Talking Out Of Turn

Of course, the Bible teaches that honesty and truthfulness are virtues to be sought after. And of course Christ himself is the way, the truth, and the life. So truthfulness is fundamental to Christianity and the Christian.

However, does this then imply that it is always wrong to tell a lie? Or that it’s always wrong to deceive someone (e.g. by remaining silent, or by telling a truth in such a way that another takes it as meaning something else)?

I don’t necessarily have any concrete answers, but still, I’d like to ask a few questions. And I’d love it if readers would consider chiming in.

1. Was it wrong for the Israelite midwives to lie to Pharaoh and save the male children in Exo. 1?
   

   Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.

   It seems that God dealt well with the midwives because they feared God, refused to obey Pharaoh, and thus saved the male children’s lives. Thus, it need not necessarily be that God viewed their lying favorably. Nevertheless, how did the midwives save the male children’s lives? At least in part, they did so by lying to Pharaoh. True, perhaps God blessed them for their fear of him in spite of their lies. The ends justified the means here, so to speak. But can’t it equally be construed that it was their means, viz. their lying, which led to the salvation of the male children, and hence one could ostensibly interpret this passage to as easily say that God favored their means as much as he disfavored them?

2. Others bring up Ex. 20:16 which states, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

   But is this talking about lying in general? Rather, it would seem to be in the context of something akin to a court of law, no?

3. Was it wrong for Rahab to have lied to save the Jewish spies’ lives?
   

   And it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out.

   From reading the passage, Rahab’s deceitfulness could be construed in a couple of different ways.

   So instead of directly tackling it, let’s turn to other portions of Scripture in order to shed more light on what Rahab did. The author of Hebrews seems to view what Rahab did somewhat positively: “By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies” (Heb. 11:31). Actually, this verse only applauds Rahab in welcoming the spies, not necessarily in hiding them. Hence it might not necessarily be supportive of Rahab’s deceitfulness at all. At any rate, it’s debatable.

   However, if we turn to James 2:25, we read, “And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?” This is far clearer in its support of what Rahab did. At a minimum, James is saying Rahab was justified in both receiving the spies as well as sending them out. Rahab’s “sending them out” obviously involved subterfuge.

4. Was Jesus being somewhat deceptive when he told parables?
   

   Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.” (Matt. 13:10-13)

   If Christ was being somewhat deceptive, then deceitfulness is not necessarily always wrong, at least not for him, because Christ himself committed no sin.

   On the other hand, couldn’t it be argued that Christ did not deceive, per se, but rather, since unbelievers naturally love sin and hate the truth, they are willingly self-deceived? Thus, Christ’s parables would not be “hidden” to them if only they stopped refusing to love the truth and taking pleasure in unrighteousness?

5. Moving away from the Bible, let’s ask a couple more questions. The most often asked one is, if you were a German Christian living in Nazi Germany and hiding Jews in your house, and the Gestapo came knocking on your door, asking if there were any Jews in your house, what would you have said? Would you have remained silent and said nothing, thus possibly drawing the Nazis’ suspicion? Would you have said something along the lines of, “I don’t see any now, do you?”, thus technically not lying, but nevertheless still engaging in a measure of deceit? Or would you have flatly lied and said, “No, absolutely not”?
6. Would it be wrong for a Christian physician to enter into a nation which does not allow missionaries on the pretenses of working as a physician when his primary intention is instead to work as a missionary and practicing medicine is secondary?
7. Would it be wrong for a Christian physician to tell an unbelieving woman in her first month of pregnancy who wants to have an abortion that abortion is no longer a safe option for her at this point, even though medically speaking it is?

I’ll stop here for now.