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| Photo Credit: Bianca Bueno, Flickr Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/people/bibi/ |
At the opening of their classic song, “What If I Stumble,” contemporary Christian band DC Talk include an interesting quote reportedly taken from American priest Brennan Manning:
“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”
I’ve often reflected on that quote. Certainly none of
us would want to be responsible for “deliberately” causing the atheism of
another, and yet, we all do stumble from time to time. Obviously, though, an
occasional stumble is very different than a deliberate intent to deceive.
Continuing the series on “The Things the Lord Hates,” we find ourselves with the sixth thing
the Lord hates, and that is, “a false witness that pours out lies.”
“There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him; haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness that pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers” (Proverbs 6: 16-19; NIV).
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| A sufferer of Pinocchio-itis? Hmm Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/people/id-iom/ |
“Perjury” is defined as: “the
deliberate violation of an oath or affirmation, either by saying that something
is true which one knows to be false or by omitting to tell something that one
has promised to tell” (Gage Canadian Dictionary).
As I thought further on this “false witness that pours out lies,” I wondered how often we
Christians perjure ourselves in our every day lives. What am I getting at? As
believers we have publically given affirmation that we are sons and daughters
of God, but I wonder how often our walks line up with our talks, and thus
falsifying our witness. For more on
this, see my earlier post called “The 'Jesus is Lord' Lie.”
“Do not deceive one another” (Leviticus 19:11)
This is about more than just being a liar. This is about
being a deceiver, and ultimately, even about deceiving our selves (James 1:22).
Who is the prince of deceivers? We all know the answer to that, don’t we? Eve
said, “The serpent deceived me”
(Genesis 3:13). The prince and father of deceivers is none other than Satan
himself. My question then becomes, why would we want to be associated with him?
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| Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/people/kansasexplorer3128/ |
I judge no one in a condemnation sense, for only God can do
that. However, I believe that we are called to judge in a discernment sense. “Do not believe every spirit, but test the
spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone
out into the world” (1 John 4:1). If there is no spirit of truthfulness
discerned, what does that say?
Remember, we’re not talking about a stumble whereby we slip
up, recognize our error and repent. After all, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us
our sins and purify us of all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Rather here
we’re talking about perjuring ourselves before God and man by deliberately and
unrepentantly “pouring out lies” in
order to deceive. This the Lord hates! Unfortunately deliberate deception
happens all the time, even in the church.
“The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?” (Jeremiah 5:31).
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| "Gold Tooth Gargoyle" Photo Credit: Andrew Sorensen, Flickr Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/people/a_sorense/ |
Some time later the same church leader was dethroned in an
adulterous relationship. Not to rehash the dirty laundry of another, but the
point that I am trying to make is that lying is deception, and many of us, by
our strange lethargic attitudes, seem to be OK with it. What I find amazing is
how many people continue to flock to these defrocked church leaders who, just as in this situation, soon turn up somewhere else with yet another church
plant. Does that mean the masquerade and
deception continues? Maybe he's learned his lesson, but as someone once said, “Fool me
once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”
But lest I get too prideful, in truth, there but for the grace of God, go I.
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| Photo Credit: Joost J. Bakker, Flickr Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/people/joost-ijmuiden/ |
Just as a child is told to "Look Both Ways" before crossing the street, perhaps we too would be wise to look again at our walk, lest we too get broadsided by finding ourselves doing "The Things the Lord Hates."
Perhaps the reason God hates "a false witness that pours out lies" is because of what it does to human relationships; namely the violation of trust and honesty that He expects us to have with one another. When we deliberately lie, we deliberately mislead, and in so doing we harm the other person and we harm the fellowship of the Body of Christ.
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| Photo Credit: Julie McLeod, Flickr Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/people/29553188@N07/ |
When the world looks at Christians, what do they see? “Live a life
worthy of the calling you have received” (Ephesians 4:1). Perhaps if we really did
that, the non-Christian world would sit up and take a genuine interest in the
true Gospel message that we claim to embrace. But until then, maybe we are
ironically promoting atheism instead through our perjury on the witness stand
of the world.
God forgive us. God help us. Thank you, Jesus.
God forgive us. God help us. Thank you, Jesus.
Anyway, that’s the way I see it. Peace.
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In our seventh and final part of this series, we will
consider “a man who stirs up dissension
among brothers.”
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