Monday, November 11, 2013

Lying I's

There's a significance God places on something I'm beginning to think is hard to come by.

In Proverbs we read, "The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in those who tell the truth."

I want to say up front, I've lied before. Nothing big, mind you, but I've lied. Told an untruth. Mostly it was in my childhood when caught doing something I shouldn't have been doing. I lied my way out of it. But in a great irony, I never lied to my Mama because she could see through me like someone looking through very thin newspaper stock.

But I've lied. Told an untruth. Made up something in a spur of a moment thing.

But never have I lied to hurt someone. Never have I lied to make someone less than they would be if I hadn't told that lie. Never. I reject those kinds of things by the name of Jesus Christ.

There. That should do it, like a fly-swatter to a fly.

But I'm aware that it won't. There are people out there telling lies even though I can't understand the motive, but I've been made aware of it twice in one week. I've heard of lies being told by people I care about and lies being told about people I care about. And through it all I pray for both parties, and I'm left strung out like washed clothes on a thin line.

The prophecy about Jesus said this: ... "then God will establish one of David’s descendants as king. He will rule with mercy and truth. He will always do what is just and be eager to do what is right."

Truth, like stones in the sling of a future king. Truth, a staff to be hurled at the ground to split a sea. Truth, like an undergarment of protection. Truth. Words that that encourage and lift and love. Truth that is right and loving.

The Bible says that "... when you swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’ you could do so with truth, justice, and righteousness. Then you would be a blessing to the nations of the world, and all people would come and praise my name.”

That's truth. But ...the opposite would mean you are anything but a blessing and that people will not praise God"s name because of it -- or you.

Remember, Jesus said he was the "the way, THE TRUTH, and the life."  He prayed in the garden, "Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth."

The very Word of God is, to encapsulate the Gospel, truth. Truth told. Truth lived.

In the end, the Bible teaches there are several types of lying and they all hurt those who have been lied about:
1. Outright falsehoods
2. False promises
3. Flattery
4. False doctrine
5. Hypocrisy
6. Half truths
7. Self-deception

Here's the truth as I see it from a piece that Jim Meyer wrote:

CEOs, executives, and leaders of all types are routinely lied about … and that includes pastors. You wouldn’t believe the lies that have been told about me … or maybe you would. But aren’t God’s people to be purveyors of truth? Isn’t Jesus our Lord the One who said, “The truth shall set you free?” Yes and yes.

But when a major conflict invades a church, some people start lying. Peter Steinke, in his book Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times, writes that when a conflict “regresses to a forceful competition,” then: “Lying increases, taking many forms – half-truths, withholding information, inflating statistics and bloating claims, fabricating events, releasing publicly that [which] was to be private, double talk, and false attributions.” But why would any Christian lie? To get their way. To win a conflict. To defeat their opponents.

But isn’t lying wrong for a Christian? Yes. The ninth commandment (“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor”) stands for all time. Since God does not lie (Titus 1:2), and 1 Peter 2:22 reminds us that Jesus never lied (“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth”), God’s people are expected to be people of truth – even if the rest of the world lies.

But in all too many cases … when Christians want to win and make somebody else lose … they resort to lying. I’ll give you an example. I know a man who pastored a large church. Some conflict began to surface inside his congregation. This pastor told me that a woman wrote a letter to everyone in the church stating that the pastor did not believe several essential doctrines of the Christian faith. The woman’s statement was 100% false, but the pastor ended up resigning … and a Christian leader (whose judgment I trust) told me that this pastor is among the best Christian leaders in his part of the country. But he never pastored a church again.

While God cannot lie, Satan routinely lies. In Jesus’ words, the devil is “a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). The very phrase “devil” means “slanderer.” It’s Satan’s nature to lie.
When truth permeates a congregation, God prevails. But when lying becomes prevalent, Satan prevails. Let me make a strong statement: when people in a church lie to get rid of their pastor, they are inviting Satan to take control of their church. Such people no longer trust God because they no longer trust truth. They can’t push out their pastor unless they lie about him … so they lie … and unfortunately, all too often, the lies work."

Our president apparently has lied about ... fill in the president and/or fill in the lie.
Our leaders lie, our heroes lie, our friends lie, even loved ones lie, and there seems to be little consequence.

I think that it is instructive that in every scandal, there is lying when the person(s) who are involved are caught. And it almost never works.

But surely that doesn't happen in churches?

I've been told by many pastor friends of people lying their, er, assurances off about them, the pastor of the church, when simply telling the truth wasn't good enough to punish, inflict pain or gain or maintain control.

Why is this so important?

Meyer adds, "If we’re going to advance the kingdom of God in our generation, Jesus’ church needs to be characterized by truth. We need to adopt a zero tolerance policy about lying … especially about pastors. And if we catch people lying about pastors … because the consequences of such lies can be catastrophic for the church’s future and the pastor’s career … we’ve got to come down hard on the liars. They need to repent … even in front of the entire church … if we want God’s blessing.
But if we coddle the liars … and make excuses for them … and let them into key leadership positions … God help us. "Years ago, I decided that I want 5 words to summarize my ministry: HE TOLD US THE TRUTH. May every follower of Jesus have that same desire. 

Paul writes in Ephesians 4:25: “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.”

Amen. Right? All members of one body. Sorta, kinda, right? Aren't we? Or is that one big lie to all of us?

No comments: