What would you identify as the most damaging and disturbing of all sins? Of all our failings and missteps, what has the deepest, darkest and most long-lasting negative impact?
There are, sadly, many contenders. Personally, I think a strong case can be made for the sin of lying – those times when we deliberately mislead others by communicating something false. It’s probably not the most obvious choice. It’s also a sin we trivialise – referring to “little white lies” and being “economical with the truth” – phrases which suggest there are lies that are necessary, perhaps even loving.
The Bible and lying
The Bible, by contrast, is uncompromising in its condemnation of lies. The Lord detests lying lips, Proverbs 12v22 tells us. Proverbs 6v16-18 identifies a lying tongue as one of the “things the Lord hates”. The psalmist appeals for help in the face of lies: “save me, Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues” (Ps.120v2). And the impact of deceit is also made clear: “a lying tongue hates those it hurts” (Prov.26v28).
Lying stands in complete contrast with the character of God. He is one who “does not lie” (Titus 1v2), whose Word is “right and true” because “he is faithful in all he does” (Ps.33v4). The apostle Paul’s letters are filled with repeated declarations of his own trustworthiness. “I speak the truth in Christ – I am not lying” he says in Romans 9v1 (see also 2 Corinthians 11v31 and 1 Timothy 2v7). Without assurance of the truth of his words, Paul knows that his work as an apostle would be impossible
Lies and deceit are an expression of the work of the evil one who, according to Jesus in John 8v44, “is a liar and the father of lies”. In Ezekiel, God condemns the prophets of his day because “their visions are false and their divinations a lie” (Ezek.13v6). While Paul, in capturing the essence of sin, says people “exchanged the truth of God for a lie” (v25). Lying, evidently, is a really big deal.
Relationships and lying
We know this from personal experience. When it emerges that an esteemed Christian teacher or writer has lived a double life in which there has been extended and extensive deceit, trust is destroyed. It’s not that we expect our teachers to be perfect, but lies and deceit are somehow different – and their writing and teaching seem forever tarnished.
Lies also destroy relationships. Nothing is more corrosive than deceit because it makes honest relationship impossible. Once we begin to harbour doubts about the truthfulness of a person’s words, we stop being able to know who they are or who we are in relationship to them. Marriages can recover from many setbacks, but it is almost impossible to find a way forward in the face of ongoing deceit.
Truth telling and glory
If deceit is so contrary to the Bible’s teaching, so out of keeping with the character of God and has such devastating effects on our relationships, what can we do to avoid it? Identifying contexts where we are tempted to lie can help, but perhaps the greatest antidote to deceit is found in its opposite: being honest about struggle and being fulsome in grace.
For where people are honest about their failings, others will feel less need to lie about their own. And where shortcomings are met with grace, there is less reason to weave a web of deceit in order to impress. There is something deeply attractive about a community where honest relationships are the norm. It cannot help but expose the utter inadequacy of relationships built on half-truths and deceit.
In eternity nothing will be hidden: “I will know fully, even as I am fully known”, writes Paul (1 Cor.13v12). In anticipation of that day, God calls us to “put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbour, for we are all members of one body” (Eph.4v25). Communities obedient to that call are a wonderful signpost to the beauty of truth.
