The purpose of this article is not to suggest that integrity and telling the truth are synonymous, but rather to acknowledge that the area in which our Christian integrity is most often challenged on a day by day basis is our honesty.

I hope that by taking a look at the reasons why we lie, and then building a Biblical response to these reasons, we will not only be challenged in matters of honesty, but we will also see how Christian principles can be used to guide us in the whole area of integrity.

Reasons Why Christians Lie?

1. We think it's how things are done.

We asked 15 young Christian surveyors if it was ethical to lie in the course of business negotiations - 12 said "yes!" The reason given was that they thought lying in negotiations was just standard practice. No-one had ever told them that they had to lie, but lying was common practice. No-one had ever told them there was an alternative. They felt that their work would be disadvantaged if they didn't lie; and they wanted to "do well" in negotiations to give the 'best' service to their clients and to the firms who employed them. This was seen as an obvious pre-requisite for both promotion and Christian witness.

Before you get too pious just because you're not buying or selling, think about job applications/ interviews/appraisals? We know we have to sell ourselves, and that everybody else lies just a bit to give themselves an advantage, but should we?

In terms of Bible teaching, it's practically a no-brainer! We all know that the ten commandments say we should not "bear false witness against one-another" (Ex20.16), this is simplified in Numbers 19.11 "do not lie to each other." In the New Testament Jesus refers to Satan as the "father of lies," a contrast with God who alone is truth. We know that there is little real excuse for lying, and we know this because it is stated so clearly in the Bible.

2. Because we're afraid

Remember the stories we invented to hide the fact that we just hadn't done our homework on time? Do we now tell stories (again invented) to hide the fact that we haven't delivered the work we promised when we said we would? If you're in retail, or contracting and you haven't done what the client wanted when they wanted it do you ever take the blame yourself, or is it just 'more convenient' to pass the buck onto someone else further down the line who just isn't there at the time?

Maybe we know that telling the truth now will reveal all the wrong we've done in the past. Think about Zacchaeus in Luke ch19: he was so bowled over by the presence of Jesus in his life that he couldn't think of hiding his corrupt past "I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have overcharged people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much." He showed no fear in telling the truth about his business practice, because he knew that the loss to his wealth and reputation was as nothing compared to the gain he had in Christ.

KPMG have showed that 70% of people believed that integrity - telling the truth, or acting with honesty - could be an impediment to their career. However one young man I met from the Czech Republic thought that telling lies for his boss could be a serious impediment to his walk with Jesus Christ. He was sacked, but that was no longer his greatest fear in life!

All too often in the West our career has become our golden calf - the idol which consistently gets in the way of our Christian maturity. Of course there's nothing wrong with career per se, but when fear of losing our career becomes more important than a fear of dishonouring God, then perhaps we should take a rain-check, and revisit the foot of the cross where Jesus Christ has paid the price for our lies, and taken the blame for all our wrongdoing.

3. For Personal Gain

Inevitably sometimes we may be tempted to lie just because that offers us the easiest solution or the "greatest" gain. We are saved but we're not yet free from sin. The truth is that all too often, we're just not as honest as we would like to be!

Think about the last time you sold a house or a car, or anything - were you totally honest about the state it was in, or did you rely on a coat of paint and caveat emptor? What about days we take off? Many places of work have a culture of people taking "well days" just to supplement their holiday allowance, or to go to job interviews. It can be very tempting for us to slightly contrive our excuses for being away from work. Or what about the dreaded expenses? How hard is it to stick to honest claims all the time, especially when you aren't over-claiming by a huge amount, and you know no-one will check up?

You alone will know if there are any areas like these in your life, and if you're honestly not sure then ask the Holy Spirit for help in knowing whether what you do is honouring to God or not.

"Better is a little with righteousness,
than great income with injustice."
Prov 16.8

4. Because someone tells us to.

Sometimes our boss or peers will tell us to lie. We feel pressure to do what we're told - what will happen to our jobs, our position in the organisation, our pay cheque if we don't? We are called to respect our bosses, to obey them in all things - but this is not a call for the Christian to capitulate on matters of ethical integrity. The truth is that almost all of the time a superior will back away from an unethical request, and most of the time they will respect the honesty shown. What we need to do is trust God and to show a little resolve in our response.

We can gently decline the suggestion by saying that we're not comfortable with the idea or that our convictions as a Christian make it an unfair request to put upon us. Another way to proceed is to look for an alternative way of achieving your bosses goal. The key thing is not to shove others into a corner through our moral indignation where their own uneasiness about their unethical behaviour forces them to respond to us with aggression.

If your boss continues to ask you to go against your conscience then consider the following: pray for them and for the situation you're in; discuss the matter with a trusted Christian friend to seek their advice; maybe look for an internal transfer; or report the unethical behaviour to someone higher up the organization. Finally, if you have to, change job - after all if your reason for quitting is God's glory then God will be glorified. These last two are drastic action, and most of the time will be completely avoidable, although I do know people for whom they have been a reality.

The flip-side to this is, if you're a boss, then under no circumstances should you be putting pressure onto others to do those things which you would feel uncomfortable with yourself.

5. Very very occasionally we may feel we just have no alternative.

99.99999% of instances in which we're tempted to lie will fall into the above categories. We don't want to be so naive as to say that the issue of truth telling is totally straight forwards, and there may well be rare occasions when we have to think twice about the wider implications of what we say. The examples may range from the way news is given by nurses and doctors to the relatives of those in critical care, through to withholding information within the political arena.

In Joshua 2 we find the prostitute Rahab lying to hide the presence of two Israelite spies from the fellow citizens of Jericho. Here is an instance where her lie saves the lives of two people, and is instrumental in paving the way for Israel's access to the promised land. Now there's nothing to explicitly say that her lie was good, but she is recorded in Hebrews 11 as one of the early Christians whose actions were inspired by their faith.

The great German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer said 'what is worse than doing evil is being evil. It is worse for a liar to tell the truth than for a lover of the truth to lie.' Of course his comment is set in the extreme context of opposition to the Third Reich and the holocaust. These are not normal circumstances, and Bonhoeffer advocated that the bigger ethical position ' opposing Hitler ' justified what would normally be for him ethical transgressions.

There will be times when our ethics seem to be in conflict with each other, and we may end up having to do something under specific circumstances which we would never normally do. There are no clear rules for such times, except to know that the Lord assesses us by our motivation at the end of the day and He alone will know the purity of our intentions.

"All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, But the Lord weighs the motives."
Prov.16v2

However the bottom line is this - in the majority of cases there is never any real excuse for the Christian to lie.

Strategy for Change

Assess your Motivation. What is your life ultimately about? Are you so concerned about the things of earth - be they material concerns, relationships, career etc- that you lose sight of the Kingdom of God. Perhaps ask yourself whether you are really happy to lose your life here on earth in order to gain your soul, or does the cost just seem too high.

What are the thing which you sometimes hold onto more dearly than Jesus?

Work out Who to Trust. Take some time to make a note of the ways that God has acted in the past and proved Himself to you. Let these recollections condition your view of the future. The alternative is to trust your well-being into your own hands, or the hands of human organizations - of course these may do up to a point, but who other than God is concerned with your eternal life?

Develop a Biblical Framework. Part of developing a Christian mind has to be the regular reading of God's Word that teaches us how to think and respond in a manner which glorifies God.

"Oh how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, For they are ever with me."
Psalm 119.97-98

Look for Practical Alternatives so that you can maintain your integrity whilst achieving your firm's/clients objectives. Daniel in chapter 1 doesn't just refuse to eat meat, he offers an alternative plan. Are there steps you can take to avoid the habitual lies told in your profession which won't impair your work? Looking for honest alternatives is a great practical form of Christian witness in our workplaces.

What could I do now as a strategy to avoid future lies?

Repent of what you've done in the past. Make a note of any things you need to put straight this week or this year. Assess what you should do to make up for any ways you may have mislead others.

Don't put it off. Don't plan to set things straight at some future date, and don't plan only to take a stand for honesty when your dealing with big issues. Start practicing honesty in the little things today.

Pray. The Holy Spirit "convicts the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgement" (John 16.8) - He will both show if any areas of your life which need attention, and indeed what action you should take.

Stand By. The message of scripture is that time and again God's people of integrity come under attack from jealous rivals and ungodly people. We can't expect any different, but if the attack comes because we're living in a manner which honours God, then we can expect God to be honoured through our lives- so stand by to be used for Christ's greater glory. Amen