0:00:00.493,0:00:02.187 We were talking during the meal 0:00:02.187,0:00:03.834 about the issue of lying, 0:00:03.834,0:00:06.648 and is there ever a reason for a Christian 0:00:06.648,0:00:09.251 to lie, like to save a life 0:00:09.251,0:00:14.268 or things like that, because there's situations 0:00:14.268,0:00:17.310 in the Old Testament like Rahab or 0:00:17.310,0:00:22.490 other people lying and it seems as though 0:00:22.490,0:00:24.447 good things happened as a result of that. 0:00:24.447,0:00:26.982 So is there ever a reason 0:00:26.982,0:00:32.340 or would it ever be ok for a Christian to lie today? 0:00:32.340,0:00:35.120 Well, first of all, the fact that good things happen 0:00:35.120,0:00:36.728 because of something doesn't mean anything 0:00:36.728,0:00:39.157 about whether it's right or wrong. 0:00:39.157,0:00:40.677 There are a number of passages 0:00:40.677,0:00:46.495 in the Old Testament that raise questions. 0:00:46.495,0:00:50.324 I think that it's a very risky thing 0:00:50.324,0:00:53.059 to start talking about lying being right 0:00:53.059,0:00:56.235 in a situation because it has to do 0:00:56.235,0:01:00.311 with my integrity and my character. 0:01:00.311,0:01:01.958 Would God lie to me? 0:01:01.958,0:01:04.872 If it's acceptable, then God might lie to me 0:01:04.872,0:01:08.473 in order to accomplish a greater good. 0:01:08.473,0:01:11.141 I don't think we have to take it 0:01:11.141,0:01:14.728 that God condoned Rahab's lie, 0:01:14.728,0:01:17.907 but rather that He condoned her faith. 0:01:17.907,0:01:20.863 And so, I'd be very cautious about that. 0:01:20.863,0:01:23.920 You get into all kinds of issues 0:01:23.920,0:01:26.967 because you have things like 0:01:26.967,0:01:28.448 you leave a light on in the house, 0:01:28.448,0:01:30.488 you're trying to make people think you're home, 0:01:30.488,0:01:32.388 but you're not. 0:01:32.388,0:01:36.411 A general does a diversionary tactic 0:01:36.411,0:01:38.632 trying to make the enemy think that he's 0:01:38.632,0:01:40.001 doing such-and-such; 0:01:40.001,0:01:42.434 actually, he's deceiving them. 0:01:42.434,0:01:44.349 And when a soldier's taken in battle, 0:01:44.349,0:01:49.673 is he under obligation to tell the truth? 0:01:49.673,0:01:51.998 Some argue that wherever 0:01:51.998,0:01:55.858 there's a covenant of truth between people, 0:01:55.858,0:01:57.813 that's where there's an 0:01:57.813,0:01:59.634 obligation to tell the truth. 0:01:59.634,0:02:01.410 So in other words, I ought to expect 0:02:01.410,0:02:05.351 an enemy soldier not to have to tell me the truth. 0:02:05.351,0:02:08.503 So I don't know if there's any validity to that or not. 0:02:08.503,0:02:12.934 It seems to me that in light of the character of God, 0:02:12.934,0:02:15.677 that He is a God of truth. 0:02:15.677,0:02:19.050 Most of those questions where you bring up 0:02:19.050,0:02:21.335 is it right to lie... 0:02:21.335,0:02:23.175 and that comes up in ethics classes 0:02:23.175,0:02:25.021 and stuff like that; 0:02:25.021,0:02:27.206 almost always those classes are designed in 0:02:27.206,0:02:30.737 such a way not to help you to understand better 0:02:30.737,0:02:33.201 what you should do, but to undermine your faith 0:02:33.201,0:02:35.742 in right and wrong entirely. 0:02:35.742,0:02:39.241 And they never bring in the vertical of God being there, 0:02:39.241,0:02:42.108 they always are on the horizontal level. 0:02:42.108,0:02:44.831 And a lot of times whenever you see the Lord's answers 0:02:44.831,0:02:47.843 to questions, somebody will ask Him a question 0:02:47.843,0:02:49.950 and they'll set up the ground that the battle 0:02:49.950,0:02:52.336 is to be fought on, 0:02:52.336,0:02:54.151 and if you do that you're going to lose. 0:02:54.151,0:02:55.504 And the Lord would answer - 0:02:55.504,0:02:57.127 it said Jesus answered and said, 0:02:57.127,0:02:58.394 and it's clear over here somewhere 0:02:58.394,0:03:01.586 that doesn't even seem to relate to the question. 0:03:01.586,0:03:04.726 A lot of times the devil tries 0:03:04.726,0:03:06.626 to set us in situations where, 0:03:06.626,0:03:08.645 you know, well, look you've got to sin. 0:03:08.645,0:03:11.347 No, you don't. 0:03:11.347,0:03:15.399 There are many, many things like that. 0:03:15.399,0:03:19.910 Do you have to tell the Germans about the Jews 0:03:19.910,0:03:23.701 hiding in your house and things like that. 0:03:23.701,0:03:26.096 I think probably what would happen to me 0:03:26.096,0:03:29.266 is that I'd be killed before too long, 0:03:29.266,0:03:33.343 because the idea of lying about something, 0:03:33.343,0:03:35.103 you might be able to say something like 0:03:35.103,0:03:37.826 search and see or something like that. 0:03:37.826,0:03:41.531 You know, Corrie Ten Boom's sister strongly believed 0:03:41.531,0:03:44.054 that you should not lie. 0:03:44.054,0:03:47.385 They had a trap door under the table, 0:03:47.385,0:03:49.616 and her brothers hid in that trap door 0:03:49.616,0:03:51.983 when the Germans came. 0:03:51.983,0:03:54.077 They had a rug over the trap door 0:03:54.077,0:03:56.453 and then a table sitting on it. 0:03:56.453,0:03:58.715 And they said, "where are your brothers?" 0:03:58.715,0:04:00.521 She said, "They're under the table." 0:04:00.521,0:04:02.323 They looked under there and said, 0:04:02.323,0:04:04.613 "don't play games with us." 0:04:04.613,0:04:06.587 Well, actually, they were under the table. 0:04:06.587,0:04:10.128 God protected them. 0:04:10.128,0:04:14.606 But it's not always that way either. 0:04:14.606,0:04:17.999 I'm not going to be much help on that one. 0:04:17.999,0:04:21.374 I think there are times when we can avoid 0:04:21.374,0:04:22.953 saying everything. 0:04:22.953,0:04:26.897 I don't think we have to say everything.