“Law & Order: SPU – Truth or Consequences”
Ex. 20:16; Eph. 4:14-16; Col. 3:5-10
I love the story from Derek Helt about a minister who, one Sunday morning, said to his congregation, “Next week I plan to preach about the sin of lying. In preparation for that message, I’m asking all of you to read Mark 17 this coming week.” The following Sunday, he stood up to preach and asked, “How many of you took the time to read Mark 17 this past week?” Nearly every hand went up. The minister smiled and said, “That’s very good, but Mark has only 16 chapters. I will now proceed with my message on the sin of lying.” It’s true, isn’t it, that most of us condemn lying yet we lie anyway. In fact, we are so accustomed to lying that we often don’t recognize when we do it. In Boston, a minister noticed a group of boys standing around a small stray dog. “What are you doing, boys?” he asked. “Telling lies,” one of them replied. “The one who tells the biggest lie gets this dog.” The minister was shocked and said to them, “When I was your age, I would never have thought of telling a lie.” The boys looked at each other, seemingly a little crestfallen. Finally, one shrugged and said, “I guess he wins the dog.” I wonder this morning, how many dogs have you won?
To grasp the import of this commandment, “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor,” let’s look briefly at THE DEFINITION OF FALSE WITNESSING. It originally had major reference, in the Old Testament, to being truthful within the judicial system, but it took on a broader meaning over time. I believe the Heidelberg Catechism captures it well (Q & A #112): “God’s will is…that I do not give false testimony against anyone, twist anyone’s words, or gossip or slander, or join in condemning anyone without a hearing or without just cause.” Lying is more than passing along an untruth or saying something that isn’t factual. The essence of a lie is THE INTENT TO DECEIVE OR TO BE UNTRUTHFUL. In Exodus 20:16 the Hebrew words means ‘untrue’ while the word used for the same commandment in Deuteronomy 5:20 means insincere. Both point to a deceitful nature that breeds falsehood; an insincere untruth. It is to unduly or unjustly influence someone, or someone’s reputation.
This means, by the way, WE CAN TELL A PARTIAL TRUTH AND YET STILL LIE. A captain on a ship disciplined a certain sailor for an infraction of the regulations. This sailor then held a deep grudge against the captain. One day the captain was sick, and this sailor with a grudge against him was in command on the watch. On this particular ship, it was the duty of the person in command to record the daily entry into the ship’s log. That day, the sailor with the grudge entered into the log, “The captain was sober today.” Now, this was the truth—he was sober everyday—he didn’t drink. However, noting that he was sober that day was a selective truth. The sailor said it because he wanted to hurt the captain’s reputation. Consequently, the truth was stated in such way as to be a lie. It was not ‘the whole truth and nothing but the truth.’
Yet even this careful definition is somewhat problematic. THERE ARE SOME DILEMMAS WHEN IT COMES TO LYING AND TRUTH-TELLING. For example, husbands, your wife comes into the room with a brand new hairdo that looks more like a bird’s nest, and wearing a brand new dress that looks like a pup tent on her. She immediately asks, “How do I look?” If you are going to be obedient to the commandment, what do you say? Will you deceive and be untruthful? Tell a partial truth? Or is a little white lie for the sake of peace okay – no harm, no foul? Can you say, “Man – it’s really becoming” without telling what it looks like she’s becoming? IS IT REALLY NECESSARY TO ALWAYS TELL THE WHOLE TRUTH?
Consider Joshua 2. “Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. "Go, look over the land," he said, "especially Jericho." So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. The king of Jericho was told, "Look! Some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land." So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: "Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land." But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. I don't know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them." (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.” When she tells the spies of her actions they bless her and enter into an agreement to protect her and by the end of the chapter we realize it is all done for and with God’s blessing. Is it true that, as J. I. Packer asserts, “TO BEAR FALSE WITNESS FOR ONES NEIGHBOR IS NOT SO BAD AS BEARING FALSE WITNESS AGAINST HIM?”
Joy Davidman proposes another dilemma. “If a man comes to my door waving a gun and announcing that he’ll shoot his wife the minute he finds her, I shall certainly tell him that I have not seen her for a week, even though I’ve just finished hiding the poor woman in my closet. IS LYING TO PROTECT LIFE CONDEMNED BY THIS COMMAND? What about Christians and others who secretly hid Jews from the killing forces of Hitler? Were they sinners?
And CAN WE LIE TO BENEFIT OTHERS? In her book on lying Sheila Bok poses several other dilemmas. “Should physicians lie to dying patients so as to delay the fear and anxiety which the truth might bring? Should professors exaggerate the excellence of their students on recommendations in order to give them a better chance in a tight job market? Should parents conceal from children that they were adopted? ...Should journalists lie when they seek information in order to expose corruption?”
Indeed, this is a commandment that is not so clear cut and therefore not so easy to apply. But before we look further at what living out and speaking truth looks like in the midst of such dilemmas, considering THE DESTRUCTIVENESS OF FALSE WITNESSING can serve as another backdrop for our understanding. Whatever we say about others influences them, us, and how others perceive them and us. LYING BREEDS CONSEQUENCES. The Heidelberg Catechism mentions one. I should avoid lying and deceit of every kind; these are devices the devil uses, and they would call down on me God’s intense wrath.” GOD SEVERELY PUNISHES LYING AND DISHONESTY. There are some passages in your reading for the week that demonstrate this. Because of the consequence we’re about to mention, God hates lying. It is, in fact, one of the reasons people will be cast into hell at the final judgment (Rev. 21:8 and 22:15): “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death… Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood."
Another consequence is that LYING IDENTIFIES US WITH SATAN. Lying is part of his image, not God’s. No sin is more precious to Satan than lying. He is, in fact, called in the Bible “the father of lies.” (Jn. 8:44) Identifying with Satan separates us from God.
Thirdly, LYING BREEDS MISTRUST. As Friedrich Nietzsche wrote, “What upsets me is not that you lied to me, but that from now I can no longer believe you.” While on vacation last winter I was listening to a television preacher from a renowned church (and our denomination) as she told a story that she claimed occurred in one of their children’s Sunday school classes a few weeks prior. It was a cute story – except I had read it on the internet many months prior. I asked myself how I could ever believe her message, and her gospel, if I could not believe her.
IT ALSO DESTROYS CHARACTER. It destroys the character OF OTHERS. Lying – and its relative slander and defamation (both forms of lying) – convicts, sentences, and punishes its victims in the fickle court of public opinion. Once I say something about someone, many will accept it as truth while many others will always wonder; I’ve damaged their reputation. Like the old illustration of squeezing toothpaste out of a tube, once the words are spoken and the damage is done, the words can never be taken back or the damage erased. Never forget that Jesus was crucified partially because of false witness. But it also destroys and damages the character OF THE FALSE WITNESS. A woman named Jan was visiting her mother. The two women went for walk and bumped into her mother’s pastor. “Is this your daughter?” he asked. “Oh my, I remember when she was this high.” Without pausing Jan’s mother said, “Well, she’s 24 now.” Jan, who was really 35, nearly fainted on the spot. After they said good-bye to the pastor, Jan asked her mother why she had told such a whopper. “Well,” she replied, “I’ve been lying about my age for so long, it suddenly dawned on me that I’d have to start lying about yours too.”
False witness also is destructive in that it TEARS APART THE FABRIC OF SOCIETY. Lies subvert a fundamental requirement for a peaceful civilization. As George Bernard Shaw wrote, the liar’s punishment is not that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else.
Knowing the destructiveness of false witnessing, of not telling the truth, how do we approach truth-telling in the midst of our dilemmas? What is the path the DELIVERANCE FROM FALSE WITNESSING? Once again the Heidelberg Catechism gives us some good guidance. “I should love the truth, speak it candidly, and openly acknowledge it.” We have no issue with that, but what about in our dilemma situations? The Catechism answer continues, “And I should do what I can to defend and advance my neighbor’s good name.” It’s this second portion of the catechism answer that gives us a clue as to the tough calls of truth-telling. We must strive to BALANCE TELLING OF TRUTH WITH PROTECTION OF AND THE GOOD WELFARE OF OTHERS. Hear the testimony of the Bible. Certainly we must speak the truth. Jesus said (Mt. 5:33-37), "Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” Make sure your honesty and truthfulness are such that others trust what you say simply because you said it. But we must balance that truth with love and concern for our neighbor’s welfare. (Eph. 4:25, 29) “…each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor…Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs…” Always speak the truth but do not always speak all the truth.
Second, we must HOLD EACH OTHER ACCOUNTABLE for truth-telling. Lovingly confront others – whether children or adults – with even the slightest evidence of false witness. As I said at the beginning, we lie so easily that we often don’t realize we are doing so – so we need to help each other.
A third step of deliverance is to always CONSIDER THE PARTICULAR SITUATION. Ask yourself some pertinent questions. “Will what I’m about to say honor God? Will it enhance and honor my neighbor’s good name? Will saying this express love?” Remember the dilemma of the wife entering the room with the new hairdo and dress? At that point, the relationship is most important. There are no ‘facts’ at issue, just opinions. Let love rule.
And, fourth, MAINTAIN A RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS, the source of all truth. Pray daily that He will continue to fill you with the Spirit of truth. Then your ‘Yes’ will be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ will be ‘No.’
In the play, The Desperate Hours, there is a powerful scene of a family being held hostage. The play reaches its climax in the scene with Ralph, the young son, his father, and their captor. The man holds a pistol to Ralph’s head and tells the family that if they move, he is going to kill the boy. What the man and family do not know is that the father was able to take the bullets out of the pistol. So the scene is tense as the man points the gun at Ralph’s head. Then the father says, “Now Ralph, I want you to listen to me carefully. I have not lied to you my whole life, and I am not lying to you now. I am telling the truth. The gun is not loaded, and the man cannot hurt you. When I count to three, I am opening the door, and I want you to run out. He won’t be able to hurt you.” The father counts to three, and Ralph pulls away. The man is frustrated, and the audience hears the gun clicking; it is empty. Ralph is free. “Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'. And your influence will free others to trust you with their very lives.
