Must We Always Tell the Truth?

This is a question that commonly creates the cartoonish cloud with a question mark overhead.  The reflex answer is almost always, "Yes.  The Bible says that we should not lie."  But the answer is more complex than this.  In the Scriptures we read stories where it seems that lying was the right thing to do.

Take Rahab for example (Josh 2:4-6; 6:17, 25; Heb 11:31; James 2:25).  Not only did she hide the spies (which is a deceptive act), she lied to her own countrymen.  These acts, by the prostitute, were conducted by faith and thus accounted to her as righteousness.

We could also rewind history and consider the Egyptian midwives, who lied to the authorities concerning the Israelite newborns (Exod 1).  Because of their actions, the Scriptures tell us that God dealt well with them (1:20).  There are other passages that we could examine, but time does not permit.

So, how do we reconcile these things?  Does the Bible contradict itself?

No.  The Bible does not contradict itself.  The answer, however, demands a closer look.  We must see what the Scripture specifically has to say about truth telling.

Many people shorten the ninth commandment to "You shall not lie."  But this is not what the commandment actually says.  Exodus 20:16 states, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."  The difference is significant.

In bearing false witness against a neighbor, a person withholds the truth in order to selfishly gain an upper hand over the one he is obligated to help (i.e., his neighbor; cf. Lk 10).  Frame states, "The sin of false witness is that of distorting the facts in such a way as to harm one's neighbor."  It is relational in nature.  The motive is not one of love but selfishness.

Lying, then, must be defined with greater precision.  Given a few examples, it is obvious that we do this without explicitly saying so.  A lie is not simply an untrue statement.  At night, I commonly tell my little boy a bedtime story.  Rarely are they true, but hardly would anyone call them a lie.

Parables are not lies even though they may describe events that did not actually happen.  Similarly in game playing, deceiving one's opponent is often considered good strategy.  But I have never heard an announcer describe a quarterback's pump fake as a lie.  And rightly so.

To be more precise, a lie is a word or act that intentionally deceives a neighbor in order to hurt him (Frame's definition).  It is an action which is against someone you should be helping.

So, should we always tell the truth?  I, along with many orthodox Christians, say no.  If a person comes to my house in order to harm my family, that person has forfeited his right to the truth.  In order to obey the sixth commandment, I would lie.  A person has no right to the truth, if their purpose is to use the truth in order to take innocent life.