THE TRUTH ABOUT LYING

Cleaning off my desk (partially anyway, so don't have a heart attack for those who know me and have seen my desk), I found a newspaper article from the Birmingham News January 20, 2008. I am sure my intention was to use it at some point in a sermon. However, I am a bit more desperate at this point to meet the deadline for my bi-weekly Let Your Light Shine article.

The article is titled, "Why Do We Lie?" It does not paint a pretty picture of our culture's ability and acceptance of lying. In the first place, the article cites the numerous circumstances which our culture not only readily accepts lying but expects it. Secondly, the author notes, "Sometimes, of course, dishonesty is the best policy. Lying, for all the bad it might cause, is an indispensable part of keeping our day-to-day lives running smoothly."

There is a vast difference between telling someone you are doing fine when you don't feel good as a matter of civil discourse and in telling someone an untruth in order to deceive them to gain some advantage over them (be it for prestige, position, cover up wrong-doing, etc.). A "white" lie is no better than a "black" lie. There are ways to express one's true feelings without lying even in uncomfortable situations. That is why it is important that we learn to think before we speak. Such learning is the practice of self-discipline.

Dishonesty as the best policy reeks of skepticism and moral relativism. Both of which, like dishonesty itself, are ultimately demeaning to the moral character and dignity of man. However, we might also emphasize, as another writer has wisely observed, "If a man is only honest for policy's sake he is a real rascal." There is no altar (be it convenience or appeasement) on which we can legitimately sacrifice honesty, any more than there is a policy that can justify dishonesty. Someone has said, "The devil has many tools but lying is a handle that fits them all." Jesus unmasked the devil for what he is when He declared, "…There is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies." (John 8:44)

Let your light shine, as Paul wrote to the Christians at Ephesus, "Therefore, having put away all falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor…" (Ephesians 4:25).