Lying is Self-Advancement

Exodus 20:16 (ESV) "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."

Lying is not usually considered that big of a deal. We even rename it to make it sound more "innocent." We say it's a "white lie" or we call it fibbing or "stretching the truth just a bit" or even exaggeration. All of them seem harmless but can often be small ways in which we deceive others for our own advantage. 

Notice that this command is the first command to conclude with the words, "against your neighbor." Lying is a living offense against someone in your community for your own benefit. Murder takes a life, adultery takes stolen pleasure, stealing takes property from someone else. A lie is self-advancement over others.

The original intention of this command refers to lying in court against someone else. We really come to understand the depth of God's heart in this command when we realize how easy it was to condemn someone in the ancient world. Anyone charged with a crime could be accused and put to death with as little as one person's vindictiveness. In fact, we owe our system of criminal justice to the Pentateuch code beginning here in the Ten Commandments. Further stipulations in Deuteronomy 17 and 19 about bearing witness will be expounded such as the necessity for two or three witnesses.

The temptation God is addressing here is clearly that of self-interest. If someone had a problem with another person in their community they could simply lie about them to get them in trouble. At it's root, lying is about advancing our lives through deception and manipulation over against the lives of those around us. We do this outside of the court system every day. When we are late for a meeting we may mention something that never happened to delay us. Or when we are asked about how something went wrong that was our fault we will say "I don't know." These forms of self-protection are evidences of something deeper in our heart that is out of alignment with God. We feel the need to take matters into our own hand for fear of the consequences of what really are or have done. The hidden fear behind all lying is that God is not enough to protect and improve our lives.

But God is teaching His people through this command that their lives and their improvement are in His hands. They do not need to make themselves better through their own manipulative tactics. He has them and will guide, lead and bless them.

In the New Testament, Paul picks up this command in Colossians and draws on the deeper meaning and reasoning behind the admonition be truthful to each other. Notice:

Colossians 3:9-10 (ESV) Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 

Paul tells the Colossians there's no need for self-advancement because God has taken possession of their lives and has promised to renew them. They are going to "improve" because God is now their Lord who originally created them and is working to perfect them. The old way of Cain that lies for self-preservation is no longer necessary. God's love abounds in their lives even through the moments when telling the truth may cause temporary discomfort or loss. You can be truthful because God has taken ownership of you.

Amen.