Proverbs 12: Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

"The lip of truth shall be established forever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment." Proverbs 12:19


"Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight." Proverbs 12:22


"The righteous is more excellent than his neighbor: but the way of the wicked seduceth them." Proverbs 19:26


So, we've covered this briefly before, but I thought I'd go ahead and do a longer version of the topic of lying. 


I think true lies are one of the most damaging elements of speech today. You may be asking, "what does he mean 'true lies', isn't that an oxymoron?" Yes, now that I wrote it out, I see that. What I mean is, lying with intent to hurt or slander is considered by most of us to be the 'bad' type of lies. 


Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor--Exodus lays it out right there. Slanderous statements, as pointed out a couple of blogs ago, can truly damage a person. I often wonder if those who tormented me at my last job ever realized how much of a struggle it became just to show up everyday. 


Let's take a look at some types of lies, because it seems that God hates ALL lies, however large or small.
Let's start with the 'lesser' lies if you will. More than likely all of you, myself included, have told a lie of some sort in the past month, maybe week. Some maybe in the past hour. Bear in mind as always that as Christians, we have Christ's forgiveness, and though we should always seek to turn completely from sin, we are in fact human and sinful by nature. Thank God for the mediator through Jesus Christ. 


the Lie Of Omission- This is the one no one ever gives much thought to, but in reality is still technically a lie. This is the one that even if you went your whole life not outright lying, you'd still get up to God and be guilty of this one. It's tricky. I would define this as telling a story, or talking to someone, and leaving out key details in order to either spare their feelings, avoid a fight, or any other number of things. At its worst it is a means of hiding knowledge from someone.


the Little White Lie- I love the way your new haircut looks. Are those new shoes? They are so flattering on your feet. Welcome to the lie most commonly used in my opinion. We could also call this the 'I'm lying because if I told you the truth it would either cause awkwardness or damage our friendship' lie. We've all been there. Someone asks us a question and rather than express our true feelings, we sugar coat them. I just watched the Late Patrice O'Neal on netflix, and in his standup, he does a bit about truth telling in relationships. He says if guys were to express what was truly their gut feelings, they'd often come off as complete jerks. Meanwhile, he says, women can say basically whatever they want to their guys-straight from the gut. He goes on saying that a guy, when asked a question, puts it through a filtration system. I will paraphrase from this point on. He might be thinking, 'that dress really isn't flattering on you.' His gut would just come right out and say it--but that would not be good for the relationship. It makes a stop at his heart to analyze and filter. Then the feeling stops in the brain region for some final tweaking before finally leaving his lips as, "baby, that dress makes you look so nice." An outright lie in this example, but a necessary one some would say to avoid---relationship issues. 


Now Let me be honest. That past example was not about me and Juliet. We are fairly open with each other. I see her the way I see her and that has never been anything less than beautiful. She may think one thing, but I truly see her the same regardless of how she is feeling about herself that particular day. But I'm sure we've all still been guilty of these little white lies. I'm sure many Christians would justify these even on the basis that it spares feelings, and ultimately makes the world a better place. God might disagree. In reality, despite my categorization of types of lies, they are all equal in God's eyes. I could categorize all the types of sinning and it still wouldn't matter in the end because a sin is a sin. But for now, let's continue.


Slanderous Lies- "Oh my gosh Julie I totally saw Becky downtown last night and she was with a guy I didn't recognize." Rumors fly and now Becky is assumed to be cheating on her boyfriend who we will call Don in this example. (Names made up randomly). Now when Becky arrives at the office, she is getting very nasty looks from everyone. Becky's name is slandered and she is assumed to be a less than upstanding young woman at this point. Had the girl who saw her really looked into it, she would have realized that Becky's brother Tom was in town for the weekend and she was showing him around town. Ouch! The damage is done. Even if Becky was to explain at this point--it's likely no one would tell her about the rumor, choosing instead to white lie her about how nothing is wrong. We are spiraling out of control now right? 


False Witness- I always feel that this is more in the realm of a court case. An innocent man accused by the guilty party who then suffers the fate that should have been that of the guilty man. Bearing false witness. Someone saying you did something that you did not do, but coming up with enough fake evidence or people willing to lie, that innocence becomes guilt--and the wrong man is punished. I can think of a huge example of this---Jesus. Those who got him convicted knew very well he was technically not doing anything dangerous. Yet they chose a dangerous man to go free while condemning Christ, the innocent man, to a horrible death. Now we know this had to happen for our redemption--but it is still an example of false witness causing innocent people to suffer. Think before you try to blame something you do on someone else. The current slang I suppose is "throwing them under the bus." 


Coverup- Somewhat of a higher level lie of omission, the coverup has been destroying relationships for years. Men and women are often guilty. In order to cover something up, lies from all other categories often must be used. Therefore, I submit that the coverup is a horrible mash up of all other lies in order to hide something that causes the guilty party shame or trouble. How many marriages could have been saved if lying was not an option? The sting of telling the truth is sometimes hard at first, but once it's out and processed, those involved can grow through that honesty. Conversely, a coverup only goes deeper and deeper until finally it cannot be hidden any longer and explodes on the scene destroying everything in its path.


Straight up Lie- The grandaddy of lies. The 'I am going to lie to your face because I don't respect you' lie. Everyone has been here at least once in their life. We don't always know what possesses us to do it, but we just outright lie. Maybe as a kid you broke a window and lied to your parents so you wouldn't get in trouble. Maybe you lied about your job. Whatever the lie, God's word is clear that all lying is a sin. The solution, as with all sin, is simple in its concept, somewhat harder in execution deepening on the individual. For instance, as a Christian, no matter what I fail at or how I sin, I can take that to God. I repent and pledge to turn away from future sin--even though as a human that likely will be impossible. And, I am again given a clean slate. This is not a free pass to sin though. The Holy Spirit will convict Christians when they are in the wrong. Whether through guilt or worse consequences, even forgiveness cannot always eliminate the effects of your sin. A Christian who commits a crime of passion in the heat of the moment, may technically be forgiven by God. But, God will allow the consequences of our actions to still be present. There is no getting off scott free. Whether jail time or inner guilt, something happens when we sin, even as Christians. The next time you think that a Christian can just sin all they want and be forgiven, remember that all actions have effects, and sometimes even for Christians these can be severe. 


Let us strive to be people of honesty and integrity. It is difficult to practice, but let's try to live in total honesty with one another. It may hurt sometimes to hear the truth, but the knowledge that you are being the real you, and speaking your true feelings, however candid, is better in the long run. This does not mean run around telling people they are ugly or fat or being mean spirited in any way. But for those closest to you, strive to be candid with them. Lying is the easiest sin to fall into. We've all been there. And on that note, we are all still sinners in need of redemption. Christ provided that for us with His death. It is a simple prayer of acceptance. Accept the gift of salvation, offered to us freely. Trust that Jesus was who He said He was and did what He said He did. Don't let the world tell you otherwise. We all need somebody to lean on. And Christ says to lean on Him when we are not strong..and He will help you carry on. 


Keep the Faith friends.