The Ministerial Lie

Berean Baptist on September 2, 2019

The ninth commandment says, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” We must remember the commandments were given as the ruling code of law for Israel, and was a constitution for their government. For this reason, we notice the ninth commandment appears as a regulation for judicial procedures and for those who conduct the courts. This is certainly true, but as we learned before, all the commandments are broad in governing all parts of our everyday lives. Thou shalt not bear false witness extends beyond the witness stand in the court of law to every dealing we have with every person. God never gives an excuse to lie even though we know lies sometimes protect people, may even promote their welfare in some degree, or in general may be told for the greater good.

            It is the last of these that colors my article today—lies that are told for the greater good. Surprisingly, this is the excuse for ministerial lies. I will cover this aspect of lying more extensively in a later message, but it strikes me today as important because of what I heard recently from the pulpit of a fundamental Baptist pastor. I am very sensitive to what I term ministerial lies. I find no support for it in any place in scripture. Further, it destroys the integrity of the preacher who tells them.

            At this point, you may be thoroughly confused. What are these lies? They are varied, but the several I just heard were fabrications of doctrine assigned to another group which the preacher claimed represented their beliefs. These false accusations were hurled for ridicule and were attempts to make the one who told them seem to be a defender of truth, a security force against heresy in his church. In this case, the preacher fabricated a conversation and debate with a man who teaches the doctrines of grace and proceeded to tear down doctrines the man did not believe. In other words, the preacher built a straw man to attack, and with what he described as his “debating prowess,” he tore down the straw man and conquered the gainsayer.

            All of this may seem insignificant to you, but on this day, it is very significant to me. The preacher that was belittled, lied about, and ridiculed was me. The man was unable to defend his doctrine on its own merits, so he chose to invent some for me that nobody like me believes. Our Baptist churches are in sad theological shape when preachers resort to lies to make themselves appear theologically astute. The most unfortunate part of this encounter was not what he did to me, but to those in his own congregation whom he owes the truth. At times, he belittled them too for their lack of understanding. The only question we need ask is why don’t they understand? This man has been their teacher for 15 years—why don’t they know anything?

            My point today is that it is unconscionable to tell a deliberate lie, and a thousand times worse if it is a ministerial lie. The pretense is that it will result in a greater good. If the man cannot defend his doctrine fairly, what else will he do? To maintain it, he must lie or else his ignorance is exposed to his congregation. The greater good is to protect his false integrity. If he had any integrity, he would deal with the real issues and take his lumps fairly and squarely.

            I hope you have confidence in this Baptist pulpit. If you disagree with me, we can discuss it. But I will not resort to any lie to uphold any doctrine. Our doctrine stands without the support of lies. It is just that good because it is the doctrine of God.

                                                                                                Pastor V. Mark Smith                                                     

Humble Pie

Berean Baptist on January 7, 2019

This article is further musings from my article last time, entitled The Ministerial Lie, In the last article, I considered the great travesty of ministerial lies. These are lies preachers tell when trying to make points in their sermons, whether they are made up false illustrations or embellishments to make the preacher appear better, more studious and/or more intelligent than he is. The source of these tactics is prideful arrogance.

Last week, I read a great article on the Judgment Seat of Christ which included the following information about the change of attitude in believers when Christ appears, and we stand before Him. Here are some thoughts from this article that deals with humility in heaven. The arrogant pastor will be changed—that is assuming he makes it there! Enjoy the wisdom of the following excerpt from Sam Storm’s book, One Thing. The italics are in the original.

“Hardly anything will bring you more joy [in heaven] than to see other saints with greater rewards than you, experiencing greater glory than you, given greater authority than you! There will be no jealousy or pride to fuel your unhealthy competitiveness. There will be no greed to energize your race to get more than everyone else. You will then delight only in delighting in the delight of others. Their achievement will be your greatest joy. Their success will be your highest happiness. You will truly rejoice with those who rejoice. Envy comes from lack. But in heaven there is no lack. Whatever you need, you get. Whatever desires may arise, they are satisfied.

“The fact that some are more holy and more happy than others will not diminish the joy of the latter. There will be perfect humility and perfect resignation to God’s will in heaven, hence no resentment or bitterness. Also, those higher in holiness will, precisely because they are holy, be more humble. The essence of holiness is humility! The very vice that might incline them to look condescendingly on those lower than themselves is nowhere present. It is precisely because they are more holy that they are so very humble and thus incapable of arrogance and elitism.

“They will not strut or boast or use their higher degrees of glory to humiliate or harm those lower. Those who know more of God will, because of that knowledge, think more lowly and humbly of themselves. They will be more aware of the grace that accounts for their holiness than those who know and experience less of God, hence, they will be more ready to serve and to yield and to go low and to defer.

“Some people in heaven will be happier than others. But this is no reason for sadness or anger. In fact, it will serve only to make you happier to see that others are more happy than you! Your happiness will increase when you see that the happiness of others has exceeded your own. Why? Because love dominates in heaven and love is rejoicing in the increase of the happiness of others. To love someone is to desire their greatest joy. As their joy increases, so too does yours in them. If their joy did not increase, neither would yours. We struggle with this because now on earth our thoughts and desires and motives are corrupted by sinful self-seeking, competitiveness, envy, jealousy, and resentment” (180-81).

As pastor, I like to apply these words to pastors. I hope Sam Storms is right, otherwise some controlling, arrogant pastors will be miserable watching the saints in higher places than them. Pride goes before destruction. There is no destruction in heaven, but pride here will put you in a lower place up there.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith