Tell the Truth or Tell a Lie
As a Christian, is it ok to tell a lie? We would naturally think, Of course not.
What if it’s for a good cause? Is a lie acceptable then? God set some guidelines of protection when He gave the ten commandments.
Yet perhaps Commandment #9 is only applicable when giving a statement against your neighbour in a court of law?
And if you feel the need to ‘not tell the whole truth’ at other times, perhaps it is ok with God?
What if you don’t know the whole truth? Can you make something up to validate a good cause?
You may be wondering, where I am going with this?
We Christians are very quick to state that telling a lie is not alright. We separate ourselves from the world and adopt character traits of integrity and righteousness in the hope to display the character of Jesus.
Many Christians aim to live a morally upright life in order to be a witness to the world for the purpose of leading the lost to Christ.
Yet there is one time every year that most Christians seem to make an exemption from upholding one of the typical moral standards.
There seems to be one time every year we think it is ok to throw honesty out the window, adjust the truth and dare I say it, ‘lie’.
As soon as December comes around, I see and hear many Christians stating ‘Jesus Christ was born on Christmas Day!’ Or they say ‘It’s His birthday!’.
Many say ‘we are celebrating our Saviour and His birth’
They get all excited and often count the sleeps until His pretend birthday comes.
I know this feeling all too well as I was one of those Christians, until I discovered the truth.
Others say, ‘It’s the reason for the season’ with a smile on their face and happiness in their heart. When in fact, the truth is, it is not. The true reason for the ‘christmas season’ has nothing to do with the birth of Jesus.
The truth is, Jesus Christ was not born on christmas day. We actually don’t know the exact date of His birth. (And yes there is a reason for this, which I won’t get into now)
However we do know, His birth would have been around September or October. This can be verified in the scriptures based on Elizabeth’s pregnancy with John and other historical events around His birth. Quite a different time frame from December.
So why proclaim something when it is simply not true?
Another thing we know from the Bible is Jesus never once said remember my birthday. He did say remember me in my death and resurrection. So why are we so determined to remember and even celebrate the birth of Jesus when it is not required, not asked for and not even documented.
Do we not think it strange to celebrate the birth of the Messiah on 25th December?
A day that is known world wide to be the sun god’s birthday. A pagan god that has been celebrated on this day long before Jesus was even born.
Why choose such a day?
And why lie about it to the world?
It’s one thing for a Christian to actively and purposefully engage in pagan traditions on their own accord. Observing rituals that were mandated many years ago in an attempt to eradicate Gods chosen people and His ordained practises.
It’s another thing to endorse those inaccurate dates and attempt to usher in the world for the sake of tradition. Do we really think it is ok with a Holy God to freely declare the lie that His son was born on christmas day when historically He was not.
I have heard many Christians justify their holding fast to the traditions of man. Like a dog with a bone that it never wants to bury. But like the dog’s bone, this tradition has no life, no flesh and to me, is starting to stink.
I’ve even heard Christians justify the use of this false date by saying, christmas is the perfect time to evangelise to the world. In the hope of ‘saving’ people.
As an evangelist, this grieves my heart even more than the actual lie about the christmas season.
Why would we as a Christian think it is ok to preach the gospel of truth with an outright lie?
Why would we think it is ok to usher someone into salvation and freedom on the basis of deception.
We know the truth, yet we stand strong in the lie. Giving every reason to justify our idolatry. Yes, holding tradition above the truth and God’s commands is idolatry.
Somehow we make an exemption, as if it doesn’t matter that once a year a lie is used to attempt to reach the lost.
Who are we kidding?
And what are we thinking? Is the potential lost being ‘saved’ a greater cause than obeying God and all that He has taught us in the Bible?
Is this not the foundation of how the serpent deceived Eve? A slight modification of the truth, by the serpent for his own agenda, led to the demise of all humanity.
In the very act of deception, Adam sat there and said nothing.
So I’m compelled to write this today.
For Adam’s complacency led to a downward spiral towards death.
If I stand by and watch this lie be proclaimed and even celebrated, am I not partaking in another form of a downward spiral?
What good can come of this inaccuracy that we Christians tell the world.
Facts are facts and the ones we bring in under false pretences and deception will certainly one day know the truth if they don’t already.
I look around at the church today and I see very little power. Sure some are being healed and delivered however I can’t help but feel there is more available to us.
This too grieves my heart as there is a hurt and dying world out there, that needs the hope that salvation in Christ brings. Jesus himself said we would do greater works than He. Are we doing that yet?
I wonder, are we ‘the church’ so deeply ingrained in a ‘mixed stream’ of pagan & Christian practises that we have rendered ourselves somewhat powerless in God?
How do we expect to operate in signs, miracles and wonders IF we ourselves are not seeing the signs that are clearly outlined in the Bible.
We profess to worship God in spirit and in truth, yet we find ourselves practising rituals and engaging in worldly celebrations that are clearly defined in the Bible as pagan. And in that same Bible, we are told to not get ourselves caught up in such things.
Sadly, we somehow wrap up the occult and pagan rituals under the name of Tradition and call it “Christianity”.
The Bible is very clear on what we should and should not do. I don’t believe God is trying to be a buzz kill and ruin any festivities with our families. I believe He is trying to give us every opportunity to be positioned to walk in the fullness of His glory.
If we look in the Bible we will find God is big on festivities and getting together with family. Just not the pagan ones.
When we were born again, we were meant to come out of the world and all of its ways and come into the Kingdom of heaven and all of God’s ways. For the most part we Christians do this, we change our lifestyle and attempt to adopt a lifestyle that gives glory to our King.
We have been known to change what we listen to, what movies we watch, some of us even change our appearance. We seem to change a lot in our life except for that age old tradition called christmas.
I believe if we continue to walk in man made traditions and celebrate the false when we have the opportunity to walk in truth, we will continue to walk in a lesser level of God’s Glory.
For how can we expect to be used Powerfully in God if we hold fast to tradition and present every reasoning to place tradition higher than the love of Jesus and the love of His Truth.
It is never easy to go against the majority and stand firm in righteousness and truth.
Back in the day, Christian’s lost their life if they were caught celebrating God’s feasts. They were forced to drop their biblical practises or the penalty was death.
These days we just loose friends.
As the days get darker, I believe God is looking for end time warriors. Ones that will stand in integrity, with courage to obey His word and worship Him in spirit and in the fullness of His truth.
One Response
Totally agree with what you have written. It’s so encouraging to hear from someone else who is not only convicted and passionate about these things, but speaking out and challenging others. Well done. Your amazing.