Pragmatism

[john6809]

Hi everyone. A quick question from a newbie. I have been reading Corrie ten Boom's Book, The Hiding Place, to my family. Corrie spends a few years hiding Jews and lying about it. I have discussed the right or wrong of lying in these situations with my family and friends. Obviously God places a high priority on truth. My automatic reaction is that it is never right to do wrong to do right. The end doesn't justify the means. We are also told to submit to the governing authorities. Does that mean we shouldn`t even attempt to hide people the way Corrie did.
However, there are examples in the bible of this type of thing happening and seemingly, God blessed these people for their actions. I think of David eating the showbread, Rahab lying to the king of Jericho's men when they were looking for the Israeli spies, and more. Paul is clear that we should be subject to the authorities since God has placed them there. However, he also says that they are there for our good when that is not always the case as was demonstrated during the Nazi occupation of Holland. So, is there a place where compassion and mercy allow for a Christian to lie or hide people contrary to the ruling authority's laws, in order to save lives? If so, what does this do to the theory that nobody dies outside the will of God?Or should we just live according to the truth and let God take care of the consequnces?
So much for one question! Thanks for reading.
John

[mattrose]

I have thought a lot about this question and I think there are some biblical grounds for NOT telling the truth in some cases. For example:

When delaying the truth...serves the truth
I think this applies to various situations. Only an annoyingly honest person would ruin a surprise party. It can be good pure fun to trick a gullible friend. But, more seriously, think about how Joseph delayed identifying himself to his brother, or how Nathan waited to hear David's response before telling him, 'You are the man!' In such cases, delaying the truth served the truth in my opinion.

When your listeners aren't ready for it
In A Few Good Men Jack Nicholson reminded us that some people can't handle the truth. God seems to agree, in principle. For many centuries He spoke in shadows. We tend to call it progressive revelation. John 16:12 Jesus says, "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear." Progressive revelation teaches us that there may be times when it is better not to share the truth until your listeners are ready to hear it.

When your listeners aren't worthy of it
I'm not sure Rahab's questioners had worthy intentions. Some people simply aren't worthy of the truth. Jesus often would not answer the 'trap' questions of those who wished Him harm. It's not as if He didn't have answers, He was simply living out His own statement: 'Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine.'

When you can't say it in love
I like the quote of Sir William Blake: "A truth that's told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent." Ephesians tells us to speak the truth with the motive of love. The twin towers of truth and love should never be separated. If you can't speak the truth in love, you shouldn't speak the truth.

Obviously the third category is the most applicable to the situation you raised. And there are issues arising out of the difference b/w not telling the truth and telling a lie. I think a lot of it depends on the heart of the person. I wouldn't judge someone who lied to a bunch of murderers to save lives.

[darinhouston]

Have you read Bonhoeffer? He struggled with this through and following his plot to assassinate Hitler and through his time in prison before being executed in the last moments of the war.

[john6809]

Hey Mattrose,
Thanks for the quick response. You raise some good points. I guess the bigger question for me is what happens when you follow pragmatism to its logical conclusion. Where do we draw the line. If a murderer kidnapped your family and told you to steal or worse, kill someone, if you wanted to save their lives, would you. Where do we draw the line. It seems to me that silence is often a good option for us as opposed to lying. If the truth were to cause hurt, if the listeners are not ready as Jesus describes, if a listener is not worthy, silence is OK to me. And that touches on the other issue I mentioned. If a person with unworthy intentions has God given-authority to require an answer, do we have an option to keep silent. Authority is given by God, and if the authorities do not make a request that requires you to compromise your faith, should they not be obeyed. Again thanks for reading.

[john6809]

Have you read Bonhoeffer? He struggled with this through and following his plot to assassinate Hitler and through his time in prison before being executed in the last moments of the war.

I have not read this. Sounds like an interesting read. Thanks.