“Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices” (Colossians 3:9).
“Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 12:22).
Lying is almost unforgivable in a pastor.
1. Do not lie to us about your resume.
If you say you went to school there or pastored that church, we want to believe you. If you earned a degree, say what it was. If the degree was honorary, but not earned, say that also. What you must not do is give the impression you attended a school which you did not, or served a church which you did not serve, or possess a degree you don’t.
Why would anyone lie about their resume? Obviously, to enhance their prospects for a job. But any position acquired as a result of a falsehood is worthless in the long run.
Regularly, we hear of high-profile executives, educators and coaches being caught for padding their resumes, for claiming degrees they did not have, for professing honors they did not earn. Perhaps the most shameful is the man who claims to have been a war hero, who wears the uniform and sports the medals, but who, it turns out, is a consummate liar.
Tell us the truth, pastor.
2. Do not lie to us about your testimony.
I heard a certain pastor’s testimony on more than one occasion. It was so moving that when he went to Heaven, I paid tribute to him on these pages by telling his story. Sometime later, his brother found the eulogy by googling his name, and called me. “You know there’s not a word of truth to it, don’t you?”
He said, “Oh, I know you wrote what he told you. But it’s all made up. None of that stuff happened.”
He went on to tell me the “true facts,” if you will, of his brother’s testimony.
There are no words to describe my disappointment.
Why would a person lie about his testimony? That question has nagged at me ever since. The only answer that makes sense is to enhance his impact in the congregation, to make himself seem to be more than he is. And how sad is that.
3. Do not lie to us about your ministry.
To our everlasting shame, the term “ministerial exaggeration” has entered the language. If anyone should tell the unvarnished truth, it should be those disciples of Jesus Christ entrusted with the truth of God in the gospel of salvation.
A half-century ago, a well-known preacher began assembling a list of the largest churches in America. Each year, those churches and others which “might” be in the running received a phone call asking for their latest numbers. I actually took that call a couple of times myself.
