me and becca just watched The Invention of Lying. it takes place in a world where as long as man has been on earth, no one has ever fibbed, lied, bent the truth or even used sarcasm. sounds good doesn't it? well it isn't in this world. people are sad, angry, depressed and really quite rude as well, all because people always tell the truth.
um...where are you going with this brett?
thank you, i'm glad you asked! this is something i really started to think about while watching this movie. is it ok to lie sometimes?
gasp!
i know right! i'm just thinking out loud here but this movie really provoked some spiritual thought out of me (weird i know, especially for a movie that depicts God and the belief in him as nothing more than a lie to make people happy). we are brought up our entire lives being told not to lie, that fibbing is wrong, and i do believe that...i think.
but what about the husband that asks his wife, "am i really replaceable?" after losing his job to an automated machine or an overseas worker? clearly the man was replaced, but doesn't the wife need to overstate the value of her husband in other areas of his life as a mate, father, spiritual leader and man of God rather than openly admitting the truthful answer to his question?
in the Bible we find many places where God tells us not to lie, but we also see cases where lying is condoned and even praised! in the old testament, Rahab lies to soldiers to protect the spies that Joshua has sent into Canaan. later we hear that she is justified by her works and praised for her faith in God for what she did in hiding the spies.
in first Samuel 16, God tells Samuel to take a calf offering into Bethlehem so as to hide from King Saul his true reason for going there...to annoint the new king, David. i honestly am openly confused about this! is God endorsing, encouraging and even helping Samuel here in a lie?
this is the great thing i'm finding as i read more into things about the nature of God. he's really not so black and white as we often make him out to be. personally, i believe the line between sinning and not sinning when it comes to lies has a lot to do with the heart. God sees the heart of every human being, and knows everyone's intentions and processes. i don't believe lying is something to be practiced at all, especially when motives are to decieve, but i'm also thinking that God has supplied us with tact and common sense enough to be able to discern for ourselves in various situations what is best left unsaid, or covered up in layers of word distractions.
ha, if anyone is left reading after this
ridiculously long text, i would love to hear your thoughts on this
subject and what you believe God says to you and in his word. these
words i've written are just my own thoughts, and i'm hoping
discussion could possibly spring from this. you can leave a comment
below, or email me at brett@j103.com. in love,
thanks!