Lying to Convince People of the Truth

Suggested Reading: Job 13:7-16 (Job is responding to his friends who are saying that God has allowed Job to go through tragedy because he must be a horrible sinner)

When they were very young,  we took our kids to Movie Studio Grill because we thought they would enjoy watching a movie in a theater and eating dinner at the same time. We were right about that. They thought it was great that we watched a movie in a theater at a table while waiters took our orders and then brought us our food. Overall, it was a fun experience. But I found myself not really enjoying the movie. We chose a kid's movie and it was enjoyable on that level, but it was one of those movies that tries make a point and isn't very subtle about it. I didn't even mind that. But in order to make its point, the movie went so far to one extreme and ignored so many of the basics of the discussion in which it tried to participate that it lost all credibility with me.  In some ways, the movie simply lied about the "opposing point of view" in order to achieve what the writers obviously considered a noble goal. That practice has always gotten me a little hot under the collar. If you have a good point and the truth is really on your side, why would you have to lie or misrepresent in order to make your point?

The experience reminded me of a verse from Job that I have been thinking about a lot lately. Job 13:7-10 reads, "Are you defending God with lies? Do you make your dishonest arguments for his sake? Will you slant your testimony in his favor? Will you argue God's case for him? What will happen when he finds out what you are doing?...you will be in trouble with him if you secretly slant your testimony in his favor" (NLT).  A disturbing trend I have seen developing when Christians try to "debate" non-believers is a tendency to exaggerate, to misrepresent non-believers and atheists, to essentially lie in order to defend God.

Far too often, we say things that, if we are honest with ourselves, we know are not true. Things like, "Atheists only want an excuse to live however they want" when we know that many have reasons for not believing that we simply don't agree with. Things like, "Evolution is just an excuse not to believe in God" when we know that many people are dealing with what they consider legitimate scientific data that we want to dismiss in the same way they dismiss what the Bible says. Things like, "You can't really be a decent person if you aren't saved" when we encounter lost people everyday who live relatively decent lives and Christians whom we accept as saved but who live like the devil.

When we use half-truths, misrepresentation, barely veiled lies, and intellectually dishonest arguments to make our point, it severely undercuts the truth to which we are trying to lead people. If we really have the truth on our side, we shouldn't be afraid of that truth, even when it might appear to support the "other side." If what we believe cannot stand up to honest investigation and debate, then it isn't worth believing. But if we really believe the truth, then a thorough, tough investigation will only reinforce what we believe. 

More significant than that, Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life" (John 14:6, NIV). When we distort the truth, we are messing with the person of Jesus. Does it really support our purpose to distort who Jesus is in order to get people to believe in God? When Job essentially asked, "Will you lie in order to defend God?" he also asked, "Would it turn out well if he examined you?...He would surely rebuke you…"  What do we accomplish in bringing people to Jesus if we base their faith on a lie and earn God's rebuke in the process?

Let's not lie in order to defend God. The truth will set us free. Let's not be afraid of it. 

The Choice Between Hatred and Hiding

Suggested Reading: Proverbs 10:13-21

In season 5 of Smallville, when Clark Kent and his high school buddies spent their first year in college, Lana Lang discovered a pair of drugs that would kill her and then bring her back from the dead, which she used to try to communicate with her deceased parents (yes, it sounds ridiculous). The near-death experiences became addicting and Lana began acting much like any drug addict would. She was constantly strung out, spent all of her money paying for the drugs and then, when she ran out of money, she decided to break into her friend Lex Luthor's house and steal from him to pay for her next fix. Naturally, Lex caught her in the act and demanded to know why she didn't simply come to him for the money (after all, he was a billionaire). Lana told him, "I didn't want to have to lie to you." Lex was naturally incredulous and responded, "You didn't want to lie to me, but you broke into my house and tried to steal from me?"

Lana's dilemma mirrors a dynamic found in Proverbs 10:18, which reads, Hiding hatred makes you a liar (NLT). Now, if  you were raised in a home where you were supposed to be courteous and civil to everyone, regardless of how you feel about them, or even if you just like to mask your feelings so as not to cause problems with people, this verse might present a problem for you. Naturally, your next question might be, "Well, should I just be open about the fact that I hate that person?" And if that question were the real choice you were faced with then I would suggest that open hatred is less sinful than deceiving someone with regard to your hate. But that is not the real choice you are faced with. The real choice is not between hiding your hatred or being open about it; the real choice is whether or not you should hate in the first place.

Quite often we get into positions where we don't want to tell people about certain things we have done or where we feel we need to hide some ongoing situation in our lives, whether it is hating someone, or being too friendly with the wrong person, or going to a place our friends and family might not approve of. When we find ourselves contemplating something that we feel compelled to hide, our real choice is not whether or not to hide it but whether or not to do the thing in the first place.  If we feel the need to hide that relationship from someone, we probably shouldn't be involved in the relationship in the first place. If we feel like we need to hide our hateful feelings toward someone, then we should take a good long look inside ourselves and see what we can do to change our own heart so we don't feel that way. If we are compelled to hide a purchase from a spouse or a date destination from a parent, we should probably avoid it in the first place.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, their first instinct was to hide - they hid their bodies from each other with clothes, and they tried to hide themselves from God when he came walking in the Garden. The desire to hide can be a good indicator of the presence of sin. So the next time you think about doing something that you feel like hiding from people who deserve to know, do yourself a favor and just don't do it.