Series: Big 10
“TO TELL THE TRUTH”
EXODUS 20:16
OPEN
One young boy is constantly late for school and what's worse is that he always has a big lie explaining why. The teacher tells the principal that she has had it with his exaggerations. The principal tells her to send the boy to him the next time he shows up late. He will tell the kid a lie so big that he will never tell another one.
The next day, the boy shows up 2 hours late. The boy says, “I was 2 hours early today so I had time to fish in the pond on my way to school. I caught a 17-pound bass and had to take it home. If I didn't clean it and freeze it, my mom would've been angry. That's why I'm so late”
The teacher promptly takes him to the principal's office and explains the story to the principal. The principal tells Johnny about his own trip to school that day. He says, “I was walking to school on the trail through the park today when I heard something behind me. I turned around and was shocked to see a giant grizzly bear behind me. He was 24 feet tall and had 6-inch fangs. He was going to attack me! Just then a little dog ran out from the bushes, jumped up and attacked the bear. The little dog killed the bear and then ate the whole bear right there in front of me. What do you think of that, young man?" J
The boy replied, “Oh yeah, that's my dog Sparky. That's his third bear this week."
We are born liars. You don’t teach kids how to lie. You teach them not to lie. 66% of all Americans say there is nothing wrong with telling a lie. When asked if they believed that honesty is the best policy, only 31% said they agreed with that statement. When you deal with other people – be it a business deal, in your family, in your neighborhood, at work, or in your school – tell the truth.
LYING DISHONORS GOD
Prov. 12:22 – The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy. Prov. 6:16-19 – There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, 19 a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. God hates lying so much that mentions it twice in that passage.
God is serious about his people being truth tellers and not liars. Deut. 19:16-21 – If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse someone of a crime, 17 the two people involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. 18 The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against a fellow Israelite, 19 then do to the false witness as that witness intended to do to the other party. You must purge the evil from among you. 20 The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. 21 Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
God’s hatred of lying is embedded in fact that he is the embodiment of truth. Heb. 6:18 –It is impossible for God to lie.” God cannot lie.
The essence God the Father is true – Rom. 3:4 – Let God be true, and every human being a liar. The essence of God the Son is true. Jn. 14:6 – “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The essence of God the Holy Spirit is true. Jn. 16:13 – “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” The Word of God, the Bible, is true . Jn. 17:17 – “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”
On the other hand, Satan is a liar and the father of lies. Jn. 8:44 – “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Lying is contradictory to the very nature of God. It puts us in the enemy camp.
LYING DECEIVES OTHERS
Webster defines a lie as “a false statement or action especially made with the intent to deceive; anything that gives or is meant to give a false impression.” Webster’s definition implies that there are many, many ways to tell a lie.
How do we lie? The first way that we lie is through revision. We just change our story in such a way that it distorts the truth. It can be a slight modification of the truth or it can be a total rewriting of the truth.
A second way that we lie is through slander. Slander is defined as an intentional lie about another person’s conduct or character with the intent to harm them in some way. Puritan preacher Thomas Watson said, “The scorpion carries his poison in his tail; the slanderer carries his in his tongue.”
We also lie when we pass gossip around. Gossip is slander’s ugly sister. Gossip is defined as “the spreading of unnecessary information that may or may not be true but is intended to be harmful to the person or persons being gossiped about.”
When we tell other people about how our children or spouse receives verbal messages from us, we say that it goes into one ear and out of the other. While that is not a good thing, there is something even worse. It’s when gossip goes in one ear and then out of the mouth.
Prov. 16:28 – A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends. Prov. 26:20 –Without wood a fire goes out; without a gossip a quarrel dies down. There’s an old Spanish proverb that says, “Whoever will gossip to you will gossip about you.” Trying to squelch gossip is like trying to unring a bell.
We lie through carelessness. We’re just not careful to get the facts straight and pass along erroneous information.
In one church in Indiana that I served, there was a woman who fell down a flight of steps and died. She, her husband, and her children were visiting relatives. Since this lady and her husband lived in Florida, one lady in the church took it upon herself to tell people that the funeral wouldn’t be held locally. The family was going back to Florida for the funeral and burial.
Because of that lady’s misinformation, the florists in that small town didn’t order any extra flowers. There was a mad scramble to get the flowers needed and still they ran out. That caused some animosity between several parties involved with the family and the memorial service. Even unintentional lies can be devastating.
We can lie through silence. If you know something is not true but fail to stand up against the falsehood, you become complicit in the lie. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
We can tell the truth but take it out of context so that the truth is not really the truth. We add details that didn’t happen or we exaggerate our own importance to the situation.
People take passages from the Bible out of context. Taking verses out of context leads to all kinds of error and misunderstanding. Understanding context begins with some important principles.
We have to look at its literal meaning (what it actually says). Then we have to look at the historical setting – what was happening in the world at that time or what was happening to the people to whom the passage of Scripture is addressed, the actual events of the story, to whom is it addressed, and how it was understood at the time it was given.
Then we have to look at grammar – the immediate sentence and paragraph within which a word or phrase is found. Then we have to synthesize it with other passages of Scripture and compare it to what the Bible says in other passages that deal with the same subject.
Context is crucial to biblical understanding. After we account for the literal, historical, and grammatical nature of a passage, we must then focus on the outline and structure of the book, then the chapter, then the paragraph. To take a passage out of context would be like looking online at Google Maps and then just zooming in on one house.
We rationalize that it’s ok to tell a lie if no one gets hurt. Someone always gets hurt. Prov. 25:18 – Like a club or a sword or a sharp arrow is one who gives false testimony against a neighbor.
If you’re a liar, you’re a troublemaker. Prov. 12:13-14 – A troublemaker and a villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth,13 who winks maliciously with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers,14 who plots evil with deceit in his heart— he always stirs up conflict.
Before you lie, stop and consider the fall-out of your falsehood. You’ll be hurt spiritually. It could impact your reputation when truth comes out. Others could be injured by it and God’s reputation will be injured as well. A hypocrite is someone who is living a lie.
LYING DESTROYS YOUR CHARACTER
William Shakespeare – “Honesty is the best policy. If I lose mine honor, I lose myself.” If lying is so detrimental then why do we lie?
Some of us lie out of anger and hurt. We lash out at people who we feel has wronged us and then seek vengeance by lying about them. We allow hatred and resentment to fester and infect those around them with their bitterness and rage.
James Garfield only served 200 days a President of the United States. He was shot twice on the morning of July 2, 1881 as he traveled to make a speech at his alma mater – Williams College by assassin, Charles J. Guiteau. He lived for a little over two months but On Monday, September 19, 1881, at 10:20 p.m. President Garfield suffered a massive heart attack and a ruptured splenic artery aneurysm, following blood poisoning and bronchial pneumonia.
Garfield didn’t die from the bullet wounds. He died because people kept poking and probing the wound which set up an infection that wouldn’t heal. When people hold bitterness and anger against others, they infect themselves with a poison that will destroy their lives.
Another reason why some people lie is out of fear. They’re afraid of what would happen if they told the truth. When we testify in a court case, we might be afraid that our truth telling will cause a criminal to hurt us or our family. A bully at school might seek to do me harm. A boss or a co-worker may seek vengeance. My siblings or other family members might look to hurt me because I told the truth.
A third reason someone might lie is they’re desire is to receive financial gain at all costs. So they misrepresent themselves of their product or they seek to swindle someone by making promises they never intend to keep.
Still another reason why people lie is to avoid embarrassment. According to one survey, 92% of those surveyed said they lie to avoid being embarrassed by their own stupidity.
The last reason we’re going to look at today is that we lie out of a desire for advancement. We pad our résumé thinking that we will get a better job without the effort to secure a better job. We cheat on tests at school because we want academic honors without the hard work that should accompany those honors. We want to move ahead in our life’s endeavors and we’ll seek to do it at any cost.
Whatever we do to rationalize our lying, it still doesn’t hold water. None of these reasons for lying can ever be justified.
LYING DECIMATES YOUR RELATIONSHIPS
Edwin R. Murrow: “To be persuasive, we must be believable; to be believable, we must be credible; to be credible, we must be truthful.” Our relationships should be one our greatest assets.
If you’re a liar, you will hurt your business relationships. Do you want to have good business relationships? Your customers have to trust you. They have to know that you’re working for their best interest and that you will stand behind you’re services or goods.
If you’re a liar you hurt your relationships with your friends. Do you want good relationships your with friends? Your friends have to trust you.
Several years ago USA Today did a survey and asked what would be the #1 quality you would want in your friend? Would it be loyalty, love, or affirmation? 94% said the attribute they would want in a friend above all else is honesty
If you’re a liar, you will destroy your family relationships. If you want a good relationship with your spouse, your spouse has to trust you. Kids, do you want to have a good relationship with your parents? Your parents have to trust you. Parents, do you want a good relationship with your kids? Your kids have to trust you.
Parents, you’ll never teach your kids a better principle than to be honest. One thing that my dad hammered home to me while growing up: Son, you’re no better than your word. Your word is your bond. A handshake is better than a contract. When you tell someone you’re going to do something, you do it. You be honest. You be a man of integrity. You keep your word.
If you have a friend who will speak truthfully to you out of concern for you, you are blessed beyond measure. You need someone in your life who will always tell you the truth. Prov. 28:23 (NLT) – In the end, people appreciate honest criticism far more than flattery.
When we lie, what we’re really saying to God is this: “I don’t trust that you can help me to handle the consequences of telling the truth. So, rather than tell the truth, I’m going to tell a lie to cover it all up. I’d rather tell a lie on my own than tell the truth with you by my side.”
CLOSE
I’ve saved one last relationship that is decimated by lying. It’s our relationship with God. Prov. 19:9 –A false witness will not go unpunished, and whoever pours out lies will perish.
If you still don’t believe lying is that big of a deal then pay close attention to Rev. 21:8 – But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
Do you know why liars go to hell? Do you know why you don’t get to spend eternity with God? People in hell have bought biggest lie of all. It’s the lie that says you can go to God anyway you want to go to God. You can believe whatever you want to believe just don’t believe the only way to heaven is Jesus Christ. He is the only one who ever died for our sins, came back from grave, the only one who claimed to be God in flesh. But who cares? Get to God any way you want.
The God who never lies says that you’re lost. You’re a sinner who needs to be saved. God also says, I loved you enough to die for you. Jesus is not just one way to heaven. He’s not even the best way to heaven. He’s the only way to heaven. The truth is, if you want to go to heaven, you must submit to him as Savior and Lord.
