“You’re a liar!”
When he was a small child, this exclamation became a go-to declaration for my son when his interpretation of things disagreed with anyone else’s — including his mother’s and mine. I still remember clearly the indignant feelings that flew all over me the first time my son aimed those words at me. I was hurt and angry and shocked that my own child could make such an accusation, especially considering that my life’s pursuit was the communication of God’s truth.
And yet, in his young mind, things were very black and white: what had been said did not agree with the truth as he perceived it; it was therefore a lie, and the person saying it was thus a liar. On top of that, he didn’t mind saying it. It took a little while to break my son of pointing his tiny, accusatory finger at people — like a prosecutor in a courtroom drama — and proclaiming them to be liars, but for a while everyone was a target.
Looking back now, there was something refreshing about the clarity of my son’s thinking in those days. It’s easy to be wistful regarding such clear pursuit of the truth when in today’s world shading the truth and flat-out lying have been raised to an art form. Back in 1880, Mark Twain wrote “On the Decay of the Art of Lying,” an essay in which he humorously decried how lying as an art form had degraded, and he called for this “sweet and loving art” to be “cultivated” once again. How pleased Twain would be to see how well it’s flourishing today.
In the context of the commonplace nature of lying in today’s society, we read Exodus 20:16, the ninth commandment, in which God directs us not to bear false witness against our neighbor. On the face of it, this command unequivocally reminds us of exactly what lying is: sin.
Lying is sin
It’s not difficult to find Scripture passages that declare the evil nature of dishonesty (see Prov. 12:22, “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.”), but there’s certainly none so starkly powerful as Jesus’ statement in John 8:44.
In this passage, Jesus tells us the devil is “the father of lies,” and when he lies he is simply speaking from his nature. Where then are we speaking from when we lie? In Matthew 15:19, Jesus says that things such as adultery, evil thoughts, murder, theft — and false witness and slander (both forms of lying) — come from the heart of a man.
This means when lies come out of our mouths, there’s something rotten within our hearts. Even worse, it also means the source of this lying motivation in our hearts is none other than the enemy himself. So when we lie, we’re setting aside God’s direction and influence in our lives, and we’re giving place to the enemy. That’s sin.
Beyond being a command solely about lying, however, the ninth commandment particularly speaks of dishonesty in regard to other persons. While the Bible is clear that lying is sinful, in this passage God’s specific intent is to call us to honesty when speaking of others. He does this because, in addition to being outright evil, lying about another person causes harm.
Lying damages others
In this age of constant access to cable and online news, our society has become very political. People on both ends of the political spectrum rail about the inadequacy of each other’s policies, all the while growing in their contempt for one another. As slings and arrows are fired, the aim often moves from the politics to the personal, and characters are assassinated and the integrity of individuals is called into question.
This approach of defeating not just an opponent’s ideas but of demolishing one’s opponents entirely has become such a standard mode of operation that we have even given it a name: “the politics of personal destruction.” But honestly it’s nothing new; we have been practicing the personal destruction of others pretty much since the fall of humanity.
Of course, one of the most effective weapons for destroying others is the well-placed lie. A little word of gossip here, a little slanderous accusation there and we’ve put into play an ages-old strategy that is sure to put a serious smear on our enemy’s reputation. We have damaged him in the sight of others, with the intent of wounding him and humiliating him. Having assigned ourselves the roles of prosecutor, judge and jury, we have acted condemningly toward another, all the while standing apart from the truth.
Such acts stand in total contrast to what Jesus declared to be the second greatest command — to love my neighbor as I love myself (Matt. 22:39). And yet our tendency to gossip and slander is so deeply ingrained into us that it seems to be inextricable. How do we overcome such parasitic sin and become obedient to God’s command?
Honesty requires transformation
Changing the way we speak is not just as simple as flipping a switch; it requires true spiritual transformation.
In Colossians 3:1–11 and Ephesians 4:20–25, Paul reminds us that our spiritual conversion must work its way outward to the point that our thoughts, attitudes, speech and behavior are conformed to the image of our Lord, Jesus Christ. When this occurs, honesty toward and about others becomes a natural part of our character, because we’ve been changed.
Our responsibility in all this is to “put off the old self” and to “put on the new self” by drawing close to God and discovering more and more how to please Him (1 Thess. 4:1). As we submit ourselves to Him, God’s Spirit accomplishes His work in us, and He transforms us from false witnesses to people whose words build up and encourage others. And that’s who we’re supposed to be.
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen,” Ephesians 4:29.
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