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Righteous Lying
Righteous Lying,
There is a very dangerous concept that I recently saw resurface,
that I see nowhere supported in scripture, that may be leading many
away from the truth and into error. It is a term I’ve heard referred
to as Righteous Lying.
Let’s first give a definition of “lying.” Your dictionary will
likely define lying in a way such as: making a false statement in
order to deceive someone. Notice with this definition that “the
liar” knows that he/she is saying something that is false. So lying
would not include examples such as your accidentally giving someone
the wrong time as you didn’t know your watch’s battery had died
(i.e., telling someone it’s 9:17 when it’s actually 10:05). And, by
the way, when you realize your error in giving the wrong time, Do
Not say “I lied,” not even as a joke.
With what people are calling Righteous Lying, they claim that it’s a
righteous thing for Christians to tell a lie if they feel they are
in danger, or if they feel their family, friends, or anyone else is
in danger of physical harm.
Those believing there is such a thing as Righteous Lying may put
forth examples of Old Testament persons of faith such as Isaac
(Abraham’s son) telling a lie:
Genesis 26:7-10
7 And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She
is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he,
the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was
fair to look upon.
8 And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that
Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw,
and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.
9 And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is
thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto
him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.
10 And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of
the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest
have brought guiltiness upon us.
King James Version
Or there’s Rahab the prostitute who came to believe in the
Israelite’s God and is mentioned in Hebrew’s 11:31 as having faith.
Yet she lied.
Joshua 2:1-6
2:1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy
secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and
came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there.
2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came
men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the
country.
3 And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the
men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for
they be come to search out all the country.
4 And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There
came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were:
5 And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when
it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not:
pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them.
6 But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them
with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.
King James Version
Or, what about the mighty man of courage, Samson, one of the
champions of the Israelites. Samson told multiple lies to Delilah, a
woman allied with the pagan lords of the Philistines. Samson seemed
to have a “thing” for wild women; in Judges 16:1 we see Samson
spending a night with a prostitute, then in the morning miraculously
breaking off the gate of the city and carrying it off on his
shoulders, posts and all, up to the top of a hill. It was God’s
power giving Samson this supernatural strength.
Judges 16:1-3
16:1 Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in
unto her.
2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And
they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate
of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning,
when it is day, we shall kill him.
3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the
doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with
them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them
up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.
King James Version
It would appear that there are other notable characters besides
Samson who did not find it objectionable to frequent prostitutes;
Judah, patriarch of one of the tribes of Israel, for example:
Genesis 38:15-18
15 When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she
had covered her face.
16 And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee,
let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter
in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come
in unto me?
17 And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said,
Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it?
18 And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy
signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand. And
he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.
King James Version
Or, we could speak of Abraham, the man with a covenant with God, who
went and had sex with his wife’s servant in attempt to “help God”
fulfill the promise God had made concerning giving Abraham and his
wife Sarah a son. However, God showed that he did not need Abraham’s
help and gave him a son by Sarah despite her advanced age.
Okay, let’s be clear, I’m not advocating that Christians should be
customers of prostitute houses, nor should husbands “Make Out” with
the maid as Abraham did. By the time we get to the first advent of
Christ, it is made clear that God’s design is for a man to be
faithful and true, and physically intimate, with a wife (not
multiple women, but one he is legally married to).
Matthew 19:3-9
3 The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto
him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?
4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he
which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and
shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore
God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of
divorcement, and to put her away?
8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts
suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was
not so.
9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it
be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery:
and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.
King James Version
And, let me say that I see no mention of a special kind of lying
that Christians can do, as if there were some special class of
liars.
Revelation 21:8
8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and
murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all
liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and
brimstone: which is the second death.
King James Version
If I were to accept this concept of Righteous Lying, then I would
have to accept that there is Righteous Cursing, and Righteous
Swearing, and Righteous Denying of Jesus Christ, because these are
all things Peter did after Jesus was taken when Peter feared for his
own safety:
Mark 14:61-72
61 But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high
priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of
the Blessed?
62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on
the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
63 Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we
any further witnesses?
64 Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all
condemned him to be guilty of death.
65 And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to
buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did
strike him with the palms of their hands.
66 And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the
maids of the high priest:
67 And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and
said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth.
68 But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou
sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew.
69 And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by,
This is one of them.
70 And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by
said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them: for thou art a
Galilaean, and thy speech agreeth thereto.
71 But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man
of whom ye speak.
72 And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the
word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou
shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.
King James Version
And, there are those indeed who say that you can deny Christ if it
will get your captors to stop abusing you. However, the problem with
this thought is that there is no precedent among the Christian
witnesses we see in the New Testament. Further, we see Peter (after
he turned back to Christ) and other Christians in the New Testament
refusing to lie and deny Christ even when faced with no way of
escaping persecution. Yes Christians may hide from persecutors, or
refuse to answer a question (as Jesus did), or change the subject to
avoid answering, but telling lies is not something I see Christians
doing and being commended for in the Bible.
Let me leave you with this open question:
If you’ve got even a single scripture that says it’s good for
Christians to tell lies, or deny Christ, please do send them our
way. But, I don’t think such a thing exists as we have too much
scripture to the contrary.
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