Lies, More Lies, Damned Lies
Lies to the Left of me, lies to the Right of me
There are lies everywhere. It’s hard to process all the information coming in through both main stream media and alternative media, because it is hard to process all the lies as they come streaming in. By the time you have processed one or two lies, there is enough new information that there are 10 new items to filter, and find out whether or not they are lies.
I once wrote this in a sermon with regards to lying. It is still true today, because the human heart needs to be transformed by the grace and love and truth of Christ:
Christians must watch out for the art of spin. What is spin? Spin is when you take an objective statement or action and spin it in a way that casts a person’s words and actions in the worst light possible. Some people get really good at it. When you hear second hand accounts or read the news, question marks are a good thing. Veldkamp writes: “There are only a few things about which one needs not ask, ‘Is it really true?’” An example of this is the way a journalist might share a news story. The journalist might take a hundred pictures of a situation and then use the one that makes the person look the worst and then post that along with an article that discredits a particular point of view. “Unbiased” journalism is a great cover for such sin of spin. This does not only happen in the media, but also in day to day relationships, in the Church, in meetings of the classis, and in various other gatherings where sinners come together and talk. It is something we all must fight against every day of our lives.
As I am writing this, I am thinking of a number of discussions that I have witnessed and participated in at times. This could be discussions over the war between Russia and Ukraine or the war between Hamas and Israel. Both the Russian empire and the NATO empire are capable of lies. Both MSM and alternative media are capable of spinning those lies for them.
Now, I am not saying that the truth cannot be found in the midst of those conflicts. That is the work of a good journalist. Historically, this was the aim of a journalist, at least in a country that truly pursues a free press and free speech. A good journalist, in that sense, is like a good historian. The historian is digging into what has really happened and the journalist is digging into what is really happening. There is crossover between these two pursuits, because to know what is happening, you must have some idea as to what has happened in the past. In other words, the genesis of the modern day nation-state of Israel (in the mid 1900s), plays a role in ongoing conflicts. The history between Russia and the Ukraine plays a role in ongoing conflicts. And our prayer as Christians is that every nation would bow the knee to Christ and confess their unique sins.
The historian and the journalist then must be men of bold courage and of deep humility.
The historian and the journalist then must be men of bold courage and of deep humility. Let’s encourage more young men to rise to the challenge. It takes both courage and humility to follow the wisdom of Solomon in Proverbs 25:2: “It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.” I know. A journalist and a historian are not kings. But a Christian journalist and a Christian historian are given a kingly task in union with Christ. The journalist and the historian must do work that is true, good and beautiful to the glory of God. And that means having the humility to be cross-examined, to test facts with other facts, to be able to submit their judgements to the judgements of the Word of the living God.
The Tactics of the Left
Apparently the tactics of the left is that they always protect their own. If we are going to win back society, that is how the right has to operate as well, right? The slogan is “No Enemies to the Right” (NETTR). That’s how we fight the left.
But the problem is, we are often found needing to ward off lies on both the right and the left. The prophet Jeremiah writes in Jeremiah 17:9–10: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” We must be on guard against lies wherever they might arise, before lady folly leads us down into the grave. That is why as a pastor I have the formal accountability of a session, a presbytery and a council and also (in a sense) the broader Christian community and even unbelievers who have some light of natural reason. That way they can hold me accountable for whatever left-wing or right-wing lies I believe or promote.
Responding to the Tactics of the Left
It is the tactic of the Left to doxx and humiliate your enemies. It is also the tactics of the Left to protect their own no matter how evil and vile. But the tactics of the Left are not enough to sustain a society, in fact, it is this kind of thing that destroys a society. This is because the chaff and the wheat are mixed together (if there is any wheat at all).
The problem is that the Left have no concern for what is true, good and beautiful. Whereas the Right, or at least Christians on the Right, or at least Bible-believing Christians, must have a deep and profound love/concern for what is true good and beautiful. This means that Christians will take each other to task at times “as iron sharpens iron” (Prov. 27:17) and sometimes publicly so, as when Paul opposed Peter to his face for retreating from Table fellowship with Gentile Christians (Gal. 2:11). David recognizes that a righteous man will strike him, and it is by responding to godly rebuke that his enemies will be conquered: “Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it. Yet my prayer is continually against their evil deeds. When their judges are thrown over the cliff, then they shall hear my words, for they are pleasant.” (Psalm 141:5-6)
There are two main tactics to Christian warfare. The first is to grow in personal holiness in the midst of the attacks of those who hate the gospel. The second is the redemption of those who hate the gospel.
The Left will utterly humiliate those who submit to their standard of repentance. But the Christian Church is taught to receive back the one who repents before God and man (II Cor. 2, Philemon). If the Christian Church is equated with the right and the right must use the same tactics as the Left (fight fire with fire), then we effectively cease to be the Christian church, even if we remain on the Right, and we will start to look more and more like the Left in its rage and unbelief.
Responding to all the Lies, More Lies, Damned Lies
The Christian is a prophet, priest and king and must live as such in this world through union with Jesus Christ who is our true, prophet priest and king. As such Christians are called not only to combat and expose lies, but also to love the truth, ultimately as it is made known in the Person & Work of Jesus Christ. The Spirit is the Spirit of truth and will lead us in all truth as we search the Scriptures.
The Heidelberg Catechism talks about truth-telling in this way in Lord’s Day 43:
That I never give false testimony against anyone, twist no one’s words, not gossip or slander, nor join in condemning anyone rashly or without a hearing. Rather, I should avoid, under penalty of God’s wrath, every kind of lying and deceit as the very works of the devil; and, in court and everywhere else, I should love the truth, speak it candidly, and openly acknowledge it. And I should do what I can to defend and advance my neighbor’s honor and reputation.
Notice, those words “under penalty of God’s wrath.” If we carelessly or knowingly or lazily embrace “damned lies,” that places us under threat of His wrath. That should not make a Christian too scared to say anything, but that should cause a Christian to self-examine what he or she says and how he or she says it. It is OK to look at conflicts half way around the world in Russia & Ukraine or in Israel & Palestine and say “I don’t know exactly what to think.” It is OK to disagree and/or to suspend judgment until there are more reliable facts available.
Knowing the times and what to do
We live in a time where lies are constantly circulating. It can be frustrating. Journalists are frequently taking terrible situations and sensationalizing them to get more clicks and social media hits. Journalism has been so democratized on one hand and so regulated on the other hand that either the Canadian government or the Canadian mob rules on what is true and what is false. Often tyranny and anarchy come together. And somehow Christians are called to be people of truth in the midst of it.
But for the Christian, “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (II Tim. 1:7) It is easy to get carried away in all the fear porn that social media bombards us with. We are in desperate straights and as Sun Tzu states, a man who is in desperate straights loses a sense of fear. We as Christians know that we have already died and our lives have already been hidden with Christ in God. And so we do not have to fear the latest news of wars and rumors of wars. All we are called to do is be faithful to Christ. It is both simpler and harder than you might think. Even if Canada disintegrates as a nation and there is war and economic hardship, yet we know that God is with us (Psalm 46).
And so we do not have to fear the latest news of wars and rumors of wars.
Sure, there may be prison camps in store for Christian people. But there also might not be. Our nation might also be on the brink of revival and reformation. But remember “Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.” (Heb. 11:32-34) It is through faith in Christ, that we are able to persevere in hardship and win men for Christ, in bad times and good.
There are many things that we could talk about. Personal responsibility, building community, the worship of the Church, etc. But given the thrust of this article to deal with the lies, more lies and damned lies, I want to end with a note on truth-telling.
Test the spirits. Search things out. Be inquisitive. Ignore other things. Verify truth before you “post” or “share” an item. Challenge each other in upbuilding ways. Poke at those who use “spin.” Be candid. Above all, point men to Jesus, who says “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
Do you want to be a freeman? Well, the Truth will set you free (Jn. 8:31-32). Even if the government locks you up.
Photo by Piotr Cichosz on Unsplash