LYING IN THE NAME OF GOD?
Testimony, exposure, and accountability in the age of online scandals
- Christians should be held to a higher standard in telling the truth.
- Social media is flooded with commentary from people we don’t know.
- The only way to rightly dissect what is TRUE is to ask more questions and demand clarity.
- This is for those who want to SPEAK WITH INTEGRITY and DISCERN WITH ACCURACY….
Proverbs 18:13 – If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.
1 Corinthians 4:5 – Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.
“LYING” (as defined in Scripture) IS INTENTIONAL FALSEHOOD
Exodus 20:16 – You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Proverbs 12:22 – Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.
Colossians 3:9 – Do not lie to one another…
- False witness includes DISTORTION, SELECTIVE OMISSION, or MOTIVE-DRIVEN FRAMING
- Lying is not merely “being wrong” – it is a WILLFUL DISTORTION OF TRUTH.
- INTENTION is central – deception, not inaccuracy, is the moral issue.
- Truth is WHAT IS, not WHAT IS FELT (facts must be separated from the experience).
1) DELIBERATE DECEPTION:
Jacob purposely deceived his father to steal the birthright (Genesis 27)
Ananias & Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11) – Knowingly misrepresented the truth to appear righteous.
False prophets who spoke “lying visions” (Jeremiah 14:14)
Numbers 15:30-31 indicates the seriousness of deliberate lying:
But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be on him.
2) FALSE WITNESS/MISREPRESENTATION BY OMISSION:
Where one can technically speak truth, yet withhold crucial information in order to mislead.
Genesis 12, 20 – Abraham didn’t tell the whole truth about who Sarah was (to save their lives).
Leviticus 19:11 – You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely…
Joshua 7 – Achan hid truth rather than openly lying.
When withholding information to protect others, integrity dictates this is disclosed, and must be weighed differently than testimony that reveals everything known.
3) SELF-DECEPTION AND SINCERE ERROR (lower guilt)
Scripture clearly distinguishes between intentional deception and being genuinely mistaken.
Leviticus 4 – When sin is committed unintentionally, when acknowledged, it is forgiven.
John 9:41 – Being spiritually blind to something does not carry the same guilt.
Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.”
1 Timothy 1:13-14 – Paul acted in ignorance due to his unbelief.
Though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
A person can speak a falsehood without intending deception and not bear the same guilt as a liar. There is a difference between WILLFUL REBELLION and IGNORANCE, PURPOSEFUL DECEPTION and UNINTENTIONAL BLINDNESS.
Spiritual blindness is a slow-growing Deception…
2 Peter 1:5-10 – For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue (“excellence”), and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.
4) CARELESS OR RECKLESS SPEECH
Speaking without verification – REACTION versus THOUGHTFUL RESPONSE
Proverbs 18:13 – If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.
James 3:6-9 – And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. … It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
Proverbs 12:18 – There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
WHEN HEARING TESTIMONY FROM OTHERS (concerning charges against another)
Multiple witnesses and verifiable Facts
Deuteronomy 19:15 – A single witness shall not suffice…only on the evidence of two or three witnesses. (In Matthew 18:16 Jesus reaffirms this standard.)
Valid testimony is CORROBORATED, not merely ASSERTED.
FIRSTHAND testimony bears the greatest weight.
We must separate out:
- The need to sincerely and thoughtfully listen to, and validate, the experience of anyone who has been hurt or victimized.
- Acknowledge what was felt, but pursue what is true in order to find complete freedom and healing.
Proverbs 12:17 – Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit.
- Verifiable reality, not emotional interpretation.
Ephesians 4:25 – Put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
- Truth is relationally accountable, not self-justifying.
- We seek the whole truth for everyone’s sake, not just our own.
- Are we speaking to HEAL or to PROVE?
- Are we seeking JUSTICE or VINDICATION?
For believers in Christ, the burden is even greater when both GIVING and RECEIVING testimony – that it be done with both compassion and sensitivity, as well as objectivity and righteousness.
PERCEPTION can have greater impact than the actual truth!
NARRATIVES can be formed when testimony and evidence are intentionally established…
Proverbs 18:17 – The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.
John 7:24 – Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.
- When testimony is driven by unresolved pain, truth is compromised.
- When God is leading a process of exposure, wrongdoing can be revealed without emotional exaggeration or moral inflation.
A TESTIMONY IS BIBLICALLY VALID WHEN IT IS:
- Fact based, not emotion led
- Corroborated, not solitary
- Motivated by restoration or justice, not vindication (Spoken with restraint and humility)
- Willing to submit to examination and correction
A TESTIMONY BECOMES SINFUL WHEN IT:
- Mixes truth with accusation
- Uses pain to justify exaggeration
- Seeks sympathy power, or control
- Frames oneself as morally superior
- Refuses accountability
Recognizing Lying in FALSE TEACHERS
Persist after correction
Titus 3:10-11 – As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
Twist Scriptures knowingly
2 Peter 3:16 – As he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.
Often tied to personal gain
2 Peter 2:1-3 – But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
