Last week we saw that Paul described how those who are followers of Jesus Christ are to dress the part based on who they already are in Him. In verses 22-24 of Chapter 4, Paul wrote about how we are to put off of the old man and put on the new man by allowing God to renew our mind. In the next section, Paul is going to go into even more detail on how to apply that passage in some very practical ways. He is going to instruct us to put off our vices and put on our virtues. We’ll see that we are to:
• Put off falsehood and put on truth
• Put off anger and put on reconciliation
• Put off laziness and put on hard work
• Put off words that tear down and put on words that build up
• Put off bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander and malice and put on kindness, compassion and forgiveness.
This morning, we’re going to deal with only one verse. It’s not that this verse is hard to understand. In fact, it’s probably one of the most straight forward verses we’ve encountered in our journey through Ephesians. I am convinced that it is, however, one of the most difficult verses for us to apply within the body of Christ and I have a lot of evidence to support that assertion. Let’s begin by reading this verse out loud together.
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
Ephesians 4:25 (NIV)
As I said, this verse is very straight forward. In fact, it lends itself quite naturally to a perfect 3 point sermon:
• Put off falsehood
• Put on truth
• Obey these two commands because we’re all members of the same body.
And you know me. I’d love to just give you those three points with a few sub-points and some supporting Scriptures, let you fill in a few blanks on your outline and everything would be all wrapped up nice and tidy. But I’m convinced that wouldn’t really take any of us where we really need to go with this passage. You’ll notice that all you have on your outline today are a few verses we’ll look at and lots of room to make your own notes. I encourage you to make whatever notes you think might be helpful to you, but what I really want you to do today is to listen to what’s on my heart, because I’m convinced that is also what is on God’s heart.
Paul begins by making it clear that if we are to dress the part according to what Jesus has already done for us, that we need to put off falsehood. The word “falsehood” comes from the Greek word from which we get our English prefix “pseudo” which we use to describe something that appears to be genuine, but is not. For instance when someone uses a pseudonym, it is a name that appears to be genuine, but is not.
So when Paul writes that we are to put off falsehood, that word covers a broad variety of things that appear to be genuine, but are not. It goes far beyond just lying, which is how the word is translated in the KJV.
Most of us don’t have problems identifying outright lies. But most falsehood is much more subtle than that. Consider these top ten lies that are a little more subtle:
1. The check is in the mail.
2. I’ll start my diet tomorrow.
3. We service what we sell.
4. Give me your number and the doctor will call you right back.
5. Your luggage isn’t lost, it’s only misplaced.
6. Leave your resume and we’ll keep it on file.
7. I just need five minutes of your time.
8. Your table will be ready in a few minutes.
9. Open wide, it won’t hurt a bit.
10. I’m from the government and I’m here to help you.
We laugh a little uneasily at many of those because most of us have either used some of those or we’ve had someone else use them on us. But perhaps even more insidious falsehood occurs when we actually attempt to use true facts to deceive others.
This week I read the story of a captain and his first mate on an oil tanker who were often at odds with each other. One day the first mate, who normally did not drink, became intoxicated. The captain, seeing his chance, entered in the daily log: "Mate drunk today." He knew this was his first offense, but he wanted to get him fired. The mate was aware of his evil intent and begged him to change the record. The captain, however, replied, "It’s a fact, and into the log it goes!" A few days later the mate was keeping the log, and concluded it with: "Captain sober today." Realizing the implications of this statement, the captain asked that it be removed. In reply the first mate said, "It’s a fact, and in the log it stays!"
Perhaps Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of our verse in The Message gives a little more insight into Paul’s writing here:
What this adds up to, then, is this: no more lies, no more pretense. Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself.
Ephesians 4:25 (Message)
I especially like the phrase “no more pretense”. Given the context in which Paul is writing here in chapter 4, that seems to be the best word to describe what falsehood is in today’s culture. And Paul is particularly concerned that his readers not engage in pretense within the body of Christ, the church.
Unfortunately our church is not immune to followers of Jesus Christ who fail to put off falsehood at times. And I can say that with confidence because I know that I can be one of the biggest offenders. I know what a lot of you are thinking right now. I would never lie to or deceive my Christian brothers or sisters. I hope that is true of your life, but let me give you a little food for thought.
• Are you a different person when you’re at church or you’re around other Christians than you are the rest of the week? Do you have one vocabulary that you use at church and another at work, another at home and another that you use when someone cuts you off in traffic? Do you treat your co-workers, neighbors, friends and family members differently that you treat people at church on Sunday morning? Are the movies and TV shows you watch consistent with what you profess to believe? If you’re trying to live several different lives depending on your setting, then I would suggest that you are still clothed with falsehood.
• When people ask you how you’re doing, do you just say “fine” or are you honest about how you’re really doing? Do you feel free to share your hurts with others or are you afraid of what others might think of you? I’m not saying that you have to just “dump” on people and burden them with all of your problems. But if you’re not willing to be honest about your life with others, that’s a form of falsehood.
• Have you ever told someone that you would pray for him or her and then not followed through? Perhaps you just said it because it sounded spiritual, but you really never had any intention of doing it. Or maybe you really meant well, but you never followed through.
• Have you ever made a commitment to some ministry in the church and then not followed through? Maybe something came up to keep you from fulfilling your commitment, or you just got too busy, or maybe you even honestly just forgot. But you never let anyone know what happened.
Remember the words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount:
Simply let your ’Yes’ be ’Yes,’ and your ’No,’ ’No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
Matthew 5:37 (NIV)
When we promise to pray for someone and we don’t or when we fail to keep our commitments, then we’re still clothed with falsehood.
• Are you struggling with some temptation or sin in your life, but you’re afraid to share that with anyone else? Maybe you’re afraid that someone will betray your confidence or you’re worried about what someone else is going to think of you. Maybe you don’t want to appear weak. This verse from James may very well be the most ignored command in all of Scripture:
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed...
James 5:16 (NIV)
We sure don’t do that very much, do we? But when we don’t, we’re engaging in falsehood.
• Do you refuse help from others when it is offered? Do you tell others that you’ll be fine on your own or tell them you don’t need the help, when you know that you really could use that assistance? I think even that can be a form of falsehood.
So why are we so prone, even as followers of Jesus Christ, to leave on the old clothing of falsehood? Certainly part of the answer to that question is that even though our sins have been forgiven through the blood of Christ, we still have our old sin nature that tugs at us and tries to draw us back to our former way of life, even though we know that’s a place that we don’t ever want to go.
I looked at several secular articles this week that discussed the reasons that people lie and engage in falsehood. Interestingly enough, there seemed to be some pretty widespread agreement among these articles on four of the most common reasons:
• Greed
Many people engage in falsehood because they believe it will help them get something they want – power, money, social status, or admiration. So we embellish our resumes and exaggerate our accomplishments. We file false insurance claims or cheat on our taxes or run scams in order to obtain money that doesn’t rightfully belong to us.
• Fear
This usually starts at a very young age. One of our parents asks, “Did you hit your brother?” And of course, wanting to escape the punishment that we fear, we quickly answer “no.” “Then, why is there a red mark on his arm?” “I don’t know.” “You didn’t have any thing to do with that?” “Well, my fist may have accidentally run into his arm?” “In other words you hit him, right?” “It all depends on how you define the word ‘hit’.”
• Acceptance
We often resort to deceit so that we’ll be liked, accepted and appreciated. With the advent of the internet, a lot of people have really become experts at this. Online, even I can be 6’3’’ with a full head of hair and six pack abs and drive an expensive, fancy sports car.
• Habit
There is quite a bit of research to support what most of us instinctively know – the more we lie and get away with it, the more likely we are to make lying and deception a habit. That certainly was true of the lives of the unbelievers that Paul described throughout his letter to the Ephesians.
But I think we could narrow down the reasons for practicing falsehood even further. All four of these reasons we’ve discussed have one root problem: pride. If you think about it, all these reasons arise from an overly self-centered view of life. It’s about what I want, how I might get hurt, how I am going to be accepted by others and about what’s comfortable for me.
But as we saw last week, it’s not enough to just take off the old clothing of falsehood. We have to also put on the new clothing of truth. When Paul writes that we are to speak truth with our neighbors, it is not a suggestion, it is a clear command which is based on the word of God as recorded in the Old Testament:
These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; do not plot evil against your neighbor, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this," declares the LORD.
Zechariah 8:16, 17 (NIV)
And the command that Paul gives here is in the present tense, so he is literally saying that we need to keep on speaking truth within the body. I’ve spent quite bit of time focusing on falsehood here this morning because I’m not sure that we always recognize falsehood within the body in its various forms.
But I don’t think I need to spend any more time on the idea of speaking truth. We’ve already talked about that quite a bit in our journey through Ephesians, especially here in Chapter 4. And once we begin to see how we engage in falsehood, it’s pretty easy to see what is required to speak truth – it’s the polar opposite of falsehood.
But perhaps the words from two great theologians would be helpful to us in that endeavor.
First here is a quote from one of my favorite theologians, Mark Twain:
When in doubt, tell the truth. It will confound your enemies and astound your friends.
Or as the great Kimo put it in his Kimo’s Kauai Rules which are memorialized on my favorite t-shirt:
Tell the truth – there is less to remember.
What I’m most concerned that we understand today, however, is why falsehood is so devastating to the body of Christ. When Paul gives us the reason for putting off falsehood and speaking truth at the end of verse 25, he literally writes that we are “all members of one another.” And that statement certainly gives us some insight into...
WHY FALSEHOOD IS SO DEVASTATING:
• It violates the character of God
Even though Paul doesn’t mention this directly, this principle is clearly seen if we read verse 25 within the context of the entire letter, and especially Chapter 4. If the church is the body of Christ, then it should reflect His character, which is clearly seen in this Old Testament passage:
God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
Numbers 23:19 (NIV)
As we’ve seen several times in the last few weeks, Jesus is truth, the embodiment of the character of His heavenly Father. And when we, as His body, fail to put off falsehood and put on truth, we violate His character and in the process we rob Him of the glory which is due to Him.
• It hurts me
When falsehood becomes a habit in my life, there are consequences, just as the writer of the Proverbs pointed out.
A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who pours out lies will not go free.
Proverbs 19:5 (NIV)
There are consequences to our falsehood. But I think that at least some of the punishment we face for that kind of lifestyle is a little less obvious than we might immediately think of. There are two things that happen when our lives become characterized by falsehood. The first is that we lose our integrity and that others can no longer trust us. Friedrich Nietzsche once wrote this about the consequences of falsehood:
What upsets me is not that you lied to me, but that from now on I can no longer believe you.
I think that most of us recognize how falsehood hurts us in that manner. But there is also a flipside that I’m not sure we tend to consider. When we fail to put off the old clothing of falsehood, we also have a hard time believing and trusting others. George Bernard Shaw certainly understood that when he wrote:
The liar’s punishment is not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else.
It’s bad enough that falsehood violates the character of God and that it brings harm to us, but Paul’s main focus is on what he seems to consider the most devastating impact of all:
• It hurts the body
When Paul writes that we are all members of each other, he is once again proclaiming a principle that he has written about throughout Ephesians as well as in his other letters. Perhaps that principle is clearest in Romans:
so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
Romans 12:5 (NIV)
That’s very consistent with what Paul has written in Ephesians where he has described how we’re all connected together. So when one part of the body suffers, the rest of the body suffers along with it. And that’s particularly true when it comes to falsehood.
Imagine that we sit down to eat a meal and we have a fork in our hand. Suppose the eye deceives the hand about where the mouth is. What will happen? Our hand is going to stab some other part of the body rather than put the food in our mouth. And that would definitely hurt and harm the body.
And that’s what happens in a spiritual sense when one member of the body lies or deceives the rest of the body. Great harm and injury is done. That harm is usually not physical, but it’s hurtful nonetheless.
I obviously can’t list all the ways that falsehood hurts the body of Christ, but let me share with you just a couple that seem to be the most prevalent:
o Relationships are damaged
I am thankful for a wonderful wife and a great marriage relationship. But when I look back over the years, the most difficult times in our relationship as husband and wife occurred when I wasn’t totally honest with Mary. Maybe I didn’t out and out lie to her, but I deceived her in some way – usually by just omitting the truth or by failing to share how I really felt. That falsehood harmed our relationship because it damaged the trust that we had built up with each other over the years.
The same thing occurs in the church. When we engage in falsehood, it damages the trust that we have built up within the body. And that certainly has a detrimental impact on the relationships among the members of the body.
Many of us here in this room have either been part of a church split or we’ve been impacted by one in some way. And I’m convinced that in most of those cases the split is not over some major theological or doctrinal issue, but rather it is a result of relationships that have been damaged because of falsehood within the body.
o Ministry is hindered
God places His family within a body of believers so that we can all minister to each others’ needs. Here’s how Paul described that process in another letter:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
2 Corinthians 1:3, 4 (NIV)
But when we’re not transparent and honest with others in the body, we often rob them of the opportunity to minister in exactly that way. When I’m not willing to open up and let my Christian brothers and sisters know I’m hurting, not only do I hurt myself, but I also keep other members of the body from being able to use the gifts and experiences that God has given to them to minister in my life.
o Healing is delayed
Mary and I went to see the movie “Bella” this week. I’m not usually one to recommend movies, but I’d encourage you to see this one. Just in case you want to go see the movie, I won’t give the whole story away, but the movie is about two people who need healing in their lives. But both of them have essentially lived a life of falsehood when it comes to their hurts. They have tried to bury the hurts by not speaking about them to others. But by trying to bury the hurts they have actually prevented the healing that they so desperately need. It is not until they begin to be honest with others and with themselves that healing can begin to take place.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happens in the church so often. We fail to obtain the healing that we need because we’re too afraid to be honest with others in the body. And we men are the worst offenders. I guess we’ve been brought up to think that the ultimate compliment that someone can pay to us is to call us a “self-made man” and that to seek help when we’re hurting is a sign of weakness. But when we do that we miss out on the very means that God has provided in our lives for the purpose of helping us to heal – the body of believers that we are an integral part of.
Maybe you’ve sensed this morning that this message is very personal for me. And if you sensed that, you’re absolutely right. Over the past several weeks, my heart has been broken as I’ve seen members of this body who have gone through some tremendous difficulties alone because they weren’t willing to be honest and open and share those things with others in the body. Because these are my brothers and sisters in Christ, I’m affected by their hurts, and so are all of you, even though you may not even realize it.
But I guess what really bothers me the most is to look at my own life and wonder if there is something I’m doing that is preventing others in the body from putting off falsehood and putting on truth. Have I failed to follow through on promises that I’ve made? Have I betrayed a confidence so that someone no longer feels that he or she can trust me? Have I not demonstrated that I am open and vulnerable and approachable in my own life?
I think if we’re honest in evaluating our body here, we’d all have to admit that we have a long way to go in making this a place where falsehood is put off and truth is put on. So I’d like all of us to think about some of those same questions that I asked myself this week. And then take the risk of being brutally honest with our answers.
But just answering the questions isn’t enough. I want to encourage all of us to put this message into application by picking out one thing that we can do, beginning right now, to put off falsehood and promote truth in our church. So I’ve left a place for you on your sermon outline to write down one practical step that you can take to be part of the solution. During our response time, I’m going to put up some of these questions again, just as food for thought. And my prayer is that all of us will leave here today committed to doing what we can to make this local body a place of truth
