The Truth About Lying . . .
Lying has always been a pet peeve of mine, and yet, (I admit) I have lied. Okay, so nothing dramatic like perjuring myself in court, but more like those harmless little white lies that really don’t hurt anyone. I have told a child that I clearly see whatever animal they say they’ve drawn, when in reality, I see nothing more than a squiggly mangled blob. Telling lies meant to protect someone’s feelings is something I can easily fess up to. However, lying for me does not come naturally, and I’ve found myself in uncomfortable conversations, finding that the importance of truth, supersedes the possibility that I might hurt someone’s feelings. I can’t very well tell my sister that the shirt she wants to buy looks great on her, when in reality it makes her look like a child’s drawing. Truth isn’t always easy, but I am positive that it is always right, especially when told tactfully.
As children, we may not be born with the ability to grasp right from wrong, or truth from lies, but I feel certain (given my own life experience) that there is something within us that is fully aware of the difference. I certainly sensed that difference as early as my memories go, long before I accepted Christ into my life.
One vivid childhood memory stands out to me of my natural instincts saying “no,” and my carnal nature saying, “yes.” I wasn’t about to do anything that would cause a wrong alert to sound in my head, such as stealing someone’s lunch money. In that moment of not really knowing whether what I was about to do was right or wrong, I nervously dialed the number to a local mom-and-pop grocery store, while my friend watched wide-eyed with her hand over her mouth. After a few rings, and a voice answering on the other end, I asked if the store had Prince Albert in a can. To those not familiar with Prince Albert in a can, it’s pipe tobacco.
I felt panic rise in my chest, as the person on the other end of the line temporarily left our conversation, to look on the store’s shelves, to see if she actually did have Prince Albert in a can. When she came back with the answer of “yes” to my question, I was supposed to prank her by saying, “well, then let him out.” Instead, my conscientious young heart said “thank you” before hanging up the phone. I couldn’t go through with it, and felt shame that I’d even wanted to prank someone in the first place.
As a kid, that harmless prank was right up there with asking someone if their refrigerator was running, and then telling them to go catch it if they responded yes. I can’t say for certain that the prank I had intended as a child was actually wrong, any more than corning someone’s house at Halloween was right or wrong. Okay, so maybe corning someone’s house was wrong, but it seemed so harmless when I was a kid. Unlike today’s pranks on social media. Does anyone really think it’s okay to belittle or bully another human being just because they are hidden behind a computer screen? Please tell me that everyone knows that’s wrong, right?
Sadly, I’m not sure if everyone does know the difference between right and wrong anymore, simply because we live in a world where Satan is metaphorically running rampant through its streets. He’s managed to camouflage himself in pretty much every area of our world, fooling us into believing that lies are truth and truth are lies.
My husband recently told me about a friend who’d used a phone app to immerse another (unaware friend) into a video discussion with Mr. Rogers (a real-life living, breathing person who had a kid’s show in a time when kids used to play outside and our TVs weren’t smart.) My husband and his unaware friend watched in shock as a conversation between said friend, and one deceased television personality from the seventies and eighties, was happening before their eyes on the screen of an I-phone. Seriously, one minute you can be sitting at your kitchen table, and in the next moment, you are in Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, having a discussion about whatever it is you want to discuss. If that doesn’t send nervous laughter throughout your body, what would? Make yourself an enemy these days and you might end up superimposed in a crime scene photo. You only need to recall the Varsity Blues college scandal to know how easily that can be done.
A picture really is worth a thousand words, but how many of those words are true these days? Is seeing something, really believing? An old English teacher of mine often would say, “believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you see.” Inasmuch as I didn’t see the value in her words during simpler times, I certainly see the value in them now.
Recently I called a service shop, to get a price for an oil change. I found myself talking for the very first time with an actual AI (artificial intelligence). Now mind you, I’ve come across some people whose personalities have made them seem artificial to me, but I’d never experienced a real AI, before that day. I admit, I was a bit creeped out when the disembodied voice answered my questions much too quickly for my comfort. That AI seemed to know what I was going to ask before I even asked it. How is that possible? I’ve asked Siri a question or two, and have been in awe of how quickly she knows the answers. She gets right down to business, answering me before I barely have time to finish my question. I have become so desensitized by reaching out to Siri for help that I found myself thanking her the other day for her prompt answer to my question of what a third of a half of a cup was, or something along that line. Shout out to my math teacher who told me that I would use fractions in my life. Turns out, he was right. Who knew! Given my inadequacy at math, I am very thankful for Siri and when I told her so, I wasn’t expecting to hear her say, “you’re welcome.” I can’t even get that kind response from most real people these days.
I suppose, one seriously has to try and find humor in how far technology has come, but sometimes I wonder if we’re creating a world that we wish existed, instead of trying to better the one that already does exist.
That may be why I strongly prefer non-fiction over fiction. Although I read both, I much prefer reading about real people with real lives, and that was why I asked my husband to stop by the bookstore at the shopping plaza we were visiting. I needed a good non-fiction book to read, and so the two of us decided to divide and conquer, as we navigated through the very large bookstore, maneuvering our way in and out of countless bookshelves. I was just about ready to give up on finding the non-fiction section when my husband motioned me toward him. He’d managed to find the practically non-existent section. It barely took up one fourth of a single bookshelf in a store filled with bookshelves.
“Seriously, that’s all the non-fiction that there is,” I raised my hands mid-air, shaking my head in disbelief.
“People tell better lies than the truth,” my husband joked.
I guess he was right about that because you name the genre, that store had it; stories about aliens, stories about dogs, stories about dogs who were aliens. Okay, so I didn’t actually see those particular subjects, but I am sure had I looked long enough, I would have found them.
I left that store wondering, if people really did prefer fiction that much to reality, or have the lines between the two become so vague?
I can admit that sometimes it’s nice to walk down the yellow brick road of imagination, and become immersed in a world of make belief, but what happens when we become so immersed in a world of fantasy that our truth becomes fiction? We have developed an unhealthy inability to talk with one another. I can’t count the times I’ve seen people at restaurants, so engrossed with their cell phones, that they aren’t communicating with the person across the table from them. Then there are those (whom my husband likes to call “computer brave”) who uses social media to attack others. I remember watching a movie based on Mike Zukerburg’s creation of Facebook, and hearing his girlfriend telling him that he couldn’t take back what he’d negatively written about her on Facebook because Facebook is in ink, and it can’t be erased. Her words struck a chord with me.
Social media and lying go hand and hand. It has become a breeding ground for Satan in his desire to convince vulnerable people that lies are truth and truth are lies. So how can we even decipher between the two anymore?
There is a reason that God tells us to put on the whole armor of God. (Ephesians 6:11-12) Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
With that said, put on the armor of God and protect yourself from all those lies out there. The type of lies meant to destroy or hurt you. Not those little white lies meant in love to protect you. I’m pretty sure God will understand when you tell a child that their squiggly lines on paper is a masterpiece. It’s the intent behind any lie that reveals whether or not someone cares about you.
One of the most damaging lies going around today is that your sins are too great to be forgiven. Not only will God forgive you your sins, He loves you and He wants you to succeed in life, despite Satan’s attempts to convince you otherwise. Just bear in mind that Satan is like those who are “computer brave” because he hides behind his lies. Take it from me, a real-life flawed Christian who pretty much sins every day. Lord, don’t get me started on those people who decide to have a group conference in the middle of a crowded walkway, and refuse to move, so other people can get around them. Common decency is becoming as extinct as real life conversations. I admit (within the last month on several occasions at a sporting event), I’ve had impromptu group conferences taking place randomly whenever I was trying to get to a bathroom, or to my seat. Trust me when I say, I fought the urge to shove those people out of the way, internally screaming all the while, “move to the side people, move to the side.” People truly are oblivious to anyone around them.
Instead of getting upset, I suppose I should have taken a picture for posterity’s sake. After all, seeing people actually talking instead of texting or communicating through social media is kind of rare these days. Ho hum, regardless of what I should or shouldn’t have done, I was sinning in my mind and for God there is no difference. Cursing someone in anger is the same as punching them in the face, so for those out there who think your little sin doesn’t compare to someone’s mouth dropping sin, you are wrong my friend.
God doesn’t have divided sections of sins where he puts the really big ones to one side and the small ones in another. Nope, to God a sin is a sin, but the great thing about God, He will forgive those sins, big or small. Satan of course will try convincing you otherwise, and all those crafty people that he’s working through, including friends, family and some self-proclaimed Christians. If you want the truth about God, read His word. . .
(1 John 1:9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
If you take one thing from this post, please know that God loves you and Satan hates you. God is truth and Satan is a liar. God has great plans for you. And as for Satan, he has some plans of his own for you, but those plans aren’t so great . . .
God’s Plan: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11
Satan’s Plan: Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. – 1 Peter 5:8
I don’t know about you, but I prefer a future with hope and not being devoured by a roaring lion.
However, please don’t take anything I’ve said as undisputable truth, pick up a bible and read for yourself because no matter how many lies that are going around out there, God is the one and only truth that you can count on. Who else can you say that about?