Rev. David Holwick Y
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
July 23, 1995
Exodus 20:16
TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES
I. Speaking the truth. Prov 6:16-19
A. Law system requires truth, whole truth, nothing but the truth.
1) Example of Simpson trial.
2) Yet after six months of testimony, is truth clear?
B. Can anyone be trusted?
1) Deception by leaders and politicians is commonplace.
a) Eisenhower lying about U2 incident.
b) Watergate, CIA plots, Oliver North.
2) "Time" magazine asked if we are a nation of liars.
In 1993 the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey ran
a help-wanted ad for electricians with expertise at
using Sontag connectors.
It got 170 responses -- even though there is no such
thing as a Sontag connector.
The Authority ran the ad to find out how many applicants
falsify resumes.
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C. Christians must stand up for truth.
II. From law court to everyday life.
A. Ninth Commandment focuses on law court.
1) Jews hated false witnesses. (Psalms, Proverbs)
2) False witness is a sin that comes from our hearts. Matt 15:19
a) Trials of Jesus and Stephen hinged on false witnesses.
b) Two witnesses always required. Deut 19:15
3) Withholding evidence just as bad as giving false evidence.
Leviticus 5:1
B. Broader application to truth and falsehood in life.
1) OT prophetic denunciation of lying. Isaiah 59:3-4
2) Associated with many other sins like adultery, violence.
3) It is a sin that profanes God.
4) Wise men pray for truthful spirit. Proverbs 30:8
III. Our slide into deceit has a long history.
A. Are lies for a good purpose morally acceptable?
1) Dietrich Bonhoeffer said only cynics claim to speak whole
truth at all times.
[Wizard of Id cartoon:
Are you prepared to lie?
I never tell lies!
You're good!
2) Oliver North - "Lying isn't nice. But sometimes you must
weigh in the balance the difference between lives and lies."
B. The Biblical tradition is absolutely against lying.
1) Ten Commandments and other verses. Malachi 3:5; Eph 4:25
2) Truth is important to God.
a) Lying is the devil's language. John 8:44
1> We ally ourselves with him when we lie.
b) We have a tendency to be deluded. 2 Cor 4:4-6
C. Pro-truth statements by Christians.
1) Augustine took an absolutist position.
a) "One never errs more safely than when one errs by too
much loving the truth."
b) Some lies are understandable, some are worse than others,
but all lies are wrong.
2) John Wesley said, "I would not tell one lie to save the souls
of all the world."
3) Kenneth Kantzer, editor of Christianity Today magazine:
"I do not know what I would do if I had to choose between
lying or losing my life.
But from the safe confines of my office, I would rather
face my Lord telling the truth than stand before him
and have to explain why I had lied because the
truth cost too much."
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IV. How people lie.
A. We lie to other people.
1) Destructive lies.
a) Deliberate attempt to hurt someone. Worst kind.
b) Joseph and Potiphar's wife.
2) Defensive lie.
a) Lie not to hurt others, but protect ourselves.
b) It often hurts others in the end.
3) Defective lie.
a) Most popular kind of lie.
b) Half-truth.
c) Teenagers with parents.
B. We lie to ourselves.
1) We should think of ourselves according to the truth. Rom 12:3
2) Temptation to blame our problems on others.
3) Integrity vs. hypocrisy - present honest face to others.
C. We lie to God.
1) Ananias and Sapphira.
2) Spiritual delusion.
3) Ultimate honesty must be before God.
a) Falsehood excludes us from heaven. Revelation 22:15
V. The cure for lying.
A. Learn the truth.
1) The truth is centered in Jesus. (not everything is "gray")
2) Compare yourself against him, not other people.
3) Have you accepted Jesus as Savior?
B. Love the truth. Ephesians 4:29,31
1) We must make a conscious choice to be truthful.
a) Don't settle for less.
A recent movie by Robert Redford highlights an interesting
episode in our history.
In 1958 the most successful program on TV was a quiz show
called "21."
Two contestants in sound booths were given extremely hard
questions, and if their score came to 21 they earned tens
of thousands of dollars.
Each week an armored car picked up the sealed envelope of
questions from a bank vault and delivered it with great
fanfare at the NBC headquarters in New York.
The greatest contestant of all was a handsome genius named
Charles Van Doren.
He came from a noted family of professors and writers and
for weeks he beat every contestant that faced him.
What the viewers didn't know was that the show was rigged.
Contestants were given the questions and answers just before
the show.
If the ratings were falling they were told to give a wrong
answer so someone more photogenic could be put in.
The show made millions for NBC and the sponsor Geritol until a
sharp congressional lawyer named Richard Goodwin became
suspicious.
A congressional investigation followed, and Van Doren was
called to testify.
To everyone's surprise the young genius read out a full,
heart-felt confession.
When he concluded, one senator after another commended him for
his honesty, something they rarely encountered.
But one senator had the last word.
He was glad Van Doren had given his confession, but he couldn't
agree with his colleagues.
The senator said,
"I don't think an adult of your intelligence ought to be
commended for simply, at long last, telling the truth."
With this, the audience rose in a thunderous applause.
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2) Speaking truth in love requires a fine balance.
a) (Letter to magazine concerning communication in
marriage - sometimes there is too much!)
3) Give whole truth - don't hold back.
a) Silence can be as much a sin as lying.
C. Live the truth.
1) Claiming to be truthful sets you up to get shot at.
(Illustration of President Carter and "no lie" pledge.)
Claims to be honest, claims to have integrity, and you
set yourself up to be shot at.
Remember when Jimmy Carter said, "I won't lie to you"?
A correspondent on the White House staff said that as
soon as the president said that, a whole group of
correspondents determined to prove that he lied.
They weren't interested in anything else.
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2) People respect those who are consistent (and hate phonies).
VI. An honest assessment.
A. Be honest with yourself right now.
B. Where do you stand with God?
[final illustration from "Quiz Show" movie]
Van Doren's friend hounded him to tell the truth and one night
the two were walking on a tree-lined street.
Goodwin told a story from his family.
It seems that his Uncle Harold had told his wife that he had
had an affair.
As Goodwin put it, it was "mildly upsetting."
Van Doren rolled his eyes and asked, "Mildly?"
Goodwin told him he had to put it in context - the affair had
been over for more than eight years.
He asked his uncle, why'd you tell her? You got away with it!
At this point the lawyer leans toward Van Doren and softly says,
"I'll never forget what he said.
It was the getting away part that he couldn't live with."
[for documentation of illustrations, download Holwick's Sermon Illustration
database at http://illust.holwick.com]
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Briscoe, Ten Commandments
I. Speaking the truth. Prov 6:16-19
A. Law system requires truth, whole truth, nothing but the truth.
B. Reality is different. (Stings, scandals)
C. We have a careless attitude toward truth.
D. Key questions:
1) Why is lying (truth) so important to God?
2) Why do people lie?
3) How can we avoid it?
II. Why God prohibits lying.
A. Lying is the devil's language.
1) We ally ourselves with him when we lie.
B. We have a tendency to be deluded. 2 Cor 4:4-6
III. Why people lie.
A. We lie to ourselves.
1) Humans have self-consciousness.
2) We should think of ourselves according to the truth. Rom 12:3
3) Temptation to blame our problems on others.
B. We lie to God.
1) Ananias and Sapphira.
2) Spiritual delusion.
C. We lie to other people.
1) Destructive lies.
a) Joseph and Potiphar's wife.
2) Defensive lie.
3) Defective lie.
a) Half-truth.
4) Lies of half-truth. (difference from above?)
a) Teenagers with parents.
IV. The cure for lying. Eph 4:17-25
A. Learn the truth.
1) The truth is centered in Jesus.
2) Compare yourself against him, not other people.
a) (illustration of laundry contrasted with slag heap,
and then with freshly fallen snow.)
B. Love the truth. Eph 4:29,31
1) Speaking truth in love requires a fine balance.
2) (Letter to magazine concerning communication in marriage -
sometimes there is too much!)
3) It is antisocial to lie.
C. Live the truth.
1) Claiming to be truthful sets you up to get shot at.
2) (Illust. of President Carter and "no lie" pledge.
Make claims to honesty, make claims to integrity, and you
set yourself up to be shot at.
Remember when Jimmy Carter said, "I won't lie to you"?
A correspondent on the White House staff said that as
soon as the president said that, a whole group of
correspondents determined to prove that he lied.
They weren't interested in anything else.
............................................................................
Kenneth Kantzer, "The Pinocchio Syndrome," Christianity Today, 10/6/89, p.13
I. A matter of trust.
A. A defensive half-back expects to be deceived by the other side.
B. We don't expect to be deceived by leaders and politicians.
1) "Time" magazine asked if we are a nation of liars.
2) We have trivialized lying.
II. Slide into acceptable deceit has a long history.
A. Some lies are justified.
1) Thomas Aquinas had three categories of lies - jokes, helpful
lies, and malicious lies - but only last is a mortal sin.
2) Dietrich Bonhoeffer said only cynics claim to speak whole
truth at all times. [Wizard of Id cartoon: "You're good!"]
B. Biggest red herring - lies for a good purpose are morally
acceptable.
1) Oliver North - "Lying isn't nice. But sometimes you must
weigh in the balance the difference between lives and lies."
2) But Immanuel Kant once said, "Lying violates the source of
law and destroys the very foundation of our social and
political relationships."
III. A careful definition of a lie.
A. Every statement that is not so, is not necessarily a lie.
1) Simple mistakes are not lies.
2) Jokes are not lies.
3) In war we should expect deception.
a) No one is morally bound to tell the enemy the truth. (?)
B. The Biblical tradition is absolutely against lying.
1) Ten Commandments.
a) Other verses. Mal 3:5; Eph 4:24
2) Augustine took an absolutist position.
a) "One never errs more safely than when one errs by too
much loving the truth."
b) Some lies are understandable, some are worse than others,
but all lies are wrong.
3) John Wesley said, "I would not tell one lie to save the souls
of all the world."
4) Kenneth Kantzer: "I do not know what I would do if I had to
choose between lying or losing my life. But from the
safe confines of my office, I would rather face my Lord
telling the truth than stand before him and have to
explain why I had lied because the truth cost too much."
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Bill Hybels, "Laws of the Heart"
I. Paraphrase of Ananias & Sapphira.
A. God is truth.
B. Satan is the father of lies.
1) We lie to get revenge.
II. Lying is serious business.
A. Christians must attack it.
B. Distortion is a subtle form of lying.
C. Exaggeration is a problematic area for many.
III. Know the truth.
A. People have varying relationship with the truth of Jesus.
1) (Salvation invitation)
B. One day all our lies will be exposed.
First Baptist Church; Ledgewood, New Jersey
This document last modified June 1, 1999