Proverbs 6:16-18 

16 There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, 19 a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

Have you heard the expression, “All fishermen are liars except you and me...and sometimes I wonder about you!”? 

                    During our vacation, we had the privilege of staying at the Berhnardt’s camp in Winslow on Pattee Pond.  As Carmen, David and Billy gave us direction, they told us about Lucky Larry.

                    Lucky Larry was a large bass.  He had been brought up to the dock and then escaped before he could be hauled out of the water.

                    All week I fished and caught several small yellow and white perch and a pickerel.  A lady that lives next to the camp called out to us as I went by asking if we had caught any fish.  When I told her I caught a few, she asked me, “Can I believe you?”  And this from a total stranger!!! 

                    The last night we were in the camp, we travel across the lake and David and Joyce Lubier were there.  David said, “Juan has a lure he wants you to try.  It is a big bass lure.”  As it was almost dark, we took the lure and went back to the camp.  The next morning, I took the pole down to the dock and put the lure on the end.  On my fifth cast, I got a strike.  The line was moving back and forth.  I told Ellen to go get a net.  Then I said, “Go get the camera.”  I played the fish for about five minutes and then pulled in an 18”, estimated weight 3 lb., bass.  On Juan’s lure!  Do you believe me?

                    I could not start a message on how much God hates a lying tongue by giving you a false story.  This is all true.  Here is a picture of the fish, in the Bernhardt’s net, lying on their dock.  I threw it back in, so that it could be caught again.  Is this Lucky Larry?  I don’t think so, but it is a good fish story.

                    I will tell you that God hates a lying tongue.  The word used here in the Hebrew has as a basic idea something that we say that either has no fact behind it or is not in touch with reality.  It implies a sense of deceit.

                    There are two types of lies mentioned in the Bible.  The first is found in 1 John. “If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” 1 John 4:20, NIV.

                    This kind of lie is when a person says anything that is untrue.  They may fully believe it, but if it isn’t true, in the purist sense, it is a lie.  So a person says that the love God.  They really mean it.  Are they telling the truth?  On one level, yes, because this is not a deliberate falsehood.  But on another level, what they are saying is not true.  It is impossible for someone who loves God to hate his brother.

                    Another illustration of this kind of lie is people who tell us that the definition of a family is people who live together who love each other.  It makes no difference if it is man or woman or man and man or woman and woman, all are family if they love one another.

                    But God would say that that is a lie.  Man doesn’t define family, God does.  God tells us that a family, in the literal sense, are people who are bound by blood, marriage or adoption.  And God also has a definition of marriage.  Any other than God’s definition is a lie, no matter how sincere the people are who believe in a different definition.

                    Let me give one more example to illustrate this.  Let’s say that your husband says to you, “All you do all day is sit around and watch television.”  He is convinced that what he says is true.  Do his sincerity make it true?  You would say, “No, it isn’t true!”  The Bible would say that the statement is a lie because it is not the truth.

                    We live in a world where everyone has an opinion, everyone has a new idea.  I find it in Christian circles.  I read this last week about a person who is doing church on the internet.  He is in a discussion about what church should be like.  I tell you with all the authority that I can muster.  God has already told us a lot about what the church should be.  But as I read the give an take, not one person referred to the Bible in their debate of what the church should look like.

                    I am thankful for John 14:6.  Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life...  Jesus is the truth.  Whatever God says is true, let every man be a liar.  Fix your life on God and you fix your life on the truth. 

                    But in this verse, it says that God hates the lying tongue.  I believe that he is not directly referring to people who unintentionally lie, but people who intentionally deceive.   This is the more common definition of a lie, when someone tries to deliberately deceive.

                    This is why jokes are not lies.  We often trick people, but everyone understands that a joke is meant not to deceive, but to create laughter.  We do have the expression, “cruel joke” when the joke does not create laughter, but rather creates pain.

                    Here are some verses from Proverbs that talk about lying.  The best way to define a word is to see how that author used it.

                    First, is the verse we used here, Proverbs 6:16-17

                     “He who conceals his hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.” Proverbs 10:18

                    “Truthful lips endure for ever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.” Proverbs 12:19

                     “The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful.” Proverbs 12:22

                     “Arrogant lips are unsuited to a fool--how much worse lying lips to a ruler!” Proverbs 17:7

                     “A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapour and a deadly snare.” Proverbs 21:6

                     “A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin.” Proverbs 26:28

                    This last verse I think gives a real understanding of how much God hates a lying tongue.  God is strong on love and hard against sin.  Why?  Because all acts of sin are unloving.  We were not created to hate and to hurt.  We were created to love and to help.  Why was Eve created?  To be a helper fit for Adam.  From the beginning care, compassion and companionship were a large part of what we are as people.

                    But lying hates and hurts.  Flattery, a form of lying, causes ruin.  I know our world is really into positive reinforcement and positive attitudes.  But I want to encourage those of you who are buying into this to make sure that you do not lie to the people you talk to.  Don’t flatter them.  That kind of lie will lead to ruin in the long run.  If there is something positive, say it.  But don’t lie.  You are not helping your children, your friends or anyone when you lie to them.

                    But when we speak the truth, God tells us that we are to speak the truth in love.  It’s not all about having the facts right.  It’s about being right in the way we deal with being right.

                    Lies brought down the Nixon administration.  Lies brought down Enron.  Lies brought down many churches.  Lies have destroyed families and hurt children.  God hates a lying tongue.

                    Sometimes we feel a need to lie to protect ourselves.  Sometimes we lie to hurt other people.  Sometimes we lie because we don’t know what the truth is. 

                    Every lie is an attempt to keep a secret.  There is something that we don’t want another person to know.  But it is our secrets that will destroy us. 

                    A woman walks out on her husband with no explanation.  Why?  Because something hidden inside here was never let out.  “How are you today, dear?”  “I’m fine.”  So avoiding confrontation created a situation in which the ultimate confrontation took place. 

                    A man explodes and walks into a MacDonalds and starts shooting.   He never opened up to talk and tell the truth about the struggles within.  Everyone said he looked fine.  But he wasn’t fine.  And he covered it up with lies.

                    God hates the lying tongue.  Truth, spoken in love, spoken at the right time, brings true healing and potential for real change and real hope.