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[Announcer] (0:00 - 0:36) Think about the Bible like you never have before. You're listening to Christian Questions. Experience more episodes, videos, and Bible study resources at ChristianQuestions.com.

Our topic is: "Is It Ever Okay for a Christian to Lie?" As Christians, we're obligated to follow biblical principles of righteousness and godliness. These principles include being truthful.

However, are being completely truthful or lying our only two choices? What about all the gray areas in between? Is withholding truth lying?

What about exaggeration? Here's Rick and Jonathan.

[Rick] (0:39 - 0:46) Welcome everyone, I'm Rick. I'm joined by Jonathan, my co-host for over twenty-five years. Jonathan, what's our theme scripture for this episode?

[Jonathan] (0:47 - 1:01) Proverbs 12:18-19: "There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Truthful lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is only for a moment."

[Rick] (1:01 - 1:25) "Tell the truth!" For many of us, we can recall that strongly stated advice as coming from our parents when we were caught doing something or saying something that we shouldn't have. The immediate dilemma was obvious.

If I tell the truth, then I'm going to get in trouble. Or if I lie or just tell part of the truth, I may get away with it, but what if they find out that I lied? Then I might get into even more trouble! I don't know, Jonathan, if you ever had those dilemmas?

[Jonathan] (1:25 - 1:25) Oh yeah.

[Rick] (1:26 - 1:57) Okay, just checking.

Me, too. While we as adults may look back at such dilemmas and smile, the reality is we as Christians must always be on our guard to practice being truthful and having integrity every day and in every way. What does this mean?

How are we supposed to handle the countless compromising circumstances of life where half-truths and exaggeration come into play? What about those little white lies?

[Jonathan] (1:57 - 2:08) Let's break down our Christian principles of truth-telling into four basic questions: 1. What is God's perspective and example regarding truth and untruth?

[Rick] (2:08 - 2:11) You've got to go to the top to figure out what we're going to do.

[Jonathan] (2:11 - 2:15) 2. Is telling a partial truth the same as lying?

[Rick] (2:15 - 2:17) See, that's one of those subtlety questions.

[Jonathan] (2:17 - 2:23) 3. Does being confronted by the forces of darkness give us permission to lie?

[Rick] (2:24 - 2:28) That's one of those questions that says, yeah, but what about this? This is unusual.

[Jonathan] (2:29 - 2:34) 4. What about exaggeration? Is it the same as lying?

[Rick] (2:34 - 2:43) Jonathan, I'm telling you, we always, without exception, exaggerate. You see, that's an exaggeration. We need to get into each of these questions very, very clearly.

[Jonathan] (2:44 - 2:49) Let's get started. What is God's perspective and example regarding truth and untruth?

[Rick] (2:49 - 3:02) Let's go back to the ninth commandment, because it carries great influence in maintaining a just and respectful society. It's a core value of a just and respectful society. Exodus 20:16:

[Jonathan] (3:03 - 3:13) "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." This is saying don't speak or testify to an untruth of any kind when you're testifying against your neighbor.

[Rick] (3:13 - 3:48) There's a legalistic perspective here. We need to understand the commandments. We're putting things in order.

This is how your society will run. Foundational truth-telling in this commandment begins with that legal approach in that ninth commandment. It's also applied, though, in a very wide moral sense. Several aspects are shown in this next scripture of this truth-telling basis. Several aspects are shown, which states the legal part first. We're going to look at Leviticus 19--several verses. Let's just start with Leviticus 19:15:

[Jonathan] (3:49 - 4:05) "You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly." In other words, we need to be honest in our judgments and show no partiality.

Treat everyone fairly.

[Rick] (4:05 - 4:36) I love the way it reads do "not be partial to the poor." Oh, because they're poor, let's bend the rules for them. Or do not "defer to the great." Oh, because they're so wealthy and so well-known, let's bend to them.

The point is, we should be straightforward with everybody. Just like you said, it's a very clear basis, a very clear legalistic approach. Next is the very serious reminder to always represent truth when it comes to others.

Now we're going beyond that legalistic approach in Leviticus 19:16:

[Jonathan] (4:36 - 4:44) "You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor; I am the LORD."

[Rick] (4:44 - 5:05) Don't go about as a slanderer. Don't go about as a storyteller. This command from God--whenever you see a scripture and it says, "I am the LORD"-- you better pay attention to what was just said. This command says never spread dishonest stories about anyone as you go about your business. Don't do that!

[Jonathan] (5:06 - 5:10) Rick, what if we know a truth about someone? Don't others have the right to know?

[Rick] (5:11 - 6:00) Jonathan, let me ask you; do others have the right to know the truth about all of your past?

JONATHAN: Um, no. RICK: That's a good question, though. That's a really good question, because what we need to understand is, our job is not to just be repeaters of truthful things, it is to put the truth in a context of godliness, and that's what this is helping us understand.

Telling falsehoods is no good, slander is no good. Slander is saying something that may be true about somebody, but it's inappropriate. We've got to be careful. We've got to watch those things. Let's move forward.

Finally in Leviticus 19 comes the matter of core values. You can have disagreements with your neighbor, but you're not to take matters into your own hands, either internally or externally. Let's go to Leviticus 19:17-18:

[Jonathan] (6:00 - 6:19) "You shall not hate your fellow countrymen in your heart (meaning internally); you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people (meaning externally), but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD."

[Rick] (6:19 - 7:20) Again, "I am the Lord." When you see those words, back up and reread what you just read, because He is saying, these are My commands. Here's God's command here; treat others truthfully and respectfully, especially when there's an opportunity for a disagreement to lead to personal reactions and responses. Be above board. Not internally should we be building stories, not externally should we be spreading those kinds of things.

Truth-telling is a fundamental basis in the Old Testament for Israel, and therefore the morality of truth-telling has to carry over to us. Let's go a little bit further, though. God clearly proclaims His stand on respect to the honesty issue in the following scripture and Proverbs. Jonathan, this is one of those scriptures that when you read it, you go, wow, this is pretty blunt. Proverbs 6:16-19:

[Jonathan] (7:21 - 7:41) "There are six things which the LORD hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers."

[Rick] (7:42 - 8:47) Seven things that God hates, and amongst those seven things; "a lying tongue" and "a false witness who utters lies." "A lying tongue" is that moral aspect of truth-telling. One who utters false witness is the legal aspect.

In the seven things God hates, truth-telling in all areas is a very important thing. God looks for us to be truthful people. That's really what the message is here.

Lying is directly involved in two of these seven abominations that we just said, but it's easily implicated in the other five. If you go through, we won't do that now, but if you go through them and look and say, huh, I could see how lying could be part of this, I could see how lying could be part of that. We see, Jonathan, even before we get to the New Testament, even before we get to the Christian basis, we have the godly basis in the Law and in the writings of the Old Testament that say truth-telling--abiding by and living in truth--is very profoundly important.

[Jonathan] (8:48 - 8:58) God hates any falsehood and deception. It starts in the mind and its venom spews out of the mouth, just like it did with the serpent in the Garden of Eden.

[Rick] (8:59 - 9:30) The venom of untruth. Oh, that's one of those things you just put on your refrigerator and say, avoid this at all costs. The venom of the tongue that lies. How do we avoid it? That's really where we want to go here. We want to figure out, how do we avoid it? How do we put ourselves in the right place?

We've got the Old Testament basis, the Old Testament foundation. Let's now go to the New Testament and look at lying and truth in the New Testament. Let's start with 1 John 1:5-7:

[Jonathan] (9:31 - 9:54) "... God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another ..." I have a question, Rick. Can silence be equated to lying? For example; a Christian steals something and keeps it quiet.

[Rick] (9:55 - 10:02) All right, you steal something and keep it quiet. Here's my question, Jonathan. Not that I'm saying you do that, but play along with me... Why would you keep it quiet, Jonathan?

[Jonathan] (10:03 - 10:05) Well, I don't want anyone to know that I stole something.

[Rick] (10:05 - 10:07) Why don't you want anybody to know?

[Jonathan] (10:07 - 10:08) Because I'm a Christian.

[Rick] (10:08 - 11:07) Aha!

So yes, it's equated to lying. You just answered the question. Look at the motivation.

If there's something that is--you look at the motivation, we're going to really expand this in a few minutes--but you look at the motivation behind it and say, this can be equated to telling a lie because I'm not speaking up about something that rightfully needs to be said. We have to be very, very, very careful here. See, in that example, it was an example of not speaking something to seek the cover of darkness versus not speaking something to enhance the glory of God's light. Again, we'll expand that as we go further. For Christians, there's an absolute dividing line between light and darkness.

A fundamental part of lying is personal ego. The greater the ego, the greater the propensity to lie, and that example you gave of Satan is a great place to start with this.

[Jonathan] (11:08 - 11:17) This sounds like the way a narcissist would look at life. Always building self up but putting others down. We know that Satan is the author of narcissism.

[Rick] (11:17 - 11:28) Yeah, the biggest ego that is recorded in scripture. It was all about him. Let's continue a little bit and let's go on to 1 John 1:8-10:

[Jonathan] (11:28 - 11:54) "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us." I like how the Greek-English Lexicon defines this word for "liar" as "one who breaks faith."

[Rick] (11:54 - 12:46) Yeah, that's powerful. That's one who breaks faith. For us to publicly walk in a lie, just like the example you were talking about, and the lie of being in the light while still in darkness, it says, makes God a liar. Now we're not actually making God a liar. You can't. It's impossible to make Him a liar. But what it is possible to do is to make Him look like a liar, because somebody saw you take that thing that you talked about before, and you're a Christian, and you are acting piously as you are shoplifting as you go. That is making God look like a liar, because it's taking the high principles and polluting them with darkness and the venom, the venom of the tongue of Satan being involved in your life. We have to be very, very careful here. Jonathan, Telling the Truth and Leaving the Lies:

[Jonathan] (12:46 - 12:55) We can have no higher example than God and His example in relation to lying and untruth. God plainly stands above all lies and deceit!

[Rick] (12:55 - 13:21) It's really pretty simple. The scriptures in this first segment, the scriptures help us understand God is way above all of these things, and there really is no discussion on any of that. Or is there?

We've got to...hang on, hang on! Let's take a moment and let's step back to look at the world around us. It obviously operates far beneath God's lofty standards of honesty!

[Jonathan] (13:22 - 13:28) Now that we have God's unwavering perspective before us, how do we figure out how much truth we should be sharing?

[Rick] (13:28 - 13:53) This is one of those questions that can easily get us stuck in the details. We all know that we need to speak with godly wisdom, and that means speaking with self-restraint. How much self-restraint should be in place in what circumstance? Are there times when our restraint can end up being a bad thing?

[Jonathan] (13:53 - 14:04) Let's go to our second question for Christian principles of truth-telling: Is telling a partial truth the same as lying? In addition, what about withholding the truth?

[Rick] (14:04 - 14:55) Is telling a partial truth the same as lying, or just not speaking up at all and not saying anything? Can those things be considered lying? Big questions, very good questions.

Let's look at a scriptural example, and this is an example of God counseling someone to speak a partial truth. This is what He's saying. Let's put the context in order.

After God had rejected Saul as king over Israel, God instructed Samuel to move forward. He is mourning, Samuel's mourning over King Saul's loss of God's favor, and God is basically saying to him, we have work to do, we need to move forward. God's counsel to him to be able to move forward begins with a very simple instruction.

This is about Samuel and what he's focused on doing according to the will of God. Let's look at 1 Samuel 16:1 and then the first part of verse 2:

[Jonathan] (14:55 - 15:14) "Now the LORD said to Samuel, How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have selected a king for Myself among his sons. But Samuel said, How can I go? When Saul hears of it, he will kill me."

[Rick] (15:15 - 15:56) Now look, Samuel has a legitimate human concern. What do You mean, anoint another king? Are You kidding me? Because he knows that Saul didn't have a stable mind, and he was capable of evil. He knows that and he's worried, and he has a legitimate right to be concerned. You take this, and God gives this command, Go ahead, "fill your horn with oil," go anoint another king. Samuel's like, Wait a minute, what, what, what? Slow down. I'm afraid.

It's legitimate. God's answer to Samuel provides a principled approach to the legitimate fear that Samuel had. Here's where the partial truth comes into play. 1 Samuel 16, the second part of verse 2:

[Jonathan] (15:56 - 16:12) "... And the LORD said, Take a heifer with you and say, I have come to sacrifice to the LORD." Now wait a minute! Did God make up an excuse to mislead King Saul?

Was that a lie?

[Rick] (16:12 - 16:15) I mean, is He saying, Oh, just tell him you're going to take a heifer to sacrifice.

[Jonathan] (16:15 - 16:15) Yeah.

[Rick] (16:16 - 16:59) No, that's not what it was at all! That is the classic issue when folks look at the Bible and they stop in the middle of something, and they don't finish out the context. It can sound like one thing, but we need to understand what's happening. If we stop reading here, yeah, it sounds like God is telling Samuel to make something up.

He is unequivocally not doing so! Here's what's happening: God was sending Samuel as His representative. Sacrificing, making a sacrifice, was an appropriate foundation for his visit. He is instructing him to go in that mind frame as he approaches the Bethlehem area. Let's continue with 1 Samuel16:3-5:

[Jonathan] (16:59 - 17:28) "You shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for Me the one whom I designate to you. So Samuel did what the LORD said, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said, Do you come in peace? He said, In peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice. He also consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice."

[Rick] (17:29 - 17:39) There's a lot of things going on in these verses. We'll touch on them. First of all, the Bethlehemites are very concerned because when a prophet of God comes to your town, what are you thinking?

[Jonathan] (17:39 - 17:40) Trouble!

[Rick] (17:40 - 17:40) Yeah!

[Jonathan] (17:41 - 17:42) What did we do wrong?

[Rick] (17:42 - 18:12) Exactly! Exactly! Like, what's happening here? Do you come in peace? Or are you bringing God's judgment upon us? The instinctive reaction would be fear. Samuel's presentation of the sacrifice removes that fear. It puts them at ease. He sets them all apart. He consecrates them.

He puts them in a position of thinking and being in a holy frame of mind, in a holy place, so that he can do God's work. That sacrifice removes their fear so he can be about God's higher mission.

[Jonathan] (18:13 - 18:28) We have a quote from "Bible Difficulties" by Gleason Archer: "There is a clear distinction between resorting to actual deceit and to withholding information that would result in great harm and even failure to obey carrying out the will of God."

[Rick] (18:29 - 20:02) That's a very important point! This is not out-and-out. This is not deceit in any way, shape, matter, or form.

What this is, is telling them enough to put everybody at ease so the will of God can continue. There is no deception. There's just an unfolding of truth as it becomes necessary and appropriate.

That's what this example is. It's not advocating partial truth. I'm just going to tell them a little bit and just, you know, hide the rest.

God advocates righteousness through truth, and that's what He's showing by giving this partial truth to get things going. Now, we look at that in the Old Testament and say, okay, what about us as Christians? For Christians, speaking truth appropriately, Jonathan, it's paramount.

We have to be focused on it. Determining whether we're in a position to only share parts of the truth we know comes down to plainly confronting our own motivation. It really, really, really often comes down to, why would I say more, or why would I not say more? What's inside of me? Let's look at this motivation perspective through the eyes of what Jesus did and would do. Jesus's motivation was ALWAYS in line with God's will, and he always respected those whom he spoke to. Let's just take a look at one example of this in John 16:12:

[Jonathan] (20:02 - 20:12) "I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now." It wasn't appropriate to overwhelm his disciples. He waited for the proper time.

[Rick] (20:12 - 20:47) That's such a powerful thing, and we look at Jesus doing that regularly. Why did he speak in parables? Why didn't he just tell everybody everything?

Because it wasn't appropriate at the time. Truth does have appropriateness, and how do we determine that? What we ought to do is do it the way Jesus did, according to the will of God and to the righteous principles that God has given us, and nothing lower.

Because when it gets down to my own motivation, and I'd rather just not tell them because I just don't think I feel like I want to deal with it, that's not God's principles. We have to be higher than that.

[Jonathan] (20:47 - 21:03) Something practical: How about a circumstance when someone with Alzheimer's asks you where their spouse is when they died years ago?

Do we lie so we don't cause them to grieve every time they hear about their loss? Is that a time when it's okay to lie?

[Rick] (21:04 - 22:20) That's a hard, hard question because a lot of health care professionals tell you lie to them. That's what they say because they get so upset over something that they just legitimately don't remember. Look, my dad had Alzheimer's, and I remember dealing with things that would get him very, very upset. What I would do--it just bothered me to out-and-out lie--I would deflect. He would ask about his mom and dad who had died, you know, twenty-five, thirty years ago, whatever it was. I'd say to him, "They're not here, but Dad, did we read those scriptures that we were talking about earlier?" He'd go, "What scriptures?" "Well, the ones in John." Then we would turn to the Bible, and he would forget about his question, and he'd get absorbed in something else. It came down to telling them they're not here, and then deflecting to something else. I felt, in my own heart and mind, that was a better way for me to handle that. That may be hard to do. We want to be careful, because we do want to hold the highest principles up as best as we can. But that's a really, really, really good, good question.

Let's get down to more of the practicality. As sinful humans, we can choose to speak parts of the truth for our own gain, or we can choose to speak parts of the truth for another's loss. We've got to be careful about these things. Let's look at Proverbs 11:13.

[Jonathan] (22:21 - 22:28) This is from the New Living Translation: "A gossip goes around telling secrets, but those who are trustworthy can keep a confidence."

[Rick] (22:29 - 22:44) A gossip goes around saying things they ought not to say. There's lots of things that happen in the lives of all of us that are not for public consumption. It's simple.

It's just that simple. We want to be clear on making sure we focus on that.

[Jonathan] (22:44 - 22:49) We need to ask ourselves, are we trustworthy to keep a confidence?

[Rick] (22:50 - 23:49) Yeah, because you have gossip on one side of the scale, and being worthy of trust on the other side. There's a great weight difference between those two things. Am I trustworthy?

Am I able to keep a confidence? When you are, Jonathan, your life takes on a much higher quality, because being trusted is such a powerful thing. God Almighty is trusted by those who understand Him because He doesn't deny Himself. He doesn't change.

There's no shadow of turning with Him. That's the example that we want to rise up to. Let's go further.

Am I focusing on speaking only parts of the truth to feed my own convenience? I need to be about representing Jesus Christ every day, NOT about being me. "It's just Rick being Rick." Sorry, that shouldn't be. Rick doesn't need to be Rick. Rick needs to be the footstep follower of Jesus, Brother Rick.

That's really what we're to strive for. Ephesians 4, we're going to read several verses. We'll start with verse 14:

[Jonathan] (23:49 - 23:59) "...we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming."

[Rick] (23:59 - 24:32) "No longer to be children." Grow up. Maybe that's the way you were, but that's not the way we are going to be.

No more craftiness, no more scheming. It's far too easy to fall prey to the subtle suggestions that may arise to alter our approach to speaking truth, especially if all that craftiness and scheming, if those suggestions are in line with the thinking of our sinful nature. If it's in line with what I'm normally naturally wired towards, it's really easy to hold on to, but not necessarily wise to hold on to.

[Jonathan] (24:33 - 24:38) But this rumor I heard is really juicy! How can I hold it back if it's "YouTube worthy?"

[Rick] (24:38 - 25:06) Okay, what is it? No, no, I'm kidding. I'm kidding! No, no--don't tell me! Jonathan, that's one of the things we have to watch out for. We have to be careful.

We have to be respectful that other people's lives can be tarnished by spreading that rumor. It may be juicy and all that stuff, but do I tarnish somebody by spreading it? Got to watch that.

Got to run away. Let's go a little bit further with Ephesians 4:15-16 :

[Jonathan] (25:06 - 25:27) "But speaking the truth in love (this is selfless, benevolent love), we are to grow up in all aspects into him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love."

[Rick] (25:28 - 26:08) Speak the truth in love. There's your answer to every question. Am I speaking the truth in that benevolent, selfless love?

In so doing, we can grow up from being silly little children to mature Christians. What a difference when we grow to that level! Let's continue.

The Apostle Paul taught us the value of intentionally unfolding truth with patience and respect. In our next scripture, he's talking to a group of absolute pagans. This is when he's talking at Mars Hill, and he's talking to these individuals in Athens that are just full of idolatry.

Acts 17:22-23; watch how he unfolds truth:

[Jonathan] (26:08 - 26:38) "So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you." Paul's goal was to draw them to God, not to put them down for worshiping figures of stone. He only said what was necessary to build their trust.

[Rick] (26:38 - 27:11) He said what was necessary in a way that would draw them to pay attention. He didn't say, "You fools, you're worshiping stones! What's wrong with you?" He said, let me show you about this unknown God, because it is so magnificent. He spoke partial truth to draw them up, to draw them out, to show them something so much better. What incredible wisdom.

Why did he do that? It was for their own good. Telling the Truth and Leaving the Lies; where are we?

[Jonathan] (27:11 - 27:33) When engaged in mature conversations, our delivery of truth should be in accordance with godly principles of righteousness and on a level that respects those who are hearing us. Any partial truths we speak should always be done in a righteous manner and be for the benefit of those who hear. Is telling a partial truth the same as lying?

Yes or no?

[Rick] (27:34 - 28:04) Yes or no. Maybe, maybe not. It depends on our motivation. Are we staying with true, clear, godly, righteous principles? If we are, then telling a partial truth, as we see in scripture, is very acceptable. But if we're doing it for other reasons, it is not acceptable and we really need to watch ourselves. It can be so easy to fall into the trap of manipulating others with our words.

Let's stop and think before we speak!

[Jonathan] (28:05 - 28:11) We need to watch what we say and monitor what we are saying. Do the same principles hold true when confronted with evil?

[Rick] (28:12 - 28:47) This is a difficult question because of its many nuances that can cause us to potentially rationalize our responses. To approach these challenging areas, we need to draw specific lines of distinction. Our first distinction is to determine whether or not the evil that we face is on a personal level or more in the category of a social, war-like, social upheaval-like crisis. What kind of "evil" is actually coming towards me?

[Jonathan] (28:47 - 28:56) Now for our third question for Christian principles of truth-telling: Does being confronted by the forces of darkness give us permission to lie?

[Rick] (28:56 - 30:02) The forces of darkness; there's no helping them, so do you lie to get out of the way? Well, let's take a look at this. In the Old Testament, God did instruct Israel to use deception when battling their enemies.

He did. In Joshua's time, there was the city of Ai and they were supposed to conquer that city. Well, God allowed them to be defeated.

He allowed them to be routed in battle because Achan, one of their own soldiers, one of Israel's soldiers, disobeyed God's command and he took spoils from their previous battle. They were commanded, none of that, but he did. When you cross the "I am the LORD," there are serious consequences. Once Achan was found out and executed for his treason--this is the law, this is serious stuff--God then instructed them how to win their battle with the city of Ai. God's plan was all about deception. Here we are talking, God has these high, high standards.

It was all about deception--military deception. Let's unfold this account. Let's begin with Joshua 8:2:

[Jonathan] (30:02 - 30:14) "You shall do to Ai and its king just as you did to Jericho and its king; you shall take only its spoil and its cattle as plunder for yourselves. Set an ambush for the city behind it."

[Rick] (30:14 - 30:33) God says, "Set an ambush..." What's an ambush? Lead them to believe one thing while something else is happening. God says, "Set an ambush for the city behind it." Joshua follows God's instructions. Let's continue in the book of Joshua 8:12, 15-16:

[Jonathan] (30:34 - 30:40) "And he took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city."

[Rick] (30:40 - 31:04) We pause there. He took about five thousand men as bait. He brought them out in front where the people of Ai would see, and the king of Ai saw Joshua and his men. He says, they're back. Let's go destroy them. He brought his army out to battle with Joshua, not knowing anything about this ambush set up behind the city. Let's continue with verses 15 and 16:

[Jonathan] (31:04 - 31:25) "Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness. And all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city." The city was left unprotected. The ambush worked and Israel won the battle by using strategy for victory in war.

[Rick] (31:25 - 31:34) They used strategy for victory that included deception. It was a deceptive war practice here. They won the battle.

[Jonathan] (31:34 - 31:48) Let's think about deception from a practical standpoint. What if our boss asks us to lie when someone calls the office for him and he says, "Tell them I'm not here!" Are we to follow through with the deception, even if we could be fired?

[Rick] (31:49 - 32:31) We're looking at the deception that God instructed Joshua to use. Now we're asking, okay, a practical question about deception here. Are we to follow that deception?

Because you're just supposed to follow. Jonathan, honestly and truly, my gut answer to that is no, you don't follow that. I actually had that kind of thing happen to me actually several times.

In one of my careers, I was a cabinet and countertop maker and I worked in a shop. In this shop, you have things on schedule and then things get off schedule and it doesn't work. I was the general manager.

I worked in the office and watched what was going on. I would answer the phone and somebody would want their countertop and my boss... I'd say, hey, what's the status of this? He didn't start it yet. Okay.

[Jonathan] (32:32 - 32:32) What?

[Rick] (32:32 - 34:41) Okay. No, no, this was one of the circumstances. He actually, we didn't start production and it was to be delivered later that day.

He tells me--I have my hand on the receiver of the phone-- he says, tell him it fell off the truck. I get on the phone and I say, listen, here's what happened.

My boss is standing right in front of me, hands on his hips, watching. I said, "I'm sorry, we are way behind schedule. We are not nearly in a position to get this to you right now.

I will go out to the shop myself and see what I can do to move along, but it's going to be late." I apologized, got off the phone and he ripped into me like, "Why don't you just listen to what I say?" My answer was, "Because you'd asked me to lie. I can't do that." It was hard and that wasn't the only time. He would stand there so many times with hands on hips, glaring, and then stomp off in a rage. After a while, we ended up with a mutual respect and he knew better. Then customers actually, after a while, knew to just ask for me so they would get the truth. No, don't fall into that kind of scenario. We've got that kind of deception that we don't go for. What's the difference with Joshua? What's the difference with what happened there?

That was military. Ok? That's a military thing. This was about them attaining and maintaining the control of their promised land. God allowed that because it was military in the world of military things. There's fighting, there's killing. It's awful.

God allowed those things to work because He works through the sinfulness of sin. Very, very, very, very different than that example you just gave us. Does this give us permission to lie when we're faced with those who would persecute us?

Let's get closer to the example now. What about those who are going to come after us, just like the king of Ai was going to come after Joshua? Do we have permission then to lie? The answer is no! Well, why not?

Didn't God work out an ambush thing? No, we don't. Here's why; Jesus himself, when faced with severe persecution, chose a different path. Matthew 26:62-64; we're going to stop several times.

[Jonathan] (34:41 - 34:49) "The high priest stood up and said to him, Do you not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against you? But Jesus kept silent."

[Rick] (34:49 - 35:03) He didn't even answer the accusations because they were false. He was just going to let it go. He chose in the midst of persecution with the threat of death before him to say absolutely nothing. But it goes on from there:

[Jonathan] (35:04 - 35:11) "And the high priest said to him, I adjure you by the living God, that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the son of God."

[Rick] (35:11 - 35:38) All right. Now what happens here is when he says "I adjure you by the living God," he is implementing an aspect of the Law that says, I am imploring you as the high priest to speak based on the Law. Jesus respected the Law. They were misusing it.

They were having a trial they shouldn't have been having, but he respected the Law. He spoke out of respect for the Law that he had upheld. Here's what it says in verse 64:

[Jonathan] (35:38 - 35:59) "Jesus said to him, You have said it yourself; nevertheless, I tell you..." Let me pause here. Next, Jesus quotes Daniel 7:13: "... hereafter you will see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN." Do you think everyone in that room knew that prophecy?

They must have been cut to the quick, Rick.

[Rick] (36:00 - 36:47) They were because they did know it, and Jesus is applying that prophecy to himself. Of course, he didn't have to say that, but they had nothing on him, so he gave them what they needed because he knew he had come to offer his life and sacrifice. The key is, he didn't lie about a thing. He didn't run from persecution.

He walked up in front of the persecution and faced it because he knew that's what he needed to do. It was pure, godly honesty and integrity in everything that he did there. It's a really wonderful, wonderful example.

Let's go a little further. Jesus faced his persecutors. We just read that in Matthew 26.

Now let's look at how the Apostle Peter described Jesus' responses there. Let's look at 1 Peter 2:21-23:

[Jonathan] (36:48 - 37:08) "For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps, WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; and while being reviled, he did not revile in return; while suffering, he uttered no threats, but kept entrusting himself to Him who judges righteously."

[Rick] (37:09 - 38:10) You have Jesus being found with no "deceit in his mouth," no craftiness, no guile. That's our example. The Matthew scriptures showed us in real time what was happening, and Peter looks back on that and says, we need to remember that. We need to always remember that. That needs to be our standard. That needs to be the principle upon which we build our lives.

Our highest and most reliable example is Jesus, who had no deceit in his words, which means there was no deceit in his heart. Think about that tremendous connection there. He was solely about God's truth, God's plan, God's love, God's way, God's providence, God's wisdom.

He saw himself as the tool through which God's will would be done. Do I see myself that way when faced with that kind of difficulty? Am I going to rise above that sense of wanting to wiggle my way out of it by telling an untruth, or am I going to stand as Jesus stood?

[Jonathan] (38:10 - 38:14) Yeah, for self-protection, right? The flesh is very weak!

[Rick] (38:14 - 38:44) Yes, it is. We've got to be just so careful, so careful with that. Be aware! Again, we're going to unfold that in just a few more minutes. We have to follow our leader and always firmly uphold the highest scriptural principles in all of our speech. Jesus explained to us that we would--many Christians would--be in positions where they would be faced with very difficult circumstances. Listen to how he told them to handle that. This is Luke 12:11-12:

[Jonathan] (38:45 - 39:23) "When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; for the holy spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say." I often think about this situation. What would I do to defend the truth, properly representing God and Jesus? What would I say and how would I say it? I often play this in my mind. Even though the scripture says God's influence and power will help me with words at that time, I still practice it in my head.

How would I honor the Lord? I always think back to Stephen and what a great example he was.

[Rick] (39:23 - 40:04) Yeah, and what Stephen did is he basically told them the whole plan of God. He knew that it would get him into trouble, but he told them anyway because they needed to hear it. They needed to understand it.

They needed to be able to absorb what he was standing for. It cost him his life, but what did that mean? You see that eternity for Stephen is open to be faithful with his Lord Jesus.

It's worth it! That's the point that Jesus is helping us understand. See things in the right perspective when it comes to truth and untruth.

Always seek out and hold fast to righteousness. We have to strive to simply be Christians of integrity. Let's look at 1 Thessalonians 5:15, 21-22:

[Jonathan] (40:04 - 40:18) "See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people... But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil."

[Rick] (40:18 - 40:45) "Abstain from every form of evil," not from evil in general, but "from every form of evil." "Hold fast to that which is good," and that is godly good, not earthly good--godly good. Our speech is to reflect our clear focus on the most important things.

No deceits, no deceit, just integrity. Next scripture shows a lot of deceit and a lot of a lack of integrity. 2 Timothy 4:3-5:

[Jonathan] (40:46 - 41:07) "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."

[Rick] (41:07 - 41:32) Have a sober mind. Be clear. Be serious about all things. Endure the hardship that comes.

Don't run from it. Don't try to lie your way through it. Endure it.

"Do the work of an evangelist." Fulfill. Fulfill that which your ministry requires of you to fulfill.

Jonathan, these are big, big responsibilities that we are given towards godly truth and godly principles. Telling the Truth and Leaving the Lies:

[Jonathan] (41:32 - 42:04) According to scripture, Christians do not have any permission to be deceptive with anyone, even those who would persecute us. We understand God instructing Joshua to use deceptive military tactics as applying to Israel and their fight to attain and maintain their promised land. This is vastly different than our personal experiences against evil as Christians.

Rick, as followers of Christ, do we have permission to lie when confronted with the forces of darkness?

[Rick] (42:04 - 42:40) It is not like the Old Testament, where God showed them how to militarily be deceptive. That's an entirely different environment. I don't think we do. I really don't think that we have that kind of permission. We need to stand for truth. Do we have to tell everybody everything?

No, we need to stand for truth in the context of godliness, upholding righteousness, and making sure that whatever we withhold is for the purpose of honoring our Heavenly Father. Being truthful in all aspects of our Christian lives requires a lot of thinking and a lot of understanding. We need to pay attention!

[Jonathan] (42:40 - 42:49) Be careful when speaking partial truths and avoid deceit altogether. What about embellishing our story or opinion?

[Rick] (42:49 - 43:22) Here again, we want to proceed with caution as our own imperfections can subtly turn what would be statements of clear truth into an agenda-driven commentary. Now, how can this happen? Often it comes down to the simplicity of word choices.

When we pay close attention to the words we choose, we open the door to understanding how we may come across to others. It all comes down to me paying attention to the words I choose and why I choose them.

[Jonathan] (43:22 - 43:48) Here's our fourth question for Christian principles of truth-telling: What about exaggeration? Is it the same as lying?

The Wikipedia definition for "exaggeration" is "the representation of something as more extreme or dramatic than it really is." Exaggeration may occur intentionally or unintentionally. Stretching or bending the truth is another way to describe exaggeration.

[Rick] (43:48 - 44:00) Let's talk about that; stretching the truth. You're saying, the truth looks like this, but I'm just going to stretch it.

Did you take the truth and make it look like something it's not? What about bending the truth? Isn't the truth supposed to be straight as an arrow?

[Jonathan] (44:00 - 44:02) It sure looks like a boomerang there, Rick.

[Rick] (44:03 - 44:40) That's the point! The point is we have to be careful.

Look, exaggeration happens. A lot of us do it. We don't even realize it, but we need to be careful here.

Let's look at a few examples of exaggeration. Sometimes we use these words and phrases, like we said, without thinking. Things like: Nobody, everybody, never, always, impossible, guaranteed... "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen;" "most ridiculous thing I've ever heard;" "there's nothing more beautiful than..." Those are exaggerated statements and words, and we want to be careful with how all of this works.

[Jonathan] (44:40 - 44:51) Two mirror questions: Do I use these words or phrases as leverage to press my point? By using these words or phrases, am I speaking pure truth?

[Rick] (44:52 - 44:59) These are really important questions because we need to ask ourselves, why do I exaggerate?

[Jonathan] (44:59 - 45:02) Why would someone purposefully exaggerate?

[Rick] (45:03 - 45:58) It can be to make a point, to make somebody stop, whatever it is, but I could understand where there's a good reason for it. For instance, if somebody is going down a bad path and you know they're going to hurt themselves and you don't want them to, and you're running out of things to say, sometimes you might feel like, hey, if I exaggerate what's going to happen, maybe I can get them to stop. You're trying to do something really good. There's a lot of reasons why we exaggerate.

Let's look at Christian principles for sound speech that foster mutual trust and respect. Here's what you will find. If we take exaggeration out of the picture, we will naturally foster greater mutual trust and respect because exaggeration takes those things away.

We've got seven principles. We're going to be looking at Ephesians 4, a couple of verses for each of the principles. The first principle is to "self-assess." Kind of look inside at yourself; honestly and prayerfully determine what we need to change in our speech. Let's look at Ephesians 4:25:

[Jonathan] (45:59 - 46:08) "Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are all members of one another."

[Rick] (46:09 - 46:20) "Lay aside falsehood, speak truth." Falsehood doesn't enter into the equation. Clear speech and accurate representation of our thoughts is paramount, especially when we might be angry.

[Jonathan] (46:21 - 46:28) Yeah, and that's a hard one. When we're angry, we become emotional, we become confrontational, and that's when we can blow things out of proportion.

[Rick] (46:29 - 47:08) Here's what happens. How much of what I say and the way I say it changes when I'm angry or when I'm trying to make a point. We become confrontational and we elevate ourselves.

Maybe "elevate" is not the best word, but we press ourselves into a position where now we are actually compromising, bending the truth like you were saying before. We've got to be so careful about that. Speak each one of you the truth. "Lay aside falsehood." Second principle after self-assessment is "acknowledgement." The second principle--acknowledge our weaknesses and reactions and work to control them daily. You're not going to be able to just turn them off. You have to work to control them daily.

[Jonathan] (47:09 - 47:15) Ephesians 4:26: "BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger."

[Rick] (47:16 - 47:23) This is interesting. "Be angry." It's okay. You're angry.

Be angry because you know what? You can't tell somebody, oh, don't be mad. That just makes them more mad.

[Jonathan] (47:23 - 47:24) That won't work.

[Rick] (47:24 - 48:12) No, it won't work. "Be angry", but "do not sin." Feel the anger, understand it and express it in an appropriate way.

Don't sin and then work your way out and through the anger. Words like "you always," "you never"--those are exaggerations and they're not clear or helpful expressions of accusation. When I say to somebody, "you always do this," "you never do that," what I'm doing is I am attacking and "always" and "never" tend to be very, very exaggerated ways of describing things. We've got self-assess, we've got knowledge. The third principle is "recognize." Recognize the ease with which Satan can and will exploit our earthly mind.

The point is, be alert! Ephesians 4:27-28:

[Jonathan] (48:13 - 48:24) "And do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need."

[Rick] (48:24 - 49:39) Now this has nothing to do with our words, if you notice in that scripture, but the principle does. It says, "do not give the devil an opportunity." Don't be like you used to be--be higher. When we exaggerate, what are we doing? We are actually wading into the waters of speaking untruths, which can lead to dangerous circumstances and results. Should we be wading into those waters or should we be standing and not giving the devil an opportunity?

Exaggerating to make our point can be stealing goodness from our neighbor. It really can't, because we're now stepping outside of the clarity of truth. Rather than taking from them, as the scripture in Ephesians says, let's instead be engaged in productive behavior that promotes love and good works, that actually feeds them something valuable, instead of taking from them.

We have to put the old ways aside. Self-assess, acknowledge, recognize-- the fourth principle; "replace." Replace our words of untruth and exaggeration with words that build up in truth, build up by truth, build up because of truth.

Ephesians 4:29:

[Jonathan] (49:39 - 49:54) " Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear." What a perfect remedy for protecting us from exaggerating.

[Rick] (49:54 - 50:56) It is! It is. Don't let any unwholesome word proceed from your mouth. If it's about to come out, stop it. It is.

It's a strong, strong, strong way to put things in order. We're angry. "You always," "you never." Remember that? Well, how about we do it this way? "It seems like you always..." "It feels like you never..." Those are ways that are much more accurate to express how I feel in that moment. Try this: "It seems to me..." Try this: "From where I sit, it looks like, or my perspective is..." What happens is when we take away the "you always," "you never," those kinds of exaggerated statements, we stop accusing. Exaggeration brings us to accusation. We stop accusing and we start observing, and that observing can be internal.

"It seems to me like you always..." and that changes the tenor of what's happening. Because when somebody is pushed, they're going to stand firm and push back.

[Jonathan] (50:56 - 50:59) It's like you're opening the door of communication if you do it that way.

[Rick] (51:00 - 51:18) Exactly. That's what the scripture is teaching us to do. We need to see that clearly. Let's move on to the next principle. The fifth principle is "awareness." Our standing with God depends on how we treat and speak to others.

Let's go to the next verse in Ephesians; Ephesians 4:30:

[Jonathan] (51:19 - 51:23) "And grieve not the holy spirit of God, whereby you are sealed for the day of redemption."

[Rick] (51:24 - 52:23) Don't grieve God's spirit. What do you think that means? If God's spirit is dwelling within us--it says you are a "new creature" in Christ, "old things" are "passed away; behold, all things are become new"-- if you're grieving God's spirit, His power and influence within you, that means we're not listening to it. That means we're not following its guiding, its leading, its provocation toward loving good works.

It means we're doing something else. What the Apostle is saying here is when we go down these roads, we can be walking away from godliness. That's what would grieve God's spirit. Instead, we're following our flesh. Not a good idea. Not a good way to be.

We want to be careful with all of this. We have to be aware. Next principle is built on that awareness.

The next principle, principle six, is to "evict." Time to put an eviction notice out. Permanently remove slanderous and exaggerated habits of thinking and of speaking.

Ephesians chapter 4:31:

[Jonathan] (52:24 - 52:31) "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice."

[Rick] (52:32 - 52:34) Did it say, let some of the bitterness be put away from you?

[Jonathan] (52:34 - 52:36) No, it's got "ALL" in there.

[Rick] (52:36 - 52:38) "All" in there, but what about slander?

[Jonathan] (52:38 - 52:43) Is it all slander, all clamor, all anger, all malice.. It's "all" on all of them, Rick.

[Rick] (52:44 - 53:36) It's all there, all to be removed, all to be evicted. Folks, this is what we're called upon to rise up to. This is how we take our speech and make it pure, and we don't bend, and we don't stretch, but we stay pure.

This kind of thing requires conscious, disciplined efforts. Intentionally, purposefully, put these things away. This is hard.

This is a daily struggle, day after day after day. We put the eviction notice there and say, okay, taking the keys away from you. Sometimes we leave the window open, you know what I mean?

We want to evict, but the seventh principle is to "embrace." When you push something out, you have to bring something else in in its place. Embrace--be filled with the simplicity of kindness, the compassion of tenderheartedness, and the mercy of forgiveness, and that's exactly what Ephesians 4:32 says:

[Jonathan] (53:36 - 53:43) "Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you."

[Rick] (53:44 - 54:12) What a beautiful way to put this conversation about how we speak in order. Be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving. How do we do that?

Look at how God treats us, and that's how we are to treat our neighbors. Simply be a genuine disciple of Jesus. That's what this all boils down to.

That's what it all is. Put untruth aside. Be a simple, clear, genuine disciple of Jesus! Telling the Truth and Leaving the Lies; let's wrap this up:

[Jonathan] (54:12 - 54:39) The ability to regularly speak the truth in love can be elusive. To do it we need to recognize its God-honoring place in our lives. We then must desire its presence, weed out what stands in its way, and practice its delivery.

Then, and only then, can speaking unexaggerated truth begin to become a life-changing habit. Is all exaggeration a sin or a lie?

[Rick] (54:40 - 55:54) No. Maybe. Could be. I don't know. It's the thing, Jonathan; we have to watch what we say and why we say it. If we're having a joke with somebody, exaggerating, sure, that fits in if you're playing a game. But when you're being serious, folks, please understand that exaggeration--I don't know, I'm not sure where I can find where it's going to be a tool of positiveness, a tool of godliness.

We need to be very, very careful as we look at all of those things. Folks, listen. It comes down to, is my heart in tune with the scriptural principles that lay out the necessity of righteousness in thought, word, and deed?

Do I fully accept that I am to be a truthful, righteous representative of Jesus Christ as the Son of God and honor God in all that I say and do? Do I take truth seriously or am I flippant about it and end up with the little white lies? Let's be careful.

Think about it. Folks, listen. We love hearing from our listeners.

We welcome your feedback and questions on this episode and other episodes at ChristianQuestions.com. Coming up in our next Episode: "What Does it Mean to Have Christ in You?"

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