There used to be an old game show called Truth or Consequence. That premise desperately needs a revival today. People used to take an oath in court over the Bible to tell the truth. There are perjury laws which almost never get enforced. People start riots about incidents that they do not know the facts about, nor do they care. People are cynical about politicians who make careers out of lying seemingly without consequence. It is impossible to overrate the value of truth. It is the foundation of all relationships - with God, others, and ourselves. Jesus said, "I am the truth...(John 14:6)". Without truth there can be no trust. Without trust there can be no relationship. Without relationship, there can be no salvation, church, family, or society. When lying becomes acceptable, the collapse has already happened. Lying can get into all aspects of life:
a. flattery (Job 17:5, Job 32:22, Ps 12:3, Prov 29:5)
b. exaggeration (boasting – Prov 25:14, 2Cor 10:15, Jam 3:5)
c. diminishing (1Cor 12:23)
d. “politeness”/”courtesy”
e. false/broken promise
1. Gen 38:11-14 – Judah
2. Heb 4:12 - intent
f. fairy tales and legends
g. false impression
1. dissimulation (false love – 1Jn 4:20)
a. Ps 12:2, Ps 62:4
b. hypocrisy (the acting of a stage player) (Mt 23:28, Gal 2:13)
2. Gen 37:31-32 – Joseph’s brothers
3. Gen 42-45 – Joseph
4. Jud 3:15-21 - Ehud
5. 1Sam 21:13, 1Sam 27:8-12 - David
6. 2Sam 3:27, 2Sam 20:9 – Joab
h. silent consent (Num 30:4 & 14)
i. self justification (Job 9:20, Lk 10:29, Lk 16:15)
j. “I misspoke”
k. “I forgot”
l. denial
m. broken covenant (marriage) (Ecc 5:5)
n. false witness/accusation (Ex 20:16, Deut 19:16-21, Prov 6:16-17, Mt 15:19-20)
o. false doctrine
p. false threat
q. broken confidence (Lev 19:16-17, Prov 11:13, Prov 18:8 (Prov 26:22), Prov 20:19,
1Tim 5:13)
r. parental (don’t cross your eyes – they’ll get stuck, Santa, easter bunny)
s. financial
t. political
We can deceive others and even ourselves, but we cannot deceive God. When God sees that we are continual rejecters of truth, He gives us what we clearly have chosen - delusion (Isaiah 66:4, Romans 1:18-32, 2Thessalonians 2:9-12). The greatest power of Satan is deception (John 8:44, Revelation 12:9, Revelation 20:8), which he can only wield against us when we sin. We need a revival of the love of the truth - the truth of the Bible, relational truth, and practical truth. It still makes men free (John 8:32).