Is It Ever Okay for a Christian to Lie? [Class Summary]
As I read through all the homework that was turned in this Sunday, I noted that there were two broad camps into which the students' responses could be categorized:
Lying is never acceptable, and
Lying is okay if done for selfless motives (e.g., Corrie Ten Boom, Rahab).
In the vein of #2, a small number of kids said something along the lines of "lying is wrong, but God knows the heart." Yes, indeed God does know the heart of man:
“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? — Jeremiah 17:9
And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.” — Mark 7:20-23
Our biggest problem, at times, is that we don't see our sin the way God sees it...we whitewash or downplay our sin as we bank on the grace and mercy of God.
Quite a few submissions cited Corrie Ten Boom, saying that there were basically two options before her when asked "Are you hiding any Jews?"
Lie to the Nazis to protect those under her care, or
Tell the truth to the Nazis and make herself a liar to the Jews hidden in her house.
But this commits a bifurcation fallacy (i.e., a false dilemma). As I pointed out in class, there is (at least) one more option:
3. Refuse to answer or cooperate in any way (see Matthew 26:63; 27:12-14). This might result in your death, but we have precedent for that, too: John 15:13.
Twisted Priorities
After reading the last paper, the Holy Spirit reminded me of a conversation that Jesus had with a lawyer who asked Him, "What is the greatest commandment in the Law?" We're all, I'm sure, quite familiar with Jesus' response:
"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets. — Matthew 22:37-40 (cf. Deuteronomy 6:5, Leviticus 19:18)
Why did the Lord remind me of this passage? I think it's because some of our children have been so influenced by our relativistic culture where the ends can indeed justify the means, and where "love" (and I use the term advisedly) for others is promoted and used as leverage against us (e.g., "We wear a mask to show that we love our neighbors" implying that if you don't wear a mask, then you hate everyone and want grandma to die...but I digress). I think some of our kids have been influenced by the world to flip these two commands in their respective minds, probably without even realizing it—the greatest commandment is to love your neighbor, and the second is like it: to love God. They might not say so explicitly, because many of them know the right words to say in church (i.e., rote recitation of Matthew 22:37-40), but such a recital belies what they truly think when the rubber hits the road: if it means that someone might get killed if you tell the truth, then "love your neighbor" trumps "if you love me, you will keep My commandments." (John 14:15)
I hope this troubles you as much as it does me; after all, we are all going to have to stand before God and answer for what we have taught (or not taught!) our children (Mark 9:42; Judges 2:10-15).
Now, without a doubt, there are some passages in the Bible that seem to indicate that some people were blessed, ostensibly, for lying (Abraham in Genesis 12, 20; the Hebrew midwives in Exodus 1; Rahab in Joshua 2; and Jacob in Genesis 27, etc.), and the kids were quick to pick up on these, some of them using these passages for support of their position. But they do so in error, because they violate one of the cardinal rules of hermeneutics.
Herman Who?
Simply put, hermeneutics is the art and science of interpretation (in our context, biblical interpretation). It's an art because language is expressive and beautiful and can be used in myriad ways to express thoughts; it's a science because there are definite rules that must be followed in order to properly "pick up" what the author "put down" on paper (or in a collection of strategically-placed illuminated or darkened pixels on a screen). The rule I'm thinking of is:
The explicit constrains the implicit.
Put another way: "interpret the foggy in the light of the clear." So, when one verse is crystal clear, we don't then go to another verse that's murky or ambiguous and use that to reinterpret the clear verse so that the Bible presents a more culturally (or personally!) acceptable message.
It's not hard to find a metric truckload of verses that communicate in crystal-clear terms what God has to say about lying. Here're but a few:
Exodus 20:16
Leviticus 6:1-5; 19:11,12
Numbers 23:19 (cf. 1 Samuel 15:29)
Psalm 58:3; 63:11
Proverbs 6:16-19; 12:22; 13:5; 14:5,25; 19:5,9
Isaiah 59:1-4
Jeremiah 9:5
Micah 6:11-13
John 8:44
Acts 5:3,4
Colossians 3:8,9
Hebrews 6:18
Revelation 21:27; 22:15
The explicit message of Scripture could not be more plain: lying is the native language of Satan himself, and it is sin. So, any verses that we see that would prima facie seem to justify lying must be interpreted in the light of these verses. I'll pick a few of the most commonly cited and address each briefly:
The Hebrew Midwives: note that God does not say that He blessed them because they lied, but rather because "they feared God" (Genesis 1:21)
Rahab: note well that Rahab was not praised for her lying, but rather "by faith, Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace." (Hebrews 11:31, cf. Matthew 10:40-42)
Jacob: appears in the "hall of faith" because "as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff," not because he was a deceiver.
You know, I find it rather curious that when we speak of the sins of murder and adultery, I don't ever hear anyone attempt to use David as an example of "sometimes it's okay to sin...you know, if you're a man after God's own heart." (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22) Is that because David's sins were publicly dealt with due to his position of leadership? (Galatians 2:11; James 3:1) Or is it because we view lying as "not quite as bad" as murder or adultery? I hope you don't just gloss over that question...I think it bears some contemplation.
To end on a more positive note, I want to highlight some of the great responses I received for this assignment:
"When we lie, it's wrong...He will forgive us, but that doesn't make it right."
"...lies are used to trust in one's own powers instead of God's..."
"What if, instead of lying to get us out of a harmful situation, we trusted that God would use that situation despite the human doubts we might have?"
Amen, my young brothers and sisters in Christ. Amen.
The Bottom Line
My late pastor, Ken Hutcherson, used to tell the men in our discipleship group, "Your love for God ought to make your love for your parents, your wife, and your kids look like hatred." (Luke 14:26) He would then follow-up with the reminder that we must honor our parents, love our respective wives, and love our kids so much that they'd never guess they were a distant second place to God.
Seek first His kingdom, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. — Matthew 6:33