There are six things the Lord hates—no, seven things he detests:
. . .a lying tongue
Proverbs 6:16-17
And the category is: Things That Disgust God! Today’s subject is a lying tongue. I have been in deep thought about this one. On one hand, it is easy to understand. It is when someone doesn’t tell the truth; trying to hide something; or attempting to cover up the truth. But I think differently from most folks, so I am not satisfied with just that explanation. It is easy to just excuse ourselves by saying, “It’s just a little white lie” and never consider that it is disgusting to God. It’s like that word “white” makes it digestible for God.
At the core of a lying tongue is something much deeper and darker. The word I use to describe it is a word not just much anymore. That word is Chicanery. I like this word because it is a strong word–something we don’t see much of anymore for fear of offending someone. I would define Chicanery as the art of deception. And isn’t that what lying is all about? To deceive? To promote a lie as being true?
Chicanery uses a process called Sophistry (another strong word). Sophistry is defined as: “a subtle, tricky, superficially plausible, but generally fallacious method of reasoning.” Over the years I’ve seen a lot of theological chicanery. At one time it was what I called “the name it and claim it” fallacious method of reasoning. It claimed that you could have whatever you wanted if you just had enough faith. If you didn’t get it, then you just needed more faith.
Today there is “the prosperity” fallacious method of reasoning. God wants all of His people to be wealthy. And the most prominent (at least in the United States) for is “the progressive” fallacious method of reasoning. It states that Jesus came to show us how to love–by eliminating the idea of any form of sin that contradicts how one feels. All one has to do is show unconditional love to everyone–well, except to those who cannot agree with them. Then it’s OK to be mean, hateful, and downright ugly.
Anyone can be wrong about something we believe as true. To exclude one’s self from being wrong is–well just wrong. This is why it is essential that we constantly evaluate and re-evaluate anything and everything we believe. If we are willing to listen, The Holy Spirit does what Jesus said the Holy Spirit would do. (John 16:13) “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own but will tell you what He has heard. He will tell you about the future.” Notice the word Jesus carefully chose: “Guide”. It’s not instantaneous. The Greek word used means “to give guidance, instruction or assistance to another“. And it is in the future tense–which means we haven’t arrived at the point of perfection–in this life. Personally, I’ve learned more the past 15 years of my life than the previous 50 years.
When deception is used to promote an idea or belief, it is plain old-fashioned Sophistry. And Sophistry, no matter how cleverly disguised, is just odious, trickery, treachery to God. And He finds that disgusting!
Kingdom Pastor 