Thought for Today
Exodus 20:16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Proverbs 12:17 Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness speaks deceitfully.
Matthew 15:18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. 19 For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander.
Acts 5:3 "Ananias," Peter asked, "why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land?
Joseph Goebbels famously said, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” Douglas MacArthur supposedly called Franklin D. Roosevelt, “a man who would never tell the truth when a lie would serve him just as well.” You may remember that in the movie A Few Good Men, Jack Nicholson told Tom Cruise, “Truth! You can’t handle the truth!”
What is a lie? The 10 Commandments include the verse above about bearing false witness. As a youth, I understood that to be a commandment about not telling a lie. Although it is in part, it is basically a commandment against what we generally think of as perjury. “Deuteronomy 17:6 On the evidence of two or three witnesses the death sentence shall be executed; a person must not be put to death on the evidence of only one witness.”
Part of our dilemma is in the question, “If I say what I believe to be the truth, and it is later proved to be incorrect, have I lied?” We discussed this in seminary. I still find it interesting that the class was evenly divided on that question. When scripture talks about illness being the result of demons, is that a lie? We know today a great deal about pathogens, including fungi, protozoa, viruses and bacteria. During the pandemic, in a discussion about the COVID 19 virus, a friend noted that referring to it as demonic seemed very appropriate.
My own opinion is that mistakenly telling something later to be found in error is not lying. I believe lying involves deliberately attempting to mislead. There is deliberateness and maliciousness inherent in lying. The commandment is against bearing false witness. We must take special care to only bear witness to that which we know to be true. Otherwise, I should follow my mother’s advice about “If you can’t say something good about a person, don’t say anything at all.” Mom would certainly have extended (and did extend) that to include anything and everything we did say. If you’re not sure, don’t say anything.
In one of my devotional readings today, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote about truth (I Want to Live These Days with You, pg. 274). Of course, he would have been very familiar with the ideas of Goebbels and with the lies told by the Nazis. I read ahead to tomorrow’s devotional on the same general topic, where he wrote, “Lying is, first of all, the denial of God as he has shown himself to the world . . . A lie is a contradiction of the word of God that he spoke in Christ and upon which the creation rests.”
For us as Christians, I find Bonhoeffer’s definition especially helpful. Currently, I see and hear a great deal in the media about truth and lies. Whether the topic is AI or politics, the heart of many news stories today deals with truth.
When the first apps became available that allow AI to generate essays and letters, the classic example offered of the potential dangers is an essay about raising cows on the moon. The app can write a seemingly serious, well-documented essay citing various (false) references dealing with the problems and issues around raising cows on the moon. The essay is a total fabrication from beginning to end, but looks authentic and authoritative. It is fictional; is it a lie?
Most of us have heard some variation of, “You can tell when a politician is lying because his (or her) mouth is open.” Almost every political speech is followed by a ‘fact checker’ pontificating on the accuracy or fabrication of what the politician has just said.
As a Christian, I plan to listen to the advice of my Mom and to incorporate Bonhoeffer’s definition of a lie. My sermons may get even shorter, but if I stick to the gospel, I’ll remain on solid ground! I’ll be dealing with truths we all can handle.
Stay save, let all our words be acceptable in God’s sight, trust God,
Pastor Ray