Big Fat Liar
Secrets for Telling the Truth
10/22/03
I. Introduction
Clip – beginning where J
Jason Shepherd is a "serial" liar. He always has excuses for his homework, that is until he gets busted! He has one last chance to turn in a story or face the terror of Summer School (every student’s worst nightmare). As he is rushing to turn in his project he runs into the limo of Hollywood producer Marty Wolf. But just when it appears that Jason will get his paper in on time, he accidentally leaves it in the limo. His teacher and parents will no longer believe Jason and there’s a final breakdown in trust.
During the summer, Jason sees a movie trailer based on his short story. The problem is no one believes that he wrote the story and suddenly he realizes how his complete lack of truthfulness has created barriers in his relationship with Mom and Dad. Jason decides to go to Hollywood and have Marty call his father, you know, to set everything straight. This is the part of the film that is amazing. Jason’s motivation is not greed or fame; he simply wants his dad to believe in him again.
There’s quite a lot we can learn from this movie. I mean, you can tell that it’s gonna be about honesty and truthfulness and lying by the title “Big Fat Liar.” The story that Jason wrote is about a guy who continues to tell lies and the more that he lies, the bigger he becomes, until he’s this huge giant crushing everything he comes in contact with. He can’t even be close to people because of the fact that he’s gotten so big. It’s kind of like Pinocchio, the wooden puppet who couldn’t tell the truth, and the more that he lied, the longer his nose got, and it wasn’t until he told the truth that he was turned back into his normal self, and finally he became a real boy. And then there’s another story…
There once was a shepherd boy who was bored as he sat on the hillside watching the village sheep. To amuse himself he took a great breath and sang out, "Wolf! Wolf! The Wolf is chasing the sheep!"
The villagers came running up the hill to help the boy drive the wolf away. But when they arrived at the top of the hill, they found no wolf. The boy laughed at the sight of their angry faces.
"Don’t cry ’wolf’, shepherd boy," said the villagers, "When there’s no wolf!" They went grumbling back down the hill.
Later, the boy sang out again, "Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing the sheep!" To his naughty delight, he watched the villagers run up the hill to help him drive the wolf away.
When the villagers saw no wolf they sternly said, "Save your frightened song for when there is really something wrong! Don’t cry ’wolf’ when there is NO wolf!"
But the boy just grinned and watched them go grumbling down the hill once more.
Later, he saw a REAL wolf prowling about his flock. Alarmed, he leaped to his feet and sang out as loudly as he could, "Wolf! Wolf!"
But the villagers thought he was trying to fool them again, and so they didn’t come.
At sunset, everyone wondered why the shepherd boy hadn’t returned to the village with their sheep. They went up the hill to find the boy. They found him weeping.
"There really was a wolf here! The flock has scattered! I cried out, "Wolf!" Why didn’t you come?"
An old man tried to comfort the boy as they walked back to the village.
"We’ll help you look for the lost sheep in the morning," he said, putting his arm around the boy, "Nobody believes a liar...even when he is telling the truth!"
Aesop’s Fables contains this story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, and that’s the basic concept of Big Fat Liar…nobody believes a liar even when he is telling the truth.
II. Lying Gets You Nowhere
Proverbs 19:22 says, “What a man desires is unfailing love; better to be poor than a liar.”
Think for a second of the most helpless, homeless person you’ve ever seen…starving for food, and a place to stay…the Bible says that it’s better to be like this man, than to be a liar.
What constitutes a lie? A lie is a false statement deliberately presented as being true; a falsehood. Something meant to deceive or give a wrong impression.
Why do we lie?
Here are some common reasons why we lie:
One of the main reasons we may tell a lie is to make ourselves look better. Can you figure that one out? If I’ve done something I’m not supposed to do, it certainly would make me look better if I told people that I didn’t do it. But it would be a lie!
Another reason we lie is to get something that we want: Has there ever been a time when you really wanted something…say a bite of a friend’s delicious Whatchmacallit candy bar, and you told them…if you give me a bite of that candy bar, I’ll be your best friend! Now, you know that ain’t the truth…you just wanna taste of that crispy caramel crunchy goodness, you really won’t be their best friend.
Another reason we may lie is to keep ourselves out of trouble. Have you ever lied about your homework like Jason Shepherd in our movie? We’ve all used an excuse like my dog ate my homework, or I was up all night with my grandma who is extremely sick and on her deathbed…honestly, how many times can your grandmother die? And you’ve only got 2…so that excuse won’t work more than twice. We lie to keep ourselves out of trouble…whether it is with a teacher, our parents, our friends, or even the lunch lady who makes that “delicious meatloaf stew” from yesterday’s leftovers.
And of course, another reason we lie is “the devil made me do it.”
John 8:44 “44You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”
Satan is the father of lies and if you let him have any influence in your life, he’ll always influence you to lie.
Well, whatever the reason you may have for lying, there’s a consequence.
What happens when you lie?
Let’s look at a story of what happened to one fella when he told a little fib.
Acts 5:1-11 “1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. 2And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? 4While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God."
5Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. 6And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him.
7Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8And Peter answered her, "Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?"
She said, "Yes, for so much."
9Then Peter said to her, "How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out." 10Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband. 11So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.”
Will you be struck by lightning when you lie? Will you drop dead, Fred?
The Bible says that the wages of sin is death, well, evidently pay day came early for Ananias.
Well, what will happen to you when you lie?
Basically, you dig a hole that you can’t seem to get out of.
Now, I would be lying if I said that I’ve never lied, so I’m gonna tell on myself for your benefit. When I was working at Buffalo’s Café as a waiter, there was a couple who came in every week on Two-Bit Tuesdays. I served them once and gave them such great service that after that, they asked for me every week. Well, a couple of weeks go by and this couple came in and they told me that they saw me at the Dog Show the week before and that I had one of the best trained dogs they had ever seen. And they asked me how long I had been a dog trainer. Well, instead of disclosing the truth that I hated dogs and would rather die than be a dog trainer, I proceeded to let them believe that I was this dog trainer that they had seen. That’s what I thought was “little white lie” number one. Well, may I remind you that this couple came in every single week? And every week, this couple would ask about my dog training business. So, in order to not upset the couple, I kept deceiving them into thinking I was a dog trainer on the side, and for all I know, they still think I’m a dog trainer. But here’s the thing, I could have easily told them that they were mistaken and that I only worked at the restaurant and went to school, and in their eyes I wouldn’t have appeared any better or worse, but I thought that if I “lied” to please them, I would get a better tip. It didn’t happen, they left me the same amount as they had in the past and continued to leave me the same amount each time they came in. So, in this case, I dug a hole I couldn’t seem to get out of because every time I saw that couple, I felt uncomfortable and it reminded me that I was a little skinny liar on my way to being a big fat one.
Well, I’ve fessed up, what happened when you told a lie?
You see, it always begins with a small one, or what we think is a small one, but then you have to tell another to cover up for that one and so on and so forth until it gets completely out of hand and soon enough you don’t even know what’s truth and what’s fiction.
So, if lying gets you nowhere, what’s the obvious alternative?
To tell the truth.
III. Truth = Freedom
John 8:32 “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
The truth is not overrated. The truth exposes the lies, and absolute truth can cure us. The truth that Jesus is talking about in John 8 is closely related to who He is. He wants people to know that what is written about Him is truth…it’s the truth that leads to salvation that sets us free…it’s freedom from sin and not just freedom from being ignorant, uninformed, or in the dark. But it’s absolute freedom from sin.
The grace that God offers as freedom from sin can overcome this problem of lying. We don’t have to lie to make ourselves look better, or to get what we want, or to keep us out of trouble. We don’t have to lie period…Jesus Christ has chosen to set us free from sin.
John 8:36 “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Colossians 3:9-10 “9Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,”
The truth is that lying is part of the old man. You were a big fat liar before you got saved, but now, you’re in Christ, and in Christ there is no lying. In Christ, there’s only truth and only freedom.
John 14:6 “6Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Jesus said that he is TRUTH.
John 14:16 –17 “16And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever-- 17the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”
You have the Spirit of Truth on the inside of you prompting you to tell the truth, prompting you to be honest.
John 16:13 “13However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”
When you were saved, you became a new person with a new nature, and that new person is a truth-teller. So don’t lie. When you’re tempted to tell a lie, remember the consequences, and remember who you are in Christ. A person free from lying and bound by the truth.
Let’s pray.
