(Acts 5:1-3) “But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?”
In 2011, after being out of work for 4 months, I signed a contract with an IT staffing company. They would provide 6 weeks of training in J2EE and I would be obligated to work for the company for 2 years. Things were going well until about week 4, when I had a meeting with my boss about my résumé. He wanted give it a “J2EE flavor.” I politely turned down the offer, explaining the need for my résumé to be an accurate depiction of me. My boss then explained the importance of the changes and the implications it would have on my employment. I paused for a few seconds, assuring him I understood his concerns, and then reinforced my stance. A moment of awkward silence followed, and then he reminded me that I signed a contract.
What overshadowed me next you may call either righteous indignation or annoyance, but at that time I replied, “YES, I signed a contract. However, nowhere in the contract states that I have to LIE on my résumé! Fifteen years ago I signed a contract that is higher than any contract I can sign here on Earth, and that contract is between me and my GOD. That contract says, thou shalt not LIE, and I am not going to LIE on my résumé.”
In response, my boss quickly nullified the contract, and I went on my not-so-merry way.
I do believe that many God-fearing Christians would have made the same decision I made that day. However, having been saved for 15 years at that time, I see another set of lies that many Christians would not hesitate to tell. I will call these dignified lies.
We tell dignified lies in the songs we sing. Have you ever stopped to think about the words of some of the popular hymns we sing? Consider ’I Surrender All’ and ‘I Love to Tell the Story’ and many others. While the words in these classic hymns are truthful, I wonder how many of us are truly surrendering all, or how many of us actually love to tell the story of unseen things above. In Exodus 20, when we are admonished not to bear false witness, I believe the Lord intended that we should not sing them either.
We tell dignified lies in the clichés we use. “I am too blessed to be stressed” or “Yes, I will pray for you concerning that matter…” We know them all: those responses that are so automated it is almost like an out-of-office Outlook response. Yet, we are over-worked trying to do things in our own strength and at times never get around lifting up our brothers or sisters in prayer. We would do well to yield the advice given by the Solomon in Ecc 5:4-5: “When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.” Brethren, let us not lie by breaking our words and being caught up in clichés.
We tell dignified lies in the impressions we give. Desiring greatly the praise of others in the church, Ananias along with his wife Sapphira were willing to lie. In Acts 4:34-37 many of their church members sold possessions and donated it all to the church. Ananias, wanting to be in the “in crowd,” sold his land and gave part of it to the church. His intention was to give the impression that he was donating all. In Acts 5:2-3, the Bible does not record whether Ananias said anything, but Peter accused him of lying to the Holy Ghost. How did Ananias lie? By giving false impressions – doing or saying something that is right or truthful with the deliberate intention to give a person a false impression is a lie. Such lies killed Ananias and Sapphira. Brethren, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4: 24). What intentional false impressions are you giving today?
Dignified lies, as dignified as they may be, are still lies. And, “Lying lips are [still] an abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are [still] his delight.” (Pro. 12:22). Let me encourage you to perform a deep introspection and consider the dignified lies, if any, you may be telling today. Maybe it is in the area of evangelism. Have you sung about it, used one of the many clichés about it, and have even given false impressions about it? Why not make it right? Join the local church in its evangelistic efforts this week.
“But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.” (Acts 26:20).
By the Way, that Friday afternoon after my boss handed me the nullified contract, I jumped into my car and headed home. While driving, DW called to inform me that the church wanted to offer me a part-time job as an IT assistant. I started the following Monday. A month later, I got a full-time job with another company which offered me ten thousand dollars more than the job I walked away from. I worked at that job for almost 3 years.
After I related the incident to my high school science teacher, she said to me: “God will honor those who honor him.” Let me encourage you to be true to God in all your doings. Hear His sweet promises in His word: (Jer 29:11) “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (Psa 37:25) “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”
I praise the Lord He gave me the strength to honor Him and His word that day.
“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” (Heb 13:5).
