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Is There Ever A Reason Not To Be TruthfullIn my last blog post I discussed the conversation going on at United Methodeviations which started with the authors post titled Caught on the Ethical Horns of A Moral Dilemma. Well, it seems that this question about “truthfulness” has generated a bit of controversy. Dan has offered a follow up post, titled Lying for the Greater Good, which includes a couple of scenarios that his readers suggested would be occasions when lying would be acceptable. I’m still with Dan, I don’t think it is ever acceptable to lie. Maybe I’m missing something, I don’t even see why this is a question. Is this just another step in the evolution of our permissive culture? Is it now okay for pastors to lie under the guise of doing what is best? The argument is that we should evaluate the greater good and the ends justifies the means. But isn’t truthfulness an end in itself? In other words we, as the people of God, strive to be a truthful people because God is truth. This isn’t a question of doing what is best based on our analysis of a situation. This is about being what God has called us to be. Let me know what you think.
2 comments to Is There Ever A Reason Not To Be Truthful |
 
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Just found this blog today. I am currently writing a book regarding this very issue in the Western North Carolina Conference. AND, I can only do this because, as a lay employee, I refused to sign a confidentiality agreement in exchange for $$$!
I have a hard time with anyone, ministers especially, toying with the notion that it’s okay to lie for the sake of simple expedience. Aren’t we supposed to be about the TRUTH? The rationale seems to go something like: “In an ideal world, we wouldn’t have to lie, but we don’t live in an ideal world.” In this view, pastors should feel free to lie to their church members to protect themselves professionally, or for the good of the church as a whole. The only valid exception I can see is in extreme hypotheticals like, “What would you do if you lived in Nazi Germany, were hiding Jews, and soldiers knocked on your door and asked if you were harboring Jews?” In such a case as this, I think a strong argument CAN be made for lying, but, honestly, is this the kind of ethical dilemma we’re talking about here? Just how many of us have been faced with this kind of situation? I hear instead that our church members “can’t handle the truth,” so it’s okay to play the game. This, to me, is a startling indictment on the state of the church today. We’ve been playing these sort of games for too long – instead of producing mature disciples, we have congregations full of people who don’t really understand the call to discipleship. The horrible plague of Civil Religion that’s causing the decline of the mainstream churches is a result of ministers too afraid to speak the truth to congregations too mean-spirited to receive it. The question then becomes, will I accept the status quo and continue the trend, or will I hold myself and my professional ministry to a higher standard?