Are ALL Men Liars? All the Time?

It is true that everyone lies. It also not true that everyone lies. But "everyone lies" in the first sentence does not mean the same thing as "everyone lies" in the second sentence.

Psalm 116:
10 I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted:
11 I said in my haste, All men are liars.
12 What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?
13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.
14 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.

Pr 14:5 A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies.

Man's natural tendency is to deny, hide, misinterpret the truth. But it is emphatically NOT true that every man lies about everything all the time. If that were true, nothing could be accomplished in the world. Courts couldn't function, and everyday discourse between people would cease. Business would screech to a halt because no one could depend on contracts or assurances of performance.

There are many good and honest men who do not trade in lies and deceit. They would not lie in court, they do not lie to their wives and children, and they do not lie to Consistories or Spiritual Councils, and they certainly would not lie under oath.

This writer has had children in school who lied all the time. He has also had children in school who did not lie even when it might have been an advantage to lie.

To lie in court, Consistories, or Spiritual Council committees is not only a sin, it is a crime against the institution that is represented. In Court it is called perjury.

A person who would lie to a committee of the church, to a Spiritual Council, or to a Consistory has committed a crime against the church. Such a person suddenly doesn't become a liar in that situation; they are so hardened against the truth that they are lying all the time, so one more lie or two doesn't make any difference to them, no matter the seriousness of the proceedings. By their lie they show contempt for the institution, whether church or state.

I suspect this is one of the reasons that the Constitution of the Reformed Church in the United States lists "lying" as one of the offenses that especially merits discipline.

It is equally true that only the morally challenged would denigrate such an offense. Even Al Capone and Richard Nixon refused to allow their subordinates to lie to them. No organization can survive if everyone lies to everyone all the time. It may survive if all agree to lie as one; but eventually reality will break in, as it did to the old Soviet Union.

Jas 3:14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.

Eph 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.

We are not to be partakers of other men's sins. This means we are not to listen to liars, promote them, or defend them. It certainly means that we must not be tale-bearers, carrying their water for them.

There are many good people who bear faithful witness and hate the lying tongue. The Psalmist said in his haste, "All men are liars," but this was because of the terrible trial that he was going through. When men doubt God, they will think there is nothing and nobody true anywhere.

Such is not the truth. This poor preacher has found in the midst of terrible trials that there have always been those who saw and understood the truth. There are faithful witnesses who will tell the truth and not listen to lies and deceit. They are not swayed by emotion or prior prejudice. When the eye is single, the whole body is filled with light. Thank God for such people.

The Real Bigotry

A couple of years ago I was called to jury duty. I didn't expect to be called, because I had heard that ministers and especially seminary professors would not be chosen. But I was.

But the case and the jury is not the story. After we were chosen and given our instructions, we walked outside, I with a tall, middle aged, urbane and soft-spoken man. We exchanged few pleasantries and he asked me what I did. [A very Western Civiilization question, for we define ourselves by what we do].

I told him that I taught systematic theology at New Geneva Seminary. My next remark would have been been a question about what he did, but I never had the opportunity.

He launched into a bitter, albeit soft-spoken and urbane, tirade against the Bible and Christianity. It did not seem to matter whether or not I believed the things that he attributed to Christianity, because he never attempted to find out what I thought. He without even a ripple in his thought KNEW what I thought and what kind of person I was and what kind of relatives I had and, I suppose, knew what I had had for breakfast. I just looked at him, turned my back and walked away. We had no opportunity to speak again.

He was elected foreman of the jury, and I flatter myself that several times during the deliberations I saved his sorry hide, by helping define the issues, the law, and the facts. The jury could have been deeply divided, but I think I served justice well by what I said, although I did not speak much. He warmed some to me as the proceedings advanced.

His attitude toward Christianity would have been stereotypical of the white male's attitude toward "those people" who had black skin in the thirties and forties of the 20th century.

He was well-educated, well-spoken --did I say that? I hope I get an opportunity to speak to him again someday, but it is doubtful, I suppose. I hope I was a good witness for Christ. I do not feel guilty about turning and walking away at the end of his tirade, for the scripture says to answer a fool according to his folly. It was not the time or place to engage in religious polemics; he would have known that if he were not a fool.

I also feel good about my performance on the jury, for I think I was a good witness for Christ, although I did not quote the Bible or behave in a sanctimonious manner. Others did, for there were some simple Christians on the jury and that is the kind of Christianity they knew. I wanted him to know that even if he was a jerk, I was certainly not one and could behave with discretion and do the job we were called to do. I have a warm feeling that my remarks at a critical time in our discussions were what defined the issues, threw light on the law in terms of the judges instructions, and united us in a fair and just decision. It was an answer to my prayer that I would be a good witness for Christ.

He was the modern bigot. Is his disease curable? Yes, but only by the Christ that he despised.