Little White Lies

Lies. Everyone tells them. Okay, maybe almost everyone tells them.

What happened to folks like George Washington and his “I can’t tell a lie, Pa?”

What happened to truth and honesty and virtue? What happened to a person’s word being their bond? Why have we traveled down such a broken, rutted road and treat it as if it is the autobahn? Why have we gone so far off the path of righteousness?

Many lies are deemed unacceptable. As mothers and fathers, we abhor any lies told to us by our children. We want the truth, and only the truth. In days gone by, a child could expect a touch of soap to the tongue if caught in a lie.

When we sit on the witness stand in a court of law, we must vow to tell the truth and only the truth. Not speaking the truth on the stand will result in perjury and can be punishable for up to five years in prison. For a country of people who consistently lie about a plethora of topics, this is fairly extreme, right? Of course, this is only when the authority of the courts is usurped and a miscarriage of justice results.

All kinds of people lie. We expect criminals, politicians, lawyers and car dealers to lie. We don’t expect mothers and fathers, teachers, doctors, and clergyman to lie.

Recently someone I thought I respected caused my jaw to drop to the floor. This person was boasting about their eating habits and how they haven’t eaten pork since their college days. Imagine my surprise at this bold faced lie because the week before this statement was made, this same person was eating bacon straight from my frying pan. What? Really? So, what else have you been lying about?

Believe it or not there are some things we are expected to lie about.

When I tell people we do not participate in the socially expected norms of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, I am looked upon as something of an anomaly. I am taking things too far if I won’t tell my children there is a Santa Claus!

When did a white lie become as acceptable as the truth?

I like this quote by Austin O’Malley, “ Those who think it’s permissible to tell white lies soon grow color blind.”

Why do people lie?

Well, some people lie to fit in. Sometimes women lie to hide their age or their weight. We want to be sociably acceptable so we lie about our incomes, our jobs, our experience, our talents and our associates. We all know it’s who you know in this world that counts.

What happens when we’re found out?

I have known people who have become physically sick to their stomachs when they know a lie they have told is about to come to light. Some people are so used to lying and believing their own lies, they no longer know the difference between a lie and the truth.

When it comes down to it, lies are all about self. We want to be something we’re not. We want more people to like us. We want to fit in. We want to be revered and envied.

The part that breaks my heart the most is when Christians lie. We are supposed to die to self and live for Christ. How is it that, like in the case of the bacon story above, we as Christians can advocate lying?

Here is what the Word of God says in I Peter Chapter 2 verses 1-3 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

If you call yourself a Christian, choose today to stand for truth. Let’s follow the standard set for us in the word of God instead of slowly allowing the world’s obscured measuring stick of right and wrong to lead us. Will you stand for truth?

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