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