On Lying

We spent some time last evening talking about the topic of "Lying".  We noted that lying usually makes us feel angry, disappointed, sad and overall is something we would prefer it did not take place in our lives.  We looked at the way the Bible describes lying, as a sin and we talked about practical way of avoiding lying and trying to always tell the truth.

The notes of our discussion are below.

July 25, 2011

On Lying

Opening question: How do you feel when your find out that a close friend has lied to you about something?

Often we may find ourselves in situations in our lives and in our relationship with other people when we either say or are told a lie.  Our feelings in these cases may range from guilt, to sadness, to anger, to rage.

Today, we are going to look at a few Biblical examples of lying and how to address this issue in our lives.

1.         Is lying a sin?

Some people in the world do not have a problem with lying.  People lie for many reasons: to avoid the consequences (I didn’t do that); to move along in their careers (taking the merits for things they have not done); to impress their friends and relatives (that is why fish grow even long after their dead).  Some lies are justified by the outcome from them, for example a general lying to the soldiers in the fields about reinforcements arriving in order to boost their spirits or the doctor lying to the patient about the state of their disease, to increase their courage to fight the disease.

In the Bible, we are introduced to the sin of lying in the Garden of Eden.  In Genesis 3:4, the serpent (the Devil), told Eve that she was not going to die, even though God clearly commanded Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  The consequences of this “lie” that Eve believed were both spiritual and physical death for all mankind.

The position that God takes with regard to lying is expressed very clearly in Exodus 20:16, the verse that commands the Hebrews: “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour. 

We are told in Colossians 3:9: “Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices.”  Lying is an evil practice and we should have none of it.

If the sin of lying is such a detestable things that God hates it, according to Proverbs 6:16-19, how do we deal with it?

2.         Stop lying and start telling the truth

As with other kinds of sin, the solution to the sin of lying is to stop doing it and start telling the truth.  This may be difficult, if lying is something that you have struggling in throughout all your life.  But many things do not come easy in life and the more you try, the better you will be at telling the truth.

Avoid putting myself in a situation where I may be lying or forced to lie.  If you have friends who are lying to you all the time or you feel like you have to lie to them when you go out with them, then you may want to consider your friendship.

An alternative to lying is choosing not to answer a question if you believe it is quite sensitive.  If you believe that it is too sensitive to tell someone how much money you make, don’t lie, but say something to the effect of “I’d rather not talk about that” or “that’s something I don’t like to talk about.”  People may not get your clue the first time, but eventually they will.

At times, lying is only the cover for a greater sin in our life, the symptom of another disease we may have.  If that is true, we need to address the underlying sin.  If you did not do anything sinful yesterday, there is no need to lie when you are asked “How was your weekend?  What did you do?”  If there is nothing sinful in your activities at work, there is no need to lie when co-workers ask you about something and so on.  If you are actually working and not playing solitaire, you will not fear questions such as “What are you doing”?

3.         The benefits of telling the truth

First of all, lying is sinning and we are commanded not to live in sin.  The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).  Revelation 21:8 reserves for liars in the lake of fire and definitely I do not want to be there.

Moreover, telling the truth is always beneficial, not just for you, but also for the people around you.  If you are honest, you have nothing to fear or stress out in your life (oh, what if people found out about this or that – I have to make up an explanation for this or that) and you can be a good influence about God and Christ to other people.  We all know the story of the boy crying wolf and definitely we do not want to be that boy.  Other neighbours, acquaintances, friends will tell sooner or later whether we are truthful or not and will not believe us even when we are trying to tell them about the truths of the Gospel.

Jesus himself said in Luke 16:10 that “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much."  The more you are truthful and honest in your life, in everything that you do, the more God will use you in his plan of saving the world and proclaiming the gospel to the lost.  If you show that you can be trusted with little things, the truths of daily life, God will entrust you the truths of His kingdom as well.

Conclusions

Lying is a sin and God hates all kinds of sin.  It is important for us to stop sinning and be honest with everyone and about everything.  In this way, we will be able to reach the lost souls of this world and proclaim to them the Gospel of salvation from God.

Campus Bible Talk 2011