Proverbs: Lying Tongue "Pants on Fire"

1810 Poem by William Blake
Deceiver, Dissembler. Your trousers are alight. From what polls or gallows shall they dangle in the night?

The concept Blake is teaching here is that if you are a liar eventually everyone will know, like pants on fire on a flag pole at night everyone can see it. It will not last Pro. 12:19

Jesus hates a “lying tongue” Proverbs 6:17 Why? Because He is truth and Satan native tongue is lies John 8:44
“A lie has no legs. It requires other lies to support it. Tell one lie and you are forced to tell others to back it up. Stretching the truth won't make it last any longer. Those that think it permissible to tell white lies soon grow colorblind”. Austin O'Malley
1. Why do we lie?

-Protect ourselves
- Embarrassed of the truth
- Consequences, we want to avoid consequences of the things we have did or said

If you are trying to protect yourself take heart to this verse Pro. 19:5+9

-Pride: we want to look good or promote ourselves

If you have pride issues take this verse to heart. Proverbs 30:8 Agur wrote this as a prayer against his own pride.




-Afraid to offend or hurt someone:
A manager was asked by his laziest employee for a recommendation for another job. The manager thought hard all night for something that would be honest without hurting the young man's chances. He finally wrote: "You will be lucky if you can get him to work for you."

I am not advocating being callous or harsh but look at the example of Jesus when he dealt with people. Two examples 1. Rich young ruler, Jesus knew his hang up, but He told him the truth because He knew the man would never trust Him if he was trusting his wealth. 2. The women who was brought out to be stoned, he had compassion but told her the truth.

If you have afraid to offend or hurt issues take heed to this passage Pro.27:6

-Becomes something we cannot control
From the French Enlightenment essayist, Michel de Montaigne, based on a proverb traced to the fourth century church father Jerome:
Lying is indeed an accursed vice. We have relations with one another only by speech. If we recognized the horror and gravity of an untruth, we should more justifiably punish it than any other crime. I commonly find people taking the most ill-advised pains to correct their children for their harmless faults, and worrying them about heedless acts which leave no trace and have no consequences. Lying, in my opinion, we should consistently oppose. They grow with a child's growth, and once the tongue has got the knack of lying, it is difficult to imagine how impossible it is to correct it.




2. Identifying a liar

-There always seems to be a reason to question them Pro. 17:20 You can’t trust them
“When regard for truth has been broken down or even slightly weakened, all things will remain doubtful” . Augustine.

“What upsets me is not that you lied to me, but that from now on I can no longer believe you”. Friedrich Nietzsche
-They are always looking for dishonest and shady ways to make money or get a head in life. Pro. 21:6

-Manipulate you with flattering words, Books about communication skills are many times about manipulation skills Pro. 6:24,

Unfortunately this has become things taught in leadership and church leadership books. I am not condemning all of this I am just saying be careful that the advice you follow is not encouraging you to be deceptive in any way.
Some of you may remember what Bill Clinton said when on trial questioned about inappropriate relationships with an intern “it depends what the meaning of the word “is” is”. Manipulation and trying to say based on my vocabulary I did not lie.

A store manager heard his clerk tell a customer, "No, ma'am, we haven't had any for a while, and it doesn't look as if we'll be getting any soon." Horrified, the manager came running over to the customer and said, "Of course we'll have some soon. We placed an order last week." Then the manager drew the clerk aside. "Never," he snarled, "Never, never, never say we're out of anything--say we've got it on order and it's coming. Now, what was it she wanted?" "Rain," said the clerk

3. What we are communicating when we lie

-False information Proverbs 14:5 Communicate truth GOSPEL

-Hatred Pro. 26:28 You don’t love the person enough to be truthful with them. That is why in dating a marital relationships when the trust is broken love is not communicated.

-You will take bad advice, you are not credible or discerning Pro. 17:4

4. Overcoming lies

I don’t believe that there is a 3 or 5 step plan for not lying.

The Bible is plain and simple “speak the truth in love” and ask Jesus everyday to help you do it. Not half the truth, not only the part that will not offend. The truth, one of Jesus’ favorite sayings is “I tell you the truth”


Conclusion Pro. 18:21 Love the truth