Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Religion Columnist
I wanted to write about Sadie Hawkins Day this week, but my wife suggested that might not be a good idea. That’s no lie. So, here’s the alternative.
Our 6-year-old grandson likes to play with cell phones. One of my previous phones, which I’ve handed down to him to be a toy, had battery/power issues. The user would be in the middle of a call or some other activity and the low battery warning would sound, after which the phone would shut down before a charger cord could be plugged into it. There were times that the battery would be low, but the phone wouldn’t immediately power off. Other times, it would shut down showing 30-percent power.
Once, while our grandson was playing with that phone, it gave the warning and he said, “It’s lying,” and then the phone powered off after which he said, “It died because it lied.” I thought that was pretty astute and used it as a teachable moment and the basis for this article.
Everyone, even Christians, are born with a sense of right and wrong that must be developed and the innate propensity to sin even if the desire is to do otherwise (Romans 5:12-13; 3:23; 7:14-25; 1 John 1:8-9). This includes lying (Leviticus 19:11; Ephesians 4:25). Now, while even little children sin, God doesn’t hold them accountable because they cannot fathom the magnitude of their actions and they’re teachable (Matthew 18:1-4; 19:13-15). Some children, though, are notorious liars because they want to deceive and avoid punishment. They haven’t learned yet that it’s best to not be naughty to begin with than to receive additional discipline because they added the deceit. Our grandson, may not always be truthful, but he is learning and growing as a typical child learning the pitfalls of lying.
Back to dying for lying: While unwittingly providing false information doesn’t necessarily constitute lying because intent to deceive must be involved, the end results of lying and being mistaken could be the same. For example, there are chains of spiritually blind people being led by spiritually blind people, the first of which was led by a false teacher whose eyes were wide open at one time (2 Corinthians 4:1-4; 11:13-15). All of them will fall into the same pit (Matthew 15:13-14; Luke 6:39-40; John 8:44). Even if the spiritual blindness starts with an “innocent” misinterpretation of scripture, it’s still based in deceit and the “innocence” of the misinterpretation really isn’t there because there wasn’t enough love for the truth to learn it (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12; Romans 1:18-20).
The kinds of things our grandson does with the phone (playing games and taking and replaying videos) are real battery drainers. Living in today’s world also can be spiritually draining. We must recharge our spiritual batteries through personal Bible study as the means of growth to overcome bad habits, like lying, and avoid blindly following false teaching (Timothy 2:15; Acts 17:11).
Otherwise, we’ll die with the Devil for lying ( Revelation 21:8; 20:10; 21:1-4, 22-27).
Leonard Lauriault is a member of the Church of Christ in Logan. Contact him at [email protected]