We are all guilty of breaking the ninth commandment.
The ninth commandment found inExodus 20:16 (NIV)says, "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor." Few verses in the Bible reveal the utter corruption and the utter depravity of our society more than this verse. Think about how many times in a given day this commandment is broken, even among professing Christians. We have this tendency to bear false testimony, to bend the truth, and to tell lies against other people. God have mercy on us all.
When I was in high school I used to de-tassel corn. It was back in the 80's and central Illinois was experiencing drought conditions. Yes, there was a time when it didn’t rain every single day. Somehow, removing the tassel from a corn stalk was to help it form a bigger ear of corn. I never understood it fully.I was just out there for the cash.
The corn was hardly knee high and you had to bend over just to reach the tassel. I wasn’t very good at detasseling corn. As we would walk the rows of corn, these big muscle-bound upperclassmen would trail along behind us. Their job was supervising us. When they saw us missing tassels, they would begin picking them and piling them up in their arms. And you didn’t want that to happen. They would get loud and abusive. Their intent was to humiliate us.
So whenever we saw one of them picking an armful of tassels we had missed, we would all just switch rows. We would make it look like it was someone else’s row instead of our own. That summer, lying became a "survival mechanism." You lied to stay alive, to keep your job, and to avoid shame and embarrassment. Better that someone else take the fall than me.
For some, lying is an every day action.
Do you find yourself lying just to survive? I am glad I wasn’t an only child growing up. I applaud you only children out there. Growing up,you had no one else to blame but yourself or an imaginary friend! I had two brothers and a sister to blame. Survival was all about lying, "They did it. I didn’t do it."
There are certain lies that we are quick to excuse. We call these white lies.
•An employee calls in sick for work, but isn’t really sick.
•You leave workfifteen minutes early, but mark the time card differently.
•Your wife has cooked a new dish and asks, "Do you like it?"
•The story isn’t interesting or shocking enough, so you spice it up a little. Okay, you spice it up a lot!
•Your boss asks you to account for your time, so you make it look like you accomplished more than you really did.
•You tell the truth but no one believes you, so you swear.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses some particular types of lying. In Matthew 5:33-37 (NIV) he says, "Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne;or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one."
We have this tendency to make false promises, to bolster our case with swearing."I swear by ________ it is true! I swear by ________ that it happened!" In the court of law, we're even willing to take an oath on the Bible and lie if weshouldthink it would be advantageous. It’s the divorcee who gets an unwarranted restraining order against another party. It’s the claimant who exaggerates her injury or trauma to get a large settlement. It’s the witness who is blindly biased and who testifies in his own self-interest or the interest of an associate, despite the truth.
Pontius Pilate was on to something when he asked Jesus in John 18:38 (NIV), "What is truth?" For Jesus’ accusers,the truth was interchangeable with lies and falsehoods. The truth is what bolsters my case and serves my interests and proves me right. The truth is whatgives me wealth, power, or prestige.
It’s easy to love truth when it can be hurled against others. It’s hard to love the truth when it appears to be against us. Its hard to simply let yes be yes, and no beno.
In John 8:44 (NIV) Jesus speaks a strong word of warning to his enemies, "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." Refer also to Romans 1.
Christians are held to a high standard about speaking untruths.
In Ephesians 4:14-16 (NIV) the standard is set for the Christian, "Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work."
The ninth commandment reminds us of our duty to God, to society, and to ourselves. We must be lovers of truth. We must come to realize that telling the truth is always in our best interest. It’s in the best interest of God’s kingdom, of society, of our loved ones, and of ourselves.
Look carefully at the wording of the ninth commandment. Bearing false testimony or lying, is always done against someone. Lying always destroys. It destroys relationships, families, workplaces, entire governments, human life, and human souls. Lies are the tool of Satan who wants to destroy all humanity.
But consider this fact. You can never tell the truth against someone. Telling the truth is always for someone. It’s always in his best interest. The truth builds up and causes growth.
The truth always builds up.
This past week a couple of parents noticed that someone had grabbed hold of their bank card and spent several hundred dollars without their knowledge or permission. They visited one of the stores where the thief had made a purchase and they quickly learned his identity. It was their adopted son!
In love, the father went to his son and confronted him about the purchases on his bank card. The son denied everything, despite the evidence. This probably wasn’t the first instancewhenthe son had done this. What would you do if you were the father?
I think I know what a lot of parents would do. This father is a godly man, a lover of the truth. He went to the police and presented the evidence of the crime. The police met with his son and questioned him about the charges. After some interrogation, the son admitted his crime. The police even put the son in jail.
Now, why do you think the father did that? Was it because that few hundred dollars was so important that he’d sell out his own son? I assure you that is not the case. Could it be that the father spoke the truth for and not against his son? Could it be that the father recognized that his son would be far better off respecting the truth and learning to tell the truth than growing up a liar?
It is easier to suppress the truth than it is to tell the truth.
Can I confess something to you? It is much easier to suppress the truth than it is to tell the truth. The more personal the relationship or the higher the personal stakes, the harder it becomes to love the truth. Can you speak the hard truth to your husband? Can you speak the hard truth to your wife? Can you speak the hard truth when it may cost you your job? When the short term price tag is out of your comfort zone? When it makes you unpopular? When it causes you to have to stand alone? When it is politically incorrect?
When I was in seminary I took an intensive class on preaching. We had to fill out these reading reports to indicate we did all the reading. Well, it got down to the last day of class and I had one book left to read. I went ahead and lied on my reading report and justified my lie by assuring myself, "I’ll read it the next week after class."
Well the next week came around and I still hadn’t read the book. And then the next week and then another week. My conscience began eating me alive. This wasn't who I wanted to be! So I mustered up the courage and went to the professor and confessed my sin. I told him how I had lied on the report. I was expecting him to flunk me or scold me or maybe expel me from school. Instead, he put his arm around me and was very gracious and simply asked, "Are you going to get it read sometime soon?"
If we begin lying in the little things, we’ll soon be lying in the big things. Do you love the truth enough to speak it in your own life? Do you love it enough to speak it into your marriage, your family, and your workplace?