Roadblocks to Truth

Truth fails us early in life. When a toddler is asked "Did you eat the cookie?", the natural response is denial. "No, it wasn't me!", although cookie crumbs and chocolate residue give away the deception.

Adults fare little better. Adults lie for different reasons and their "cookie crumbs" are different, but are symptomatic of dishonesty.

Why do people lie? Let's take a look at all the possibilities:

• Self-preservation from punishment.
• Avoid embarrassment for wrong-doing.
• Embellish a good story.
• Improve ones own situation.
• Reinforce ones own beliefs.
• Pride. Make oneself as good as another.
• Ease of use.
• Habitual behavior.
• To hurt others.
• Tool of revenge.
• For material gain.
• It's expected by society.
• To receive pleasure.
• Psychopathic behavior.
• Deceived by principalities.

Lying is strictly not adhering to truth. So then "What is truth?"  From the Encyclopedia Britannica we see an early explanation of truth in philosophy"

The "Correspondence Theory" about truth comes from Aristotle (384–322 bce) who said: “To say of what is that it is, or of what is not that it is not, is true.” In other words, the world provides “what is” or “what is not,” and the true saying or thought corresponds to the fact so provided."

Every beginning class in philosophy starts with that question: "What is truth?" It's important! Think of a society where truth isn't important. It would destroy itself in an instant. Think of a society where truth and falsehoods are interchanged. That's the subject of a society described in the novel 1984.

Truth then is important. Few would want to live in a world where deceit reigns, but that's where we live! Mixed in with the pool of reality is an ocean of lies. We live in a world whose ruler is the "Prince of the Air", Satan if you prefer! Satan is a liar!

John 8:44 "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."

When a person lies, he's serving his true master, the devil, the father of lies. Satan's desire is not to defeat God, because he knows of his eminent failure!  Satan is satisfied with undermining God and kidnapping his children. He may not get our bodies, but he wins when he gets our souls. We've all seen movies or read stories where a person "sells the soul" to the devil in exchange for money or power. It sounds so disconcerting, but people do it every second of every hour!

Satan does speak some truth. He knows truth and uses it for his own motives. That's deceit and is equivalent to lying for the motives are the same. People use the same technique daily. It's not that mankind lies outright so much, but that we deceive. It's done so that a better picture of is painted. We protect others from seeing our failures by acting. The best actors are those who paint a negative picture of who they are and people sill buy the artwork. We are "artful dodgers" in that we fool the people around us. Yes, I know all about lying for like you, I have lied numerous times. Righteous people still lie, but ask for forgiveness when we do because sin hurts ourselves, others and God.

Philosophers have their definition of truth. Because of Natural Law, their definition corresponds to what God says about truth:

John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life..."

Jesus has more than perfect insight. He was there when it was all made and when God spoke, it was his voice which was heard. Jesus is "The Word" and whatever he said in patriarchal times and gospel times was, well, it was "the gospel truth"! What God says corresponds perfectly with reality. However, we all have an inclination in accepting deceit (Original Sin) and accepting truth requires faith! Of course we can't see faith, but because one cannot see it doesn't make it non-existent. Hence, truth and faith are twins forever. We accept the truth because of faith that God is true!

2 Timothy 2:18 "Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some."

In short lies undermine faith and truth builds up faith. People want something to believe in,but buy into "the lie" without a blink.  Let's look again at why people lie:

• Self-preservation from punishment - We fear pain and mental anguish. Our first impulse is to protect ourselves from pain, be it mental or physical. Babies lie about eating the cookie to avoid a scolding or a spanking.
• Avoid embarrassment for wrong-doing - There are acceptable behaviors set by God and/or society. If we go too far and violate acceptable behavior, if we're discovered, normal people get embarrassed. We fear that others will think less of us and most people desire respect and acceptance. Embarrassment is the fear that our true self will be revealed and many of us are something we don't wish to be! 
• Embellish a good story-Sometimes truth isn't interesting nor funny and to be funnier or more interesting extra information is added to make oneself more accepted by others. There are even "Whopper Contests" where people are rewarded for their imagination in making up humongous lies!
• Improve ones own situation-Most people want to be more important, wealthier, more powerful and have more respect than what we have. As a child I would lie about what I got for Christmas so that others wouldn't know that I was poor. It was my way of keeping their acceptance because poor people often lack the respect that the wealthy have. I remember telling people that my Dad was a General Foreman so that he would be respected by the other kids. (It turns out that unknown to me, if I had known and told the truth about Dad, I would never have been ashamed!)
• Reinforce ones own beliefs-Some people want to believe a lie to reinforce what they believe. That sounds like circular reasoning, but people do a lot of that! One Christian told me that he accepted the propositions of the book Trail of Blood out of faith, although the book entirely misrepresented the facts. This Christian was afraid of truth and accepted the "stretching of the truth" to reinforce his own beliefs in Baptist Succession from John the Baptist! I believe, from a theological point of view, what I believe because I accept it as truth. If scripture did say something other than "God is truth", I wouldn't even bother to read it!
• Pride. Make oneself as good as another - I'm not an advocate of self-esteem! We have differences in worth. To God all of us have the same spiritual value, but some are failures and some successes in life. Some are a burden to society and some an asset! Some are less intelligent than others and on and on. However, whatever our essence we're still important to God! Self-esteem is being prideful of what we are when we are not what we should be. If one is a Christian, that's something of which to be proud! It's God-given and a gift; not something we are! Our only pride is that God gave us a gift and we were blessed by accepting his grace. We too have pride in our kids. That's not sinful if it's a healthy pride, remembering that they are what they are by the grace of God!
• Ease of use - Sometimes it's just easier to avoid the truth. People lie for shorthand because the subject matter just doesn't matter.
• Habitual behavior-Lying one time leads to another lie. Sinning compounds itself. With one violation another becomes easier. (1 Corinthians 5:6 (ESV) "Your boasting [sinning, pride, lying, etc.] is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?")
• To hurt others- Lies are weapons! Just as Satan lies to undermine Jesus, people lie to bring harm to others. It may be to build oneself up by belittling others, but the intent is to diminish the stature of others. Gossip often includes lies and deception so that the subject of the gossip is thought less of. Competition and self-pride are the reason for lying to hurt others. We look better when others look worse... or do we really?
• Tool of revenge-Because another hurts us, we rationalize that we are justified in hurting others. I once made a driving error and got flipped-off. I chased the other driver down and was going to hurt them with insults, totally ignoring my own cause in this cause/effect situation. The Holy Spirit "checked" me and I was courteous to the man and told him that I had made a driving mistake. (He flipped me off again as I was walking away, but I never revenged his behavior.) Many use lies for the revenge, whereas I was going to inflict pain! Lies can inflict pain too! (James 3:10 "the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.")
• For material gain-Some even lie on resume's. It's the belief that if one is to lie, this is the place to do it! Oftentimes much is true, but it's embellished. It presents the person as something they are not! People lie on their tax forms and about items which they are selling. Salesman lie as a "good sales technique". The "love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Tim 6:10) and people will lie for that love!
• It's expected by society-We live in a fake world. It's a world designed by the ruler of that world. Society sets the standards, unfortunately and if we don't meet the standards of the world, people live false lives. In the past the television show Ozzie and Harriet presented a close to perfect family. Staid people wanted their families to be like that. Because that was a standard of society people kept their failures in a closet. As the family screamed, hit and fussed at home, to the world they lived in perfect harmony! Now we're out of the closet. Most families now admit malfunction because the standards have changed. Ozzie and Harriet are no longer role models, but Hollywood and the music world is. There anything goes! People may not lie as much, but living the sin is as bad as living the lie!
• To receive pleasure-As a teenager it was well-known that about any boy would say "I love you!" to the girl to "get in her pants"! Of course the love wasn't there and the girl often fell for the lie. Adults are no different. In order to satisfy our carnal desires it's almost a necessity to lie to get it. Even if we want a larger piece of pie, we contort the truth to justify why we should! In Ferguson, Missouri right now, the mob is creating a myth to receive the pleasure of seeing revenge. I don't believe that it's revenge against Darren Wilson, but revenge for what they see as white oppression. They are receiving pleasure by getting even!
• Psychopathic behavior-Habitual lying leads to psychopathic behavior. A person begins to lie even when there is no reason to lie anymore. It's their modus operandi and they do it without fore-thought nor hesitation. These folks become reprobate. They are damned because their hearts have become calloused to truth. God now leaves them alone because truth is of no interest to the reprobate.
• Deceived by principalities-Some people either are possessed or under the control of demons. Yes, demons are real! They don't lie because they desire to lie, but the principalities use them as a vessel of deceit. Those who're possessed face destruction because before they can be reached, the demons have to be prayed and fasted out. I believe that many people that have been analyzed as psychopaths are even worse. They're possessed!

Lying ceases because we want to please God! Although the Holy Spirit will help us, we have a responsibility too! It requires more than praying. It requires self-control. 

1 Corinthians 10:13 (ESV) "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."

As with any indulgence "self-control" is required! That's how we demonstrate to God our love for him. You can see that although God helps us, we still share responsibility! By "enduring it" (the way of escape) we work with God who "provides the way". Those who believe in sola gratia (grace alone) fail to see that we're saved by grace, but live by works! Works are the assurance of our faith. Why would we want to control our actions and behaviors? Simply to please God and we do just that to show our love!

Self-control applies, not only to truth, but to all temptations. We choose  to sin each time we do, but we don't have to. We have a choice. Choose wisely!