Tag: Slappy

Acts 5:1-11
This story isn’t about generosity, it is about lying.
As a young man, I was an avid liar. Never to particularly malicious ends, but always self serving. In spite of warnings about tangled webs, I found myself to be a pretty handy spider. I was lucky enough to have a watershed moment when I was young where I was discovered in a relatively serious lie with nowhere to retreat. This didn’t come close to curing me, but it did strike the first light of awareness. Since, I have given special attention to trying to work on this flaw.
The lie sits deep in the heart of sin itself. Lying, in its essence, is the act of twisting my view of reality to serve my own purposes, functionally placing myself in the seat of God. Every lie, whether of commission or omission, begins with a lie to yourself. A lie is always in conflict with relationship because it intentionally creates a discontinuity between my understanding of reality and yours. How can I possibly remain in relationship with someone with whom I do not share the same reality?
However, I don’t think that abhorring a lie means that I should speak all truth to all people. Most of us have probably witnessed first-hand a vicious personal attack levied from the perceived moral high ground of “I’m just being honest.” Truth, like all goods, must be constantly tempered by that highest good, love. We must also be cautious about the burden of truth that we lay upon others. God, in his wisdom, does not reveal to us the fullness of His Truth because He knows that we are too weak to bear it. Likewise, it is sometimes better for us to moderate, but this is very tricky business. Certainly there are truths that are not helpful for a child. But I must be very cautious of my motives. Am I really protecting them, or am I really protecting me?
What we can be certain of is that if I intend to conform myself to a man who calls himself the way, the truth and the light, every lie is a nonconformity.