“A lie is a snowball; the further you roll it, the bigger it becomes.” Martin Luther
It was like a real-life scene out of
George Orwell’s classic, 1984. The Department of Homeland Security
launched a new initiative called the Disinformation Governance Board. This
board's stated function was to protect national security by combating “misinformation,
malinformation, and disinformation.” It’s not enough that Facebook tells us
what’s true and untrue, now we’re to trust the government to do that because we
all know politicians and the government never lie.
Just
during the last century, Joseph Goebbels headed the Nazi propaganda effort. He’s
credited with coining the term “The Big Lie” which means that if you tell a lie
often enough, people will believe it’s true.
Japan
blasted propaganda at American forces through several women called “Tokyo
Rose.” Their messages were aimed at demoralizing troops by claiming they were
losing the war. Most soldiers who listened on their radios treated it as
entertainment.
Stalin
employed newspapers, Pravda and Izvestia, and TV “news” shows to lie
to his citizens. He and his successors used jamming devices to block signals
from Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and Radio Liberty. Soviet leaders
didn’t want the truth to reach Russian ears.
But why would anyone believe the U.S. government—or any government—could
be an arbiter of what is true and what is false? A brief trip down recent
memory lane should dispel such misplaced faith.
Eisenhower
lied about U-2 flights over Russia. Kennedy lied about a “missile gap” between
the United States and the U.S.S.R. Johnson lied about the Gulf of Tonkin
incident that got us more deeply into Vietnam. Nixon lied about Watergate. Reagan
lied about aid to the Contras in Nicaragua. George H.W. Bush lied about not
raising taxes. Clinton lied about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. Obama
lied when he said, “if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor.” The
Washington Post calculated Trump made more than 30,000 false or misleading
claims over four years! They can’t all be “fake news.” And now we have President
Biden, who lies about how well the economy is doing and whose Secretary of
Homeland Security lies about the southern border being secure.
While government and unbelievers may be able to rationalize lying,
Christ-followers cannot. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth,
and the life” (John 8:44). The 9th commandment is, “You shall
not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
Because
our Lord is the God of truth, a command that saturates Scripture is that Christ-followers
are to be committed to truth. “Therefore, having put away falsehood,
let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are
members one of another” (Eph. 4:25). “Do not lie to each other, since
you have taken off your old self with its practices” (Col. 3:9). Yet, lying
is so enticing and tempting. Here are the spheres in which we most commonly
lie.
We
lie to ourselves. It goes all the way back to the Garden. Rather than taking
personal responsibility Adam lied and blamed both God and Eve. Eve blamed the serpent…and
self-deception was born.
Some
become very good
at lying to themselves. In fact, there is no one who is better at deceiving you
than you. It often begins by convincing ourselves that we’re victims. We wouldn’t
do ____ if we’d had better parents, or a better environment. A lost world and
much of pop psychology have taught us to live in a state of perpetual victimhood
because if we’re victims, then we’re not responsible, yet the Bible teaches personal
responsibility (Romans 14:12).
Self-deception becomes
part of our daily dialogue with simple statements like, “I’m irritable because
I had bad a day at work.” That’s a lie.
First, it means that
temptation is irresistible. Second, it means that God’s grace is not
sufficient. Third, it means our behavioral choices are uncontrollable when we encounter
adversarial circumstances.
We lie to our spouses.
Foundational
to a healthy marriage is trust. There cannot be trust if there is not honesty.
If you’re mate believes that they need a “fact-checker,” your marriage is in
trouble.
We’re
most tempted to lie when we’re afraid. For example, a wife may lie about how
much money she spent or how she truly feels because she fears her husband’s
reaction. Husbands may lie about sexual temptation or to avoid conflict.
While
it is acceptable to ask for time to process and share the truth, there is never
an excuse for lying. For example, when someone just gets home from work and is
tired, that’s not usually a good time for a candid conversation but that
conversation still needs to happen.
We
lie to our children. It’s not a sin to not tell everything that you know
yet it is always a sin to lie. For example, a parent with a child facing
surgery doesn’t have to go into all of the details of what the surgery will entail
or the pain that comes with recovery.
There are times that we withhold truth from our children because of
their age. Corrie ten Boom shares a wonderful story of how her father handled
the sex questions that illustrates this.
“So
the line had stuck in my head. “Sex,” I was pretty sure, meant whether you were
a boy or girl, and “sin” made Tante Jans very angry, but what the two together
meant I could not imagine. And so, seated next to Father in the train
compartment, I suddenly asked, “Father, what is sex sin?” He turned to look at
me, as he always did when answering a question, but to my surprise he said
nothing. At last he stood up, lifted his traveling case from the rack over our
heads, and set it on the floor. “Will you carry it off the train, Corrie?” he
said. I stood up and tugged at it. It was crammed with the watches and spare parts
he had purchased that morning. “It’s too heavy,” I said. “Yes,” he said. “And
it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a
load. It’s the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy
for children. When you are older and stronger you can bear it. For now you must
trust me to carry it for you.” Too often by being “honest,” we ask children to
carry loads far too heavy for them.
While the government may get away with a “department of disinformation,”
Christ-followers must be committed to truth. Are we those others can trust? Are
we honest in all of our dealings? Does our walk match our talk? Do we keep our
promises? Are we those whose word is our bond? It’s what God has called us to
be. Will you be that person?
Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.
