I used to lie - a lot.
I’d tell lies just to see if I could get away with it. For instance, in college I’d occasionally dress up in suit and tie. (That much is true.) One day someone asked me why I did that. “Just to see if I could get into areas a student shouldn’t have access to. Like, at the library earlier today. I walked back into [certain areas] and nobody stopped me.” That was a lie.
You see, I was a “good kid.” If there’s a sign, “No students allowed,” I wouldn’t dream of actually going there. But there was no sign, “Lying not allowed.” So I’d lie. Most of the time I’d get away with it, because I really was a “good kid.”
SIDEBAR:
One of my dorm mates started calling me “Les Nessman” because I wore that tie. Not the bow tie the WKRP character wore, but you get the idea. One of Les’ jobs was to read the hog reports on WKRP radio. I found it VERY ironic when, years later, one of my duties was to read the hog reports on the radio.
It’s also ironic that I’m very annoyed when people lie. In particular, as I was watching a well-known TV personality strongly imply Terah and Abram “settled” in Haran after God told them to go to Canaan.
Excuse me? God said nothing to Abram and Terah before that. In fact, it wasn’t until after Terah died that God told Abram to head to Canaan. You don’t need to invent things in the bible to make your point. Do a little looking and you can make your point without inventing examples.
For instance, Joshua and the conquest. “Make sure you take over completely, or you’re gonna be in a world of hurt.” The conquest kinda petered out, and the Hebrews suffered a world of hurt. It didn’t take much thinking to come up with that example, and given another hour of research I’m sure I could come up with more.
Every time a bible teacher lies, stretches the truth, or just uses questionable reasoning, it hurts the overall message of the bible. There are enough critics out there who will take every opportunity to dismiss anything about Jesus that we don’t need to give them more ammunition.
I urge everyone out there to stop shooting your witness in the foot.
