What do you say when youre expected to comment on a newborn, red, wrinkled baby in the hospital?

Many people have attempted to categorize the distortion of truth. Let’s look at four
categories we need to understand.
1. Beguilement
This is the tendency to reach a wrong conclusion and perhaps even share our false
assumptions with all who will listen. Our quickness to jump to wrong conclusions is a
subtle trap, because it victimizes us when we have no intention to be deceived or to
deceive.
You can’t always prevent others from reaching false conclusions about you, but you
can become more aware of your own assumptions about others.
I recall discovering some money missing from the church office when I was a pastor.
Immediately, a suspect’s name and face came to mind. I caught myself mentally
degrading the person, planning how I would confront him, and wondering who I should
tell so they could "pray about the situation." Then it was as though the Holy Spirit
tapped me on the shoulder and said, "What if you are wrong? Do you have all the
facts?"
It occurred to me that I had not an ounce of proof. Even our secular system of justice
proclaims a man innocent until proven guilty?which is more than I found myself willing
to do.
Beguilement is the sin of disseminating false conclusions. It is to delude or be deluded.
And though often done innocently, it is devastating. It plants seeds of mistrust, doubt,
and confusion. It can irreparably destroy reputations. We must learn to resist the
temptation to draw conclusions until sufficient information is gathered. Being careless
with details and having insufficient facts quickly lead to false accusations.
How can we fortify ourselves against this temptation to misjudge and pass along false
information? We must develop:
A patient spirit that suspends judgment until sufficient facts are verified (Galatians
5:22).
A love that believes the best until facts prove otherwise (1 Corinthians 13:6-7).
A faith that prays the situation into the courts of heaven, where an all-knowing
God promises to judge all men righteously (1 Peter 1:17).
A willingness to protect others by encouraging those who are sharing false
accusations to reserve judgment until sufficient facts are gathered (1 Corinthians
13:4).
Why Tell the Truth? – Life Action Revival Ministries
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A boldness to go directly (if necessary) to those involved to clarify the facts
(Matthew 18:15).
The alternative is to become spiritual jackrabbits who jump to all the wrong
conclusions, leaving in our trails broken lives and relationships that we could have
protected and healed.
2. Deceit
We tend to equate facts with truth, yet it’s amazing how "facts" can be arranged to
distort the truth. The tremendous power of deceit is demonstrated in Genesis 3:1-6.
Through deceit, Satan not only gained control of Eve but also caused Adam to sin, and
imposed the curse of sin on all of God’s creation (Romans 5:12).
Satan’s ploy began with a question: "Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any
tree of the garden’?" (Genesis 3:1). At this point, Satan was dealing with factual
information. But Satan’s presentation of the facts suggested that God was restrictive
and stingy. To Eve, serving God was now perceived as enslavement. She concluded
that God was keeping her from experiencing the completeness of life.
God had actually said, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat" (2:16-17, emphasis added).
After reading God’s words, I am struck with His generosity and love. Adam and Eve
could eat from every tree in the garden except one?what a kind and generous
Creator!
Satan presented truth in a way that deceived Eve into thinking wrongly about God. He
twisted the facts to ultimately gain advantage over Eve and all the created order of
God. God’s Word calls it deceit (3:13; 2 Corinthians 11:3). It is a powerful tool in the
tactical warfare of Satan.
Deception has become a widely used technique for manipulation, self-advancement,
and self-protection. It is evident in the lives of many people:
Those who, living in known sin, carry the facade of pious behavior through the
halls of the church.
Businesspersons who carefully word the fine print to cloud the true commitment
being made on the dotted line.
Pastors who purposely use Scripture to manipulate a congregation.
Professors who selectively choose statistics to prove a point.
Deceit is a prevalent reality in our society. It is a destroyer of trust. It is a menace to
stable, growing relationships. The writer of Proverbs says, "Bread obtained by
falsehood is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel" (20:17).
Deceit is the sign of a wicked heart (12:20).
Both beguilement and deceit tamper with, twist, and distort the truth. Lying, on the other
hand, is the direct communication of nontruth.
3. Lying
Lying is the base of Satan’s strategy. In Genesis 3, not only did Satan deceive Eve
Why Tell the Truth? – Life Action Revival Ministries
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about God’s goodness, but he also lied to her about God and His Word. He told her,
"You surely will not die!" (Genesis 3:4). That was a clear communication of nontruth.
God had said, "In the day that you eat from [the tree] you will surely die" (2:17). Lying
was a central part of Satan’s strategy.
It is not surprising that nontruth is still Satan’s main method of operation today. He has
pervaded our culture with the lie that there are no consequences to sin. His system
tells us that wealth and possessions will make us happy. He lies to us about God by
suggesting, "If God is good, why did He permit your parents to divorce? Why is there
so much suffering?"
His lies are abundant:
Be as good as you can, and you’ll go to heaven. Just be sincere.
Mankind is the result of a chance evolutionary process.
Success can be measured by wealth, cars, and houses.
Freedom is found in doing anything you want to do.
Lying is the strength of Satan’s system. Not only does he lie, but his desire is
that we will lie as well. When we lie, we imitate Satan rather than God.
Nontruth is the language of the world’s system. James warns us that friendship with the
world is hostility toward God, and that anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world
becomes an enemy of God (James 4:4).
Lying is part of the believer’s past. Lying is a product of the flesh that we should leave
behind as we mature spiritually. "Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old
self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true
knowledge according to the image of the One who created him" (Colossians 3:9-10).
Why do we lie so readily? Lying is a quick and easy way to gain advantage, protection,
and promotion of personal interests:
We lie to get people’s attention and have them think more highly of us.
We lie to get rich or to get elected.
We lie to protect our reputations.
We lie to escape punishment.
Most lies are dedicated servants of self. But there are also common "social lies" that
keep everyone smiling in spite of how they really feel.
Admittedly, it is sometimes hard to apply the truth tactfully. What do you say when
you’re expected to comment on a newborn, red, wrinkled baby in the hospital? How do
you respond when asked to admire a new dress, hat, or tie that should have been left
on the store shelves? In such cases, we often tell "little white lies." But there is never
anything "little" about lying.