A day after Asa made his contribution
decision (for the church building campaign) to be taken at the conclusion of a
weeklong revival at the conclusion of the week, he started regretting it. All
that money could provide a nice getaway to Venice, Italy, for him and his wife
of fifteen years, Safron. [ii]
That Sunday evening, Pastor Pete seemed
irritated as he spoke, and paced back and forth on the podium. (Asa was sitting
in the pew without his spouse. She was running errands that could not be done
during the week. He knew she would return soon.)
“There are some of you here tonight that have
chosen to lie to the Holy Spirit by keeping back money that was promised to
God. The money once belonged to you before it was committed to God’s project.
You’ve changed your mind and heart on the promise that was made to your
Heavenly Father.”
Asa squirmed (and turned red in the face) as
both men knew who this talk was about that Pastor Pete was giving. Before
anyone knew what was happening, Asa was slumped over in his seat, from what
appeared to be a heart attack. The 911 emergency phone number was called, and
Safron’s sister-in-law, Annie Cash, was texted to return right away to the
Nazarite Chapel of Praise. Shortly, Safron she showed up at the church, and was
addressed by Pastor Pete as he wrote something on a piece of paper, and showed
it to Safron.
“Is this the money amount you and Asa made by
selling your savings bonds? Didn’t you promise this to the Almighty for His
work?”
An indignant Safron answered that this was
none of the Minister Actman’s business. He disagreed, and told her that the two
of them were wrong to spend over half that promised money on a down payment for
a luxury vacation. The little amount they were giving was dishonest in God’s
eyes. He promised that the same ambulance that had taken her unconscious
husband to the hospital was coming for her.
Safron was speechless at the nerve of this
man. She put her hand on her chest, and crumpled to the floor in front of the
congregation. As the pastor predicted, the fate of Asa happened to Safron.
Surely, the ambulance people had to wonder
what was going on at this church. This event was going to greatly affect this
congregation. Was this holy place an occult with its strict adherence to the
pastor’s rules, or pay the consequences (to God)?[iii]
It may be a shock to hear this, but there are
many instances in the Bible where
lying is condoned by the Almighty (sometimes favored). Here are the two
examples of Moses and Rahab, (There stories are below):
1. The king
of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, “When
you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if
you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.”
The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the
king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. Then
the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done
this?
Why have you let the boys live?” The
midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are
vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.” So God
was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more
numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them
families of their own. Exodus 1:15-20
(NIV)
“If one has the [answer] to all the questions - that is
the proof that God is not with him. It means that he is a false prophet using
religion for [his own good]. The great leaders of the people of God, like
Moses, have always left room for doubt. You must leave room for the Lord, not
for our certainties; we must be humble.” (Pope Francis)
As a result of this
kind gesture, Moses survived. Who knows how many centuries of people his life
has inspired. Was right or wrong what these women did? You decide
2. Then
Joshua son of Nun sent two men out from Shittim to spy, saying, “Go see the
land, especially Jericho.” So they went, and they came to the house of a
prostitute named Rahab. They spent the night there.
The king of Jericho was told, “Israelite men came here
tonight to spy out the land.” So the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab,
“Bring out the men who came to you, who have entered your house, for they came
to spy out the whole land.”
Now the woman had taken the two men and had hidden them. She
said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. The
men went out when it was time to shut the gate at dark. I do not know where the
men went. Chase after them quickly, for you can overtake them.” Yet she had
brought them up to the roof. She hid them in the stalks of flax that she had
spread out on the roof. Joshua 2:1-6 (MEV)
Salmon
became the father of Boaz (by Rahab). Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth.
Obed became the father of Jesse. So all the generations from Abraham to David
are fourteen generations; from David to the exile to Babylon fourteen
generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon to the Christ, fourteen
generations. Matthew 1:5, 17 (WEB)
“Faith
[does not know] what the future holds, but Who holds the future.” (Kimberly
Lock)
Has it ever dawned on you that if it were not for the
lineage of a former prostitute that lied, the Savior that heals (and comforts
you would never have existed?
I believe the above two stories, were
extraordinary circumstances in the Old Testament. The Almighty does not condemn
lying. He wants you to be a person who can be depended on with your words.
ü You must
mean "Yes" when you say "Yes". You must mean "No"
when you say "No". To say anything more than that is wrong.' Matthew 5:37
(New Testament) (WE)
ü “The Lord hates those whose lips tell lies. But He is pleased with
people who tell the truth.”
Proverbs
12:22 (NIRV)
ü “Lies are like
cockroaches, for every one you discover there are many more that are hidden.”
(Gary Hopkins)
“Lies are a little fortress; inside them you can feel safe
and powerful. Through your little fortress of lies you try to run your life and
manipulate others. But the fortress needs walls, so you build some. These are
the justifications for your lies. [iv]
You know, like you
are doing this to protect someone you love, to keep them from feeling pain.
Whatever works, just so you feel okay about the lies.”[v]
[i] There was a man named Ananias. His wife’s name was Sapphira. Ananias sold some land he had, but he gave
only part of the money to the apostles. He secretly kept some of the money for
himself. His wife knew this, and she agreed with it.
Peter said, “Ananias, why did you let Satan fill your mind
with such an idea? You kept part of the money for yourself and lied about it to
the Holy Spirit! Before you sold the field, it belonged to you, right? And even
after you sold it, you could have used the money any way you wanted. How could
you even think of doing such a thing? You lied to God, not to us!”
When Ananias heard
this, he fell down and died. Some young men came and wrapped his body. They
carried it out and buried it. And everyone who heard about this was filled with
fear. 7 About three hours later his wife came in. Sapphira did
not know about what had happened to her husband. Peter said to her, “Tell me
how much money you got for your field. Acts 5:1-10 (ERV)
[ii] Lies come
in many different colors. A white lie is a minor fib told to
spare someone’s feelings (at an emotional cost to the person telling it).
A black lie is told for selfish reasons (to either gain something
we desire, or to keep ourselves out of trouble).
Gray lies are lies are daily, common, numerous, and
difficult to define (at times). They can benefit both benefit the giver, and
hurt the receiver simultaneously.
Red lies are about spite and revenge. They are driven by the motive to harm
others (even at the expense of harming oneself).
[iii] Adapted from chapter twenty-nine “ A
Broken Promise” of part one We’re All
Just Alike of the book, All for
One: the Towns of Ohio Complete Trilogy by Robert Kinker
[iv] This post was inspired by a devotional from Pastor Dave
Jansen on Wednesday, February 1, 2017, at our CenterPoint Mentoring program in
partnership with a nearby school (Royal Manor Elementary). Allena attended this
school as a young girl.
[v] Quote by William Paul Young, author of The Shack
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