The Danger of Fish Stories
We live in a society where truthfulness is no longer a prevailing principle that guides our lives. Stories are embellished, facts are changed, watered down, and even fabricated to help make a point, win an argument, or stay out of trouble. Does it seem to you that the story being told is more often built around the teller’s agenda rather than the story being told build around what is actually true and factual?
It is not only fishermen who tell “fish that got away” stories. In the current climate in which we live, it is becoming increasingly difficult to know what is fact and what is fiction. Are we being fed true news or fake news? The ever-growing number of social channels have helped to propagate misinformation (false or inaccurate, often unintentional) and disinformation (deliberately false). The idea of alternative facts gained widespread attention in 2017 when a presidential counselor used the term while being interviewed on a public affairs program. This sparked the debate as to whether facts are variable and subject to interpretation.
But what about little white lies? You know, those ever-so-slight stretches of the truth? We have been conditioned to believe that this kind of lying, in certain situations, is justified. As long as nobody gets hurt, we are told, no harm, no foul. A job applicant pads, ever so slightly, her resume, because “everyone does it.” The staff accountant “covers” for the CFO who does not want to be disturbed by telling the person on the phone that “Mr. Smith is not in the office today.” Have you asked or been asked, “Do I look fat in this dress?” Or have you ever misstated your age or your income in order to gain some advantage? We all have probably been guilty at one time or another of a “fish that got away” story.
We even now argue over what the actual definition of a lie is. If I believe it to be true, even though it really is not, is that really a lie? The Bible is very clear that anything less than complete truth is a lie. No gray areas. In giving Moses the Ten Commandments, God spoke this – “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16). We are not to speak falsely in any manner, as to deceive anyone. Elsewhere, in Leviticus, God instructs Moses to tell the entire assembly to be holy, because I (Yahweh) am holy (19:1-2). God goes on to say holiness includes – “You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another” (19:11).
While the culture, and often we as part of the culture, rate lies in order to justify our engaging in them, God does not have a ranking scale. To Him, a lie is a lie, and they are all sins. Proverbs 6:16-19 makes it clear that there are no exception clauses; God condemns all lying.
Telling the truth is not always easy, and we may sometimes “lose” something by telling the truth. In the broken world we live in, there is often a “cost” to honesty. You might not get your dream job because someone padded their resume and you did not. Your child might miss out on a scholarship because you truthfully reported your income on the application form while someone else did hot. In Scripture, in another context, but also relevant to today’s post about lying, Jesus asks this question – “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36).
We are called to be truth tellers. Not only does telling the truth disarm Satan, called the “father of lies” in John 8:44, but it also honors God. In Proverbs 12:22 we see these words – ‘The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.”
I will end with these words from Mark Twain – “Always tell the truth. That way, you don’t have to remember what you said.”
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