Pastor's Corner: Liar, liar

Exodus 20:1-17

Thou shall not fib, prevaricate, deceive, manipulate, dissemble, play fast and loose with the truth, or equivocate. In other words, thou shall not lie! Or, as the Bible puts it: "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor" (V. 16). So, although our text is the most well-known of two places where you can find the Ten Commandments in the Bible, today's topic will cover only one of them - the one about lying, because last year, 2023, and this political election year 2024 seem once again, to be another year of the Liar.

Lying Isn't Always Bad, Is It? It would be a lie to say that lying is always morally and ethically wrong. When she asks whether this dress makes her look fat (her words), you know that this is not a question of fashion sense, dress design, colors or hues. You know the question is aimed to gauge your interest in an enduring, long-lasting marriage. You respond accordingly.

You can tell the gawd-awful truth and be served with divorce papers within 48 hours, or you can lie because you know the lie will save or preserve the marriage. These fibs are useful and thus morally and ethical permissible. To speak frankly in such context would be hurtful, tactless, boorish and cruel.

Some ethicists call a benevolent obfuscation a "white" lie, evoking the image of a falsehood that is, at its core, pure, without guile and innocent. A white lie is a social lubricant - a banal but friendly fib universally practiced by those with an emotional IQ over 50. It's a lie that means no harm. The eighth commandment refers to lies that are devious and hurtful - statements that are "against your neighbor."  On the contrary, white lies are not against anything. They are pro-cooperative, pro-sensitivity, pro-tactfulness. After all, politeness - as someone has said - is half good manners and half good lying.

The eighth commandment, however, deals with serious, damaging, hardcore lies. What's interesting is that we all intuitively understand the difference between a decent, good lie and a pernicious prevarication. We know when we're telling a bald-faced bodacious lie. No question about it. Without a doubt, you know the difference between a compassionate lie and a deliberately deceptive and damaging one. So why bother discussing what everyone already knows?

Because this review of the eighth commandment falls under the category of a wellness checkup or palliative care. It is the annual teeth cleaning - unpleasant perhaps, but vitally important. So, let's dive into it, beginning first and briefly with philosophy rather than theology.

German philosopher Immanuel Kant is notorious for his intractable views on the morality of lying. Kant argued that we have a moral duty to tell the truth because lying undermines the principle of universality - that is, something that is true and has been true at all times, everywhere and regardless of cultural conditions. If lying were ever to become an acceptable norm, (in today's world I think it has), trust and communication would totally break down. This is why we have laws against perjury and bribery. We want a judicial and political system where the truth can be heard - at all times. Honesty - not lying - is critical to justice, freedom, our political system and a thriving economy.

 It is also the sine qua non of social and cultural cohesion. For a community to function smoothly, it relies on trust and honesty. Lying erodes trust and can lead to a breakdown in social norms, and continual deception, can harm relationships, governments, institutions and social bonds. And then there's the problem of the slippery slope. If it is okay to allow lying in some situations, it soon might become difficult to draw clear lines between what are morally justifiable lies and unjustifiable lies. This can lead to moral confusion and ethical in consistency.

What does the Bible say? Let's move away from Kant and go to a more trusted source: Scripture. The Bible says, "Just don't do it." It's the eighth commandment. We are ordered by no less an authority than the holy and sacred scriptures. Colossians 3:9: "Do not lie to one another." Proverbs 14:25: "One who utters lies is a betrayer." Psalm 120:2: "Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue." Proverbs 19:9: "A false witness will not go unpunished, and the liar will perish." Proverb 12:22: "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord." We should not lie. And yet we do it. The patriarch Jacob is well-known as a snarky and sneaking scoundrel whom you wouldn't trust with your grandmother's jewels. His reputation, thanks to the way he stole his twin brother's birthright and how he got - with his mother's help - his father's dying benediction, is richly deserved.

Then there's the Israeli foot-soldier Achan. When the Israelites first began their invasion of Canaan, Achan decided to steal some of the "devoted things" he'd recovered from a recent raid. What a weasel. That's a violation of the seventh commandment (You shall not steal). But to make it work, breaking the eighth commandment had to be a part of the game plan as well. Perhaps he'd forgotten his Torah lessons: "Be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23). He was found out, and he and his family were stoned to death. You can read about it in Joshua 7.

Another striking example of the Bible's harsh view of lying is found in Acts 5, where Ananias and Sapphira, a devout married couple, were caught in a lie about the size of their donation to the church. The apostle Peter got wind of it and confronted them: "Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? ... You did not lie to me but to God" (Acts 5:3-4). They were both caught in the lie and were so shocked that they both had a cardiac event and died on the spot. 

Honesty and total transparency is the best policy after all. The bottom line is that honesty is about best practices. It's a practical thing. If you don't lie, you never have to remember what you said. If you don't create a web of falsehoods, you'll never get caught in a sticky situation. Honesty promotes trust and confidence. Lying doesn't. And the Bible tells us not to do it. So, let's not do it. Amen.

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Pastor Michael O'Hearn

Hi-Line Lutheran Churches