Liars Lie
I’ve found myself recently dealing with an unusually large number of liars. A family member was caught lying spectacularly. Then another. Then a church member. Then another. Now I see all the news media saying things like the riots in LA, and elsewhere are “mostly peaceful.” That’s a bit like saying Israel did not bomb most of Iran, most of the country escaped Covid-19 without a scratch, or most of the Capitol was left untouched on January 6, but we’ve never even imagined the media leveling such soft-serve nonsense. In the latter case, we are seeing a cheapening of truth that appears intended to sell a false picture of reality—an attempt to gain trust where trust is not warranted. In the former, more personal, cases, we see people softening the perception of their behavior as though lies do not matter. One might think that they too want to gain trust where trust was not earned.
The bottom line is that when truth becomes fluid, lies grow. Liars lie, and the only way they stop lying is that they incur some penalty for it. Parents lie to their employers, and get fired for it. Immigrants lie to the citizens of and they’re deported for it. Children lie to their parents, and privileges are removed. But these sorts of penalties for lying only happen when the employer, the citizens, and the parents posses a spine to stand against lying liars.
Let’s also take a moment to remember the reason lies exist. Deception is a tactic used to gain an advantage over someone whom one considers to be an enemy. Liar do not lie to you because they love you; they lie to gain an advantage.
Let me make this very clear: Christians do not tolerate lies because we have no advantage to gain. We are God’s children, recipients of all His promises. Because God has been so kind to us, we love God (who, incidently, never lies). Our behavior is an outward demonstration of His love, so we have no reason to lie. When God says, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16, BSB), His devoted child does what He says because we love who He is. Our love for Him is enough to prevent us from lying to you. We are, however, all quite incomplete, we do lie, and when we do, we own the lie and clean up the resulting mess. The man or woman who has sold out to this world lies to get their way, and often shifts the blame leaving the mess for someone else to handle. To do less than admit and clean up one’s lies is to be a liar. To be a liar yields very little trust with others so, one tends to grow lonely as they grow old. Moreover, liars have a terribly weak and distant relationship with God. Sooner or later, liars are called to account. A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who utters lies will perish (Proverbs 19:9, BSB).
As Christ’s followers, we do as He did; we care about liars (not trust, care). We want a better life for them often more than they want it for themselves. Moreover, we have the spine required to prevent our employees, guests, and children from getting away with lying. One does not stand against lies because they are mean, but because they love others enough to say something. To tolerate liars is to be apathetic to their condition, and apathy is not love.
