‘I’m not upset that you lied to me. I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you’ – Friedrich Nietzsche
It’s a disturbing truth, but it seems, more and more, as if Christians are liars. Now before anyone gets upset, let me remind you, first, that I am a Christian, and second, that I didn’t say all Christians are liars. I don’t lie, and neither do many (I’d like to say most) followers of Jesus. Nonetheless, the sad truth is that in popular discourse, we are often lumped together as if we all had one mind and acted of one accord, and, tragically, many of the Christians who act as if that were true, who claim to speak for all ‘true believers,’ have wholeheartedly embraced what is frequently dubbed, ‘The Big Lie.’
The Big Lie, of course, is that somehow, the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump. I won’t belabor the details. They are well known, and if you really want to rehash them, you can visit just about any legitimate news source and read all about it. That there is no evidence to support The Big Lie (everyone who has examined it, including Trump’s own Attorney General, the Supreme Court, and countless lower courts have all rejected it as patently false), means nothing to its proponents. No matter what the evidence, no matter how ridiculous it is proven to be, those who hope to gain from The Big Lie keep shouting it from the rooftops as if it were the God’s honest truth.
This was on display this week in the United States Capitol as the Republican Conference in the House of Representatives voted to remove Liz Cheney from her position of leadership. Her offense? Speaking the truth about The Big Lie. She dared to say, repeatedly, that Trump lost, and that her party was wrong to say otherwise. For this, she has been banished from leadership, and, most likely, will eventually lose her congressional seat.
I really don’t have much to say about the ethics of the Republicans who did this to Representative Cheney. My purpose in this post is neither to elevate nor denigrate either of the two major political parties. As I have written often, political parties follow the path of empire, and lies in the service of empire are sadly par for the course. I expect politicians to embrace lies. Politicians and lies go together like peanut butter and jelly.
But it is my purpose today to warn Christians about embracing either The Big Lie or any political party or movement that embraces it. Brother or sister, if this is you, you are reaping the whirlwind. You are embracing, not just a man who is a power-hungry white supremacist (which is bad enough); you are embracing a lie and a liar.
The Bible says a lot about liars. None of it is good. Proverbs 12:22 says that lying lips are an abomination to the Lord. The prophet Jeremiah spoke ill of those who shoot lies from their tongues like arrows from a bow (9:3). I could go on. On the basis of such verses alone, Christians should flee from both lies and liars, not perpetuate them or sing their praises.
But on top of that, consider Nietzsche’s words. There is a terrible consequence to telling lies. Once you tell one, there is a rather good chance that no one will ever believe another word you say about anything.
And anything includes Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, we have a truth that needs to be told. A story to tell to the nations, as the old song goes. Telling it is, quite literally, a matter of life and death. Our message is already suspect. The world has its reasons to dismiss our claims. If we become known, and we are becoming known, as a bunch of flat-out liars, we will lose the last shred of our credibility. We will have little chance of convincing people of what matters most.
Be careful Christian. If you choose to wave around the banner of The Big Lie, don’t be surprised when no one believes you when you tell them that Jesus rose from the dead. Or that he is the Son of God. Or that he has changed your life (changed you into what, a big fat liar?). Or that he alone is ‘the way, the truth, and the life.’
It’s decision time. Do you want to follow a liar and make it impossible for others to believe the truth about Jesus? Or do you value Jesus, the living embodiment of truth, enough to call out both The Big Lie and The Big Liar? You don’t have to become a Democrat to do that. You just have to tell the truth and reject the lies.
It’s time for Christians everywhere to stop playing this foolish, yes, even evil, political game.
It’s time to face the truth.
If we do not, we will surely face the consequences.
Under Christ’s Mercy,
Brent