Center for Creative Ministry A research organization and research center for Seventh-day Adventist pastors and their congregations
Surprised by Grace
The act of telling “a little white lie” is often an ethical minefield.
“Most people would say that lying is always wrong, except when there’s a good reason for it – which means that it’s not always wrong!” So states a BBC essay on the ethics of telling white lies.
The essay continues with an example of how convoluted ethics can become: “But even people who think lying is always wrong have a problem… Consider the case where telling a lie would mean that 10 other lies would not be told. If 10 lies are worse than 1 lie then it would seem to be a good thing to tell the first lie, but if lying is always wrong then it’s wrong to tell the first lie…”
And how does God view the act of telling a “white lie”? Two examples show how God responds on a case-by-case basis. The first is the story of Corrie Ten Boom’s niece, Cocky van Woerden.
After the militarized Nazi Party invaded Holland, Germany began rounding up young men to work in its munitions factories.
Knowing that soldiers were searching their neighborhood, Corrie and her family hid two of her nephews in a potato cellar, under a trap door in the kitchen. Once the boys dropped safely into the cellar, the family pulled a rug over the door, moved a table over it, and draped a long cloth over the table, right before the soldiers burst into Corrie’s home.
Corrie’s sister Nollie, however, taught her children to always be honest—to never lie, under any circumstance. When the soldiers asked Nollie’s daughter Cocky, “Where are your men?” Corrie thought, “Surely now of all times a lie was permissible!” Cocky, after first trying to change the subject, blurted, “Why, they’re under the table.”
When a soldier whipped back the table cloth, gun ready, Cocky burst into hysterical laughter. The soldier snarled, “Don’t take us for fools!” Then the entire squad left. Around the dinner table that evening, Nollie stood up for Cocky, insisting she also would have given the same answer. “God honors truth-telling with perfect protection!” [1]
Nollie proved her faith later when the Gestapo asked her about Annaliese, a blond young lady with perfectly forged papers—“Is this a Jew?” And honest Nollie said, “Yes.” It seemed as though Nollie’s honesty was a fatal mistake when the Germans arrested Annaliese. Nollie’s honesty was rewarded, however, when the Dutch Resistance freed Annaliese a few days later. [2]
Rahab, on the other hand, apparently had no such childhood training. Joshua sent two spies to scope out Jericho’s defenses, and they found refuge in Rahab’s house. (Joshua 2:1-7) When the king of Jericho ordered Rahab to produce the spies, she told a bold white lie: “Yeah, they were here, but they left. If you hurry, you may still catch them.”
The spies hid on the roof under a pile of flax stalks until the searchers left. Would God, who commands perfect honesty, honor Rahab’s imperfect faith? Could it be that lying is always wrong, except when there’s a good reason for it?
We could easily come to that conclusion, looking at Rahab’s actions and the result: the spies returned to Joshua safely, the Israelites destroyed Jericho, and Rahab and her family were saved. And in a romantic twist that aside from divine intervention only Hollywood could invent, Rahab marries Salmon (who is believed to be one of the spies) and becomes a vital link in Jesus’ genealogy. (Matthew 1:5)
The good news is that God meets us where we are. Rahab, seemingly a lost, pagan prostitute, experienced God’s grace with the bonus of receiving a second chance. Her imperfect act of faith led to a perfect fairy-tale ending.
For Reflection
Connecting: Have you ever been told a “little white lie” (besides Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy)? How did you feel when you discovered the truth? Do you understand why someone told you that lie?
Sharing: The Israelites experienced the benefits of Rahab’s white lie, but then the Gibeonites tripped them up with a white lie in Joshua 9. Why didn’t Joshua just wipe them out anyway?
- It’s more important to maintain a reputation for honoring your promises
- The Israelites were embarrassed by falling for the Gibeonites’ duplicity, and just wanted to move on and forget the whole episode
- This illustrates how important it is to honor the vows we make before God
- This was a good way to get a group of indentured servants to do their grunt labor for them
- It would be hypocritical to benefit from one lie, only to inflict punishment for another lie perpetrated on them
- Other:
Applying: While it’s an admirable goal to live by George Washington’s fabled credo “I cannot tell a lie,” it’s extremely hard in real life. What are some effective strategies to help you analyze every item of personal communication to avoid lying?
Valuing: Do you consider yourself an honest person? Would your friends, family and acquaintances give you the same assessment? Do you find it easy to justify an occasional white lie? This is a good time to work with God to live a more upright, honest life.
~ Chuck Burkeen
The Center for Creative Ministry is fully recognized by the North American Division (NAD) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church; it is also a 501c3 nonprofit organization which makes donations tax deductible in the U.S.
