the children when we set the male slave free (Exodus 21:4). God says that if you smack or curse your mom or dad, you will be put to death (21:15, 17), and that if you smack your neighbor and the neighbor doesn't die, that the attacker shall go unpunished save paying the victim for lost time (21:18-19.) (I always feel silly citing verses to a preacher, I'm sure you've got the thing memorized.)
I'm not saying that the Ten Commandments are not useful, but taken in context they seem to be pointed mainly at the group of people being led by Moses, and we've not really kept up with the other stuff He told Moses to pass along.
When Jesus was asked if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath (keep the Sabbath holy), Jesus replied "What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." No, this doesn't specifically say that it is ok to lie, but you could make the argument that by lying to the teenage child's abusive parent you are taking hold of him and lifting him out of the pit. And while you are not following the letter of "The Law," you ARE "doing good."
Jesus, IMO, made a habit of showing that the law had served its purpose (guiding the people of Israel until His arrival), but now that He was here people needed to be logical in following "The Law."
As far as telling your child that their dog went to Doggy Heaven, this is a minor pet peeve of mine. I don't think kids are ever too young for a "theological discussion" and that by lying to them (Yeah, Johnny, Scooter is in heaven), you could be doing a great dis-service to their spiritual understanding. Humans have souls, this is one of the few characteristics that distinguish us from the Chimps (in my son, that line is constantly blurred). I don't think a kid is ever too young to learn that having a soul makes us special, but that does not have to detract from our fond memories of our non-human companions. I'm only bringing this up because I recently had to deal with this and my son asked the inevitable question, "Did Chewie go to Heaven?"
posted by:
surrogate (
reply)
post date:
02.19.07 (10:16 am)
Your forth example: Just for fun, let's replace the boy with a pregnant girl. It illustrates why parental notification laws prior to abortion are so incredibly stupid. Any girl who has this sort of problem with parents she knows will be supportive, will tell her folks anyway. What of the fewer, but still many, others?
Say, for example, a teenage girl, abused and unloved by a tyranical father seeks the comfort of another male too soon and becomes pregnant. She KNOWS that if she (a,) carries the baby to term, her father will indeed find out and she'll be forced to suffer the same conceivably violent wrath that might have caused her to look elsewhere for love in the first place, or (b.) if her father is given knowledge of the possible abortion, the same, or even worse treatment will commence as soon as they find themselves behind closed doors together.
Only a "lie" of ommision allows the girl to be treated the least bit lovingly. And yet? Smug men and women who have NO knowledge of this/these girl's/girls' situation(s) - or, for that matter, care about it other than as a kite string they can grasp as a visible act of pioty and self-righteous - would insist that parental notification "at LEAST" ought to be included in the abortion laws of the land. So it goes...
posted by:
surrogate (
reply)
post date:
02.19.07 (10:18 am)
Oops... add a "ness" for me....
posted by:
bawdy (
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post date:
02.19.07 (10:50 am)
Why should we believe anything you tell us now that you condone lying. heh. I believe there's a time and a place for it, with the proper intent.
posted by:
fractalmom (
reply)
post date:
02.19.07 (12:42 pm)
didn't have time to read all the other comments, but didn't the ninth commandment say "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." which to my logical mind says you shall not slander or tell untrue tales to get someone else in trouble, or to absolve yourself of trouble by blaming someone else for something you did. i hate to read your blog when i am in hurry, ONE..you deserve more time and thought, and TWO, if i don't take the time, i look like an idiot. ah well, i'm over fifty now, i don't care.
dawn
posted by:
darksaber (
reply)
post date:
02.19.07 (3:47 pm)
I thought your response to situation 2 was rather funny.
posted by:
mimi (
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post date:
02.19.07 (3:47 pm)
what an absolutly beautiful and thought provoking post! i think that love outweighs cruel words any day! that's it...xoxo
posted by:
surrogate (
reply)
post date:
02.19.07 (4:06 pm)
Reply to: bawdy
I agree. For instance, when they asked, I said, "Yeah, sure, that bawdy's a nice fellow. Prompt. Caring."
Obviously a lie, but told to help you get that cushy job when for some reason, you listed ME as a reference. (I never mentioned I had to fire you for insubordination. You knew I liked TWO sugars in my coffee and one day you only put in one. And my bagel was cold.)
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
02.19.07 (5:55 pm)
Reply to: FinalyFree
Speaking in general terms, it is good to tell the truth and it is wrong to lie. One's pattern of conversation should be truthfulness, to the extent that your word is all that is needed. The need to lie, I think, is an extreme rarity. And as I said, never for selfish gain. and only when love for another is clearly best served. It's a challenging subject.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
02.19.07 (6:02 pm)
Reply to: heavyarms
Well, I think it very well could be that Chewy did go to heaven. Maybe God's love for your son is so great that He would arrange it simply for his sake?
I do appreciate your good summary of how the scriptural understanding of the Law evolved until the time of Christ. He did summarize the ten commandments by saying we are to love God and love others, and when we do so then we automatically fulfill the Law. Which, I think, points again to the Royal Law.
Thanks. And, by the way, sometimes I am a lazy Bible student. No excuses. Most any layman could teach me much about the Bible.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
02.19.07 (6:09 pm)
Reply to: surrogate
An interesting application of what I am trying to say! But, it makes sense. It is incredulous to me that we have parental consent rules before a kid can be given an aspirin, but not an abortion. We are at least talking about a surgical procedure. I would not want the government to decide to do cosmetic surgery on my daughter without my knowledge or consent. So, why an abortion?
I'm hoping the Morning After Pill will make this debate mostly a mute issue.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
02.19.07 (6:10 pm)
Reply to: bawdy
I do not condone lying.
And, you are truly an amazing, wonderful person. Yep, that's right.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
02.19.07 (6:15 pm)
Reply to: fractalmom
Nice compliment. Thanks.
Actually, I want to develop a writing style that is easier to understand. Hopefully these little exercises with t-blog will help.
I think you are right. To "bear false witness" is a much more detailed matter than the general understanding of the word "lie". I will have to study this matter.
I have noticed that old people tned to be rather uninhibited. Sometimes they do bad things in public, without apology. I have a little lady in my church who is irritating me these days. she walks up to people in the sanctuary and says, "You will have to move. You are sitting in my seat." But, how do I go about rebuking a frail little lady who had a bad temper and is hard of hearing? So, maybe you are a lot like her? I doubt it!
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
02.19.07 (6:16 pm)
Reply to: darksaber
Maybe. Though heavyarms would disagree. He has a recent post about this very subject.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
02.19.07 (6:18 pm)
Reply to: mimi
Thanks, my friend. You just can't go wrong when you determine to love someone. Of course, I'm referring to a deep and abiding intent to actively pursue the highest good for another person. It's not the syrupy thing that passes as "love" in much of our society.
posted by:
surrogate (
reply)
post date:
02.19.07 (6:19 pm)
Reply to: PastorDave
Pretty sure you missed my point. There's a difference between checking with a parent before giving a kid a medication that might injure the kid, and the kid making a decision to protect themselves. In fact, there's no parallel. Did I state it that poorly? Perhaps. Maybe in your world protecting a boy from a father for "acting up" makes sense, but allowing a girl to protect herself doesn't.
posted by:
heavyarms (
reply)
post date:
02.20.07 (8:18 am)
Reply to: PastorDave
Thank God for Biblegateway, huh?
posted by:
FinalyFree (
reply)
post date:
02.20.07 (9:47 pm)
Reply to: PastorDave
I'll admit I've lied to my parents...but I always did in a matter of self-preservation, with my Mother especially. She was very judgemental, and often I'd find myself 'stretching the truth' in order to avoid yet another lecture. I suppose that was lying for personal gain but there were times when I just couldn't take one more speech about what "I should have done"--doesn't make it anymore right, I know.
