Go here for the start of this series on 10 Ways Lies Grow.
The last stage involved letting other people start to tell the lie for you. A pretty insidious stage for sure. However, stage 8 is when…
8) They suppress critics.
Now things get really ugly. The only thing worse than a liar is a liar with power. When someone has power of any kind they use it to suppress those who question their lies. It can come in many forms. Some physically intimidate the questioners; some emotionally manipulate them. Lying politicians will triangulate the media, their supporters, and the opposition. Lying pastors will stoop so low they spiritualize things to their benefit. A lying millionaire athlete might threaten lawsuits. A lying friend might even use their knowledge of your secrets to blackmail you into keeping their secret for them.
A liar at stage 8 will do most anything to keep the lie quiet. They will even move into some very deep unethical behavior, and even criminal activity, to keep the lie going and suppress the truth. Whatever power they can weild will be wielded—so if you are someone who has a lot of influence and power be very careful about lying—because you can end up supporting your lies, and even seeing them last longer than others would, because you have the power to suppress the truth.
Consider this: those who are viewed as less honest, less trustworthy, and less truthful in our society are those with more power. It’s because we’ve seen the powerful defend lies with their power before. Beware a liar with power.
Can you escape a lie that has gone this far? Well, as always, the lie grows and so does the risk. And the escapes from the lie are more and more messy as we go along. At this point, however, the lies might actually end up with you going to jail. Perhaps survival instinct might kick in for you by now. Before you suppress the truth from coming out and risk jail time you might just choose to lose your good reputation. Is your success really worth risking 5-10 in the slammer?
There’s a point when a liar really becomes rotten to the core—becomes an evil person. It’s hard for me to say when that is. Are people ever themselves “evil” or is evil something that is “out there” and a person is torn between good and evil? I don’t know. Part of me wonders if someone at stage 8 has really “turned themselves over” to something darker—something more scary, something my grandmother would have called “demonic.”
Let’s hope you and I are never at stage 8, and never run across someone who has spun a web of lies and powerful suppression this extensively. I don’t even like to think about it.
________________________________________________________
Jump to any episode of the #WaysLiesGrow Series here:
1) They rationalize it. “The best pesticide for rationalization of lies is personal integrity.” Tweet
2) They get away with it. “A lie is like cancer—the affects of a malignant tumor can come long after discovery.” Tweet
3) They tell it twice. “Some who trust me most are those I’ve confessed sin to. Repentance builds trust.” Tweet
4) They get good at it. “All professions that require exceptional communication skills are dangerous breeding grounds for lying.” Tweet
5) They tell those they love. “Lying to someone close starts to erase the last shreds of dignity a liar has left.” Tweet
6) They tell it to themselves. “A liar remembers it like they said it, rather than remembering it like it really was.” Tweet
7) They let others tell it. “It’s one thing to ruin your life with lies—it’s another thing to ruin other people’s lives.” Tweet
8) They suppress those who question it. “The only thing worse than a liar is a liar with power.” Tweet
9) They multiply lies with more lies. “Some giant monster lies have their own offspring: little lies birthed like demons in the dark.” Tweet
10) They are trapped by it. “A soul without confession is like a lung without oxygen.” Tweet
Dave, Excellent series! Having been on both the giving and receiving ends of some major lies in my lifetime, your stages ring so true.
I find it interesting that these posts have generated so little discussion–and only in response to stages 3 and 4. I wonder if your readers who are at stages 1 and 2 are either not seeing it in themselves, or telling themselves it isn’t (and won’t get) that bad, while those at stages 5 through 10 are not responding because they are either blinded by their own sin (“This stuff doesn’t apply to me.”) or living in abject fear of discovery (“If I post anything, somebody will guess what I’ve been up to.”)
Anyway, keep up the good work! That loud banging sound you’ve heard? Thst’s the sound of you (repeatedly) hitting the nail on the head!
Thanks so much for this feedback!
I don’t write for the “applause of comments” — no writer should, I suppose. Like you I wonder if some don’t want to admit it. Another reason is many want to be anonymous on these matters–and are under conviction. I’ve heard from several privately that have expressed that.
The Lord will do with it what he wills. 🙂
I’m glad you’re hearing from your readers–not for the sake of your ego, but to know that God is finding His ways to use the words He gives you.
Just found myself wondering if you recognized the sig….
Marcia
Finding this a very interesting journey and reflecting on some pastoral complexities I have experienced…power is not always positional – sometimes its expressed relationally and in my experience the church is not always well-equipped to be consistent and insistent about the need for the proper resolution of conflict. So power can also be exercised as relational dynamite in a church setting that is vulnerable to such dynamics. Or power can be exercised as a withdrawal from relational accountability. These sorts of moves also serve to suppress process that leads to accountability and truth-telling.
Wow… so very true, Brett. I see what you’re saying Churches can sometimes be a counter-intuitive place where sin may abound. 🙁
we must be vigilant