Honesty is the Best Policy

By request...

I think honesty is by far the best policy. I won't use the ninth commandment as a proof-text, as I imagine it pictures a court scene where you are bearing witness in a trial of some sort. Indeed, as far as I can tell, an "honest" appraisal of the way the Bible treats Rahab probably sees it honoring her in part for her protecting lie (James 2:25; Heb. 11:31). I think Joshua wants us to consider her lie a virtue in this situation and the NT does not give us any contradiction in its references.

Indeed, if the issue weren't so sensitive, we might conclude fairly quickly that John 7:8 portrays Jesus lying to his brothers about going up to the Feast of Tabernacles. The "more difficult" manuscript reading (which is usually the original) is attested in good manuscripts (e.g., Sinaiticus), yet has Jesus saying, "I'm not going up to the festival."

But then he does.

But there are equally or perhaps even better manuscripts that read as the NIV, "I am not yet going up to the festival" (several witnesses date to around 200). The UBS 3rd edition of the Greek New Testament goes with "not going up" but gives the reading a C, meaning they are really pretty unsure about it.

Not to worry... there are many ways to account for this issue without concluding that Jesus lied.

In the New Testament, we arguably have a greater emphasis on truthfulness than in the OT. For example, Jesus says not to swear at all in Matthew 5. If you are a person whose yes means yes and no means no, then you won't need to swear for people to believe you. James 5 says something similar.

Ephesians 4:25 says, "Therefore, as you put off the lie, let each of you speak truth to your neighbor, for we are members of one another." Colossians 3:9 perhaps gives us a slightly "earlier" version of the same idea: "Do not lie to one another, for you have put off the old person with its deeds and you have put on the new person that is renewed to knowledge according to the image of the one who created you." All these statements target truthfulness within the Christian community and imply the idea of loving your neighbor.

A particularly sobering verse is Revelation 21:8, which includes liars among those who will die in the lake of fire. Indeed, these liars surprisingly appear at the end of the list, almost as if they are the climax of the list after the sexually immoral, those who practice magic, and idolaters. How do we account for this fact?

I have a hunch (that I cannot prove--I can only cite my evidence and rationale) that these words are directed especially at Revelation's Christian audience. The immediate context relates to those who will inherit the things of which John speaks. The one who "overcomes" will inherit these things. In contrast, the cowardly, the unbelieving, etc... will not. If this is a tight train of thought, then we can imagine that this list has to do both with the kind of people in the church who will not overcome as well as with those who oppress Christians from the outside. In this context, I doubt that "liars" here has in mind those who go to McDonalds when they said they were going to the college cafeteria (which I think would be a sin nonetheless if you did it intentionally).

So it seems fairly clear that truth in these passages has to do with help rather than harm, while lies have to do with harm rather than help.

And what is the scope of these comments? Are they general comments that apply to the "best policy" or are they Kantian categoricals meant to apply to the most absurd scenario some philosophy professor comes up with. If a Nazi Gestapo comes to your door and asks you if you are hiding Jews in your house (and you are), should you lie or tell the truth. I personally think Jesus would want you to lie to the Nazi, not as an understandable sin, but as the righteous thing to do (with telling the truth possibly being the sin in this situation).

My personal hunch is that these verses aim at the default universal policy and that they fall under the category of loving your neighbor as yourself. Make no mistake, my sense of this scope is not meant to give godlike authority to individuals over truth. It is definitely no allowance for the hiding of sin or for selfish ends. Indeed, I would say that our default should be to tell the truth even when it does hurt or wound.

But, for one consideration, I suspect the precision of the truth target differs in size depending on the audience's maturity. When a 3 or 4 year old has no mental ability to comprehend the precise truth, the target is very broad indeed, perhaps even more an emotive than cognitive target.

And what if you are a President and you know things that can't be known--to protect the nation you need to promote motives and perspectives that are somewhat out of focus. I personally would not condemn the President for this or consider it a sin.

This is the territory of grey, and depending on the consequences, the responsibility great. The key is the interplay between three universal principles:

1. God is a God of truth.
2. Humans are human (i.e., in this age prone to sin and ignorance).
3. Love your neighbor as yourself.

These are the rules. The application requires great wisdom in weighing these against each other in particular situations. Wisdom often does not give easy answers, and God sometimes forces us to wrestle with principles in tension with each other. Sometimes God wants the church to buckle down and take responsibility, to work out its salvation with fear and trembling.

Some thoughts from a scribe...