Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 5
When addressing “putting away lying,” the speaker broadens it from blatant lies to “falseness” and “giving a false impression” (evading, twisting, repositioning to avoid responsibility); in what specific church situations does this kind of respectable dishonesty show up most, and what would it cost (relationally and reputationally) to become genuinely straightforward?
Another way to ask: Where in church do people most often give a false impression—like dodging, twisting words, or avoiding responsibility? What would it cost you in relationships and reputation to be truly straightforward?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The speaker suggests “respectable dishonesty” often shows up when someone is confronted about wrongdoing and then evades responsibility by twisting words, denying memory, or giving a carefully edited version. Becoming straightforward would likely cost pride and reputation in the moment, but it protects the body from coming apart and makes real relationships possible.
- He asks why Paul would tell church people to stop lying, then answers that it can be “very subtle.”
- Example scenario: after saying wrong things about someone, when confronted, a person responds, “I don’t remember saying that,” or “I don’t think I said it quite that way,” shifting and evading.
- He calls this “not being straightforward,” “twisting,” “trying to change the subject,” and “giv[ing] a false impression.”
- Chrysostom is cited: this is “falsehoods…where somebody communicates…something that’s not real.”
- He connects truthfulness to body health: withholding truth means “the whole thing is going to come apart in the body.”