When Lying is Justified

“Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.”  My mother made me memorize that verse from Proverbs when I was a boy. Perhaps while sitting in the corner, caught red-handed for lying to her.

But is lying ever acceptable? Is lying ever the right thing to do? If so, what might possibly justify lying in the eyes of God? Most importantly, how does faith play into this question?

Before opening this Pandora’s box you must understand that I know full well I will step on many, many toes. Some people see sin only as black and white, right and wrong, punishable by death, so help me, God. If you are one of these then you should stop reading now or you will only become angry and adversarial.  And I do not want to make enemies of my friends.  I just want to answer a question that has always lurked in the back of my mind.

Here’s the issue. We have several instances in Scripture where various people lied, and God seemed to honor it, not condemn it. Puah lied about the baby Moses in the reed basket in Egypt (Ex 1:15-21).  Rahab lied about the spies in Jericho (Joshua 2). Abraham lied about his wife, Sarah, being his sister, not once, but twice (Gen 12:13; 20:2). In modern times we have the example of Corrie Ten Boom lying about harboring Jews in her “hiding place” to keep them from being arrested and deported. And then there are the Bible smugglers, who lied to the border guards to get Bibles behind the iron curtain.

On the flip side we have the story of Ananias and Sapphira in the very early days of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 5). God punished them for lying to the Holy Spirit. They dropped dead on the spot.

Philosophers who study and write about ethics suggest a theory for justifying Rahab’s lying. She was faced with a dilemma and she chose the lesser of two evils. In essence, her lying is justified in that it saved the spies from a greater evil, being captured and killed. If you like that theory, then use it. But I have a different way of looking at it, from faith, rather than from moralistic ethics alone.

Here is my theory.  Lying is always wrong when it is done to deceive a trusting person for evil gain. On the other hand, lying is justified when it is used to detract an evil person for good gain. That’s the simple version. As a Biblicist, and one with a deep reverence for God, let me expand on the second part of that theory. Knowing and trusting in God’s plans and purposes is the bedrock of faith that would determine when detraction is not mere deception, when a questioner’s motives are evil and need to be thwarted, and when my lying might actually be glorifying to God’s great plan.

With that theory, based on faith, it is understandable, and almost easy to justify Puah, Rahab, Corrie Ten Boom, and the Bible smugglers. But Abraham raises the question to a higher level of debate. And I seldom ever win anyone over to fully justify Abraham’s lies in light of his faith. Some call him a wimp, one who was willing to lie and give his wife over to another man to save his skin.  

But God honored Abraham as a man of a faith, saying repeatedly of him, “Abraham believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness” (Gen 15:6). His faith was far greater than we can even imagine, and it is held up throughout all of Scripture as an example (Rom 4:11). Only our moralistic black and white judgment of the situation condemns Abraham. Not God, though. In fact, God even praises Sarah for obeying her husband (I Pet 3:6). And this is the only instance in the story of Abraham and Sarah where obedience is at the core of the story, when she went along with his plan of lying. Abraham lied because He knew and trusted that God wanted to make a great nation of him. He knew that he somehow needed to escape the sword of these two kings.

I write this not trying to justify lying, but rather to increase our understanding of faith. Faith is not demonstrated by obedience to rules, but rather by knowing and trusting the Living God.

Ignorant of My Sin

In the courtroom, standing before the judge, ignorance of the law is not an excuse for breaking the law. The judge will have no sympathy. I know. Been there, done that, paid the fine.

But what about God?  If you have sin, or sins, in your life and you are not aware of them, can you still have fellowship with Jesus?  Will He overlook them?  Or you might be inclined to ask it this way. If I am seeming to have a good relationship with Jesus -- everything is peaceful, joyful, hunky dory – then can I assume that I must be pretty holy?  Maybe. Maybe not. To answer those questions, it would be enlightening to understand God’s heart this way, “love covers over a multitude of sins” (I Pet 4:8).

Jesus said in his sermon on the mount, “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar.  First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift” (Mt 5:23). This would seem to indicate that sometimes offenses have occurred and we are unaware, and God will bring it to our mind. Maybe an offense against us, or an offense we have done to others, or maybe offenses against God. Until that point they were not a part of our knowledge and they did not hinder our relationship. But once they come to mind then they become an impediment to our relationship with Jesus. Then our fellowship, our service, our trust is infected, or broken. And we dare not carry on like nothing is wrong.

The value in this question lies in the recognition of sins that have been lying undetected, not in trying to ignore hidden sin and just carry on, status quo. You see, ignorance is not always bliss. God helps us remember, or realize, sins that need attention, by the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Then by dealing with that “new” sin our relationship grows stronger, deeper, richer. Jesus comes closer. Relationships are healed. Transformation and sanctification take a step forward.

King David is remembered more for his affair with Bathsheba than anything else, it seems. Hollywood knows a good juicy story when it sees one. He planned his liaison, lust harbored in his heart, and stayed at home, in the city, when it was time to lead his army out to battle. Uriah, one of his 30 mighty men, lived next door to his palace, and that guy had a beautiful wife who would be all alone if he stayed back. The sin blossomed forth, big time, and we know the rest of the story. But the most amazing part is that David seemed to be living in ignorance of his sin, from beginning to end. Not until Nathan the prophet came to him did the light turn on in his heart. Before God and before man he acknowledged his sin, then, and repented and humbled himself before God (Psalm 51). That’s the part Hollywood leaves out. He is known as a man after God’s own heart, in part because of his immediate response of repentance, whenever his sin was pointed out.

Do you have a confidant in your life, someone like Nathan, who can help you see your sin or deception? That’s perhaps the single most important instrument to help you get closer to God. Do you know that David even named one of his sons after the prophet Nathan, a son born to Bathsheba after Solomon?

So don’t be surprised if God puts the thought into your mind of an offense that you have overlooked. Capture that thought. Don’t ignore it. Then deal with it. God’s mercy and love can make a good relationship even better when we go through the steps of acknowledgment, forgiveness and restoration. Not to mention the relationship with the person we sinned against and were unaware.