April 1, 2008
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April Fools day
What do you think about the things people do on April Fools day? We
have taught our children it is not ok to lie. It doesn’t matter what
day it is. How do Christian’s Justify lying to others on April Fools
Day?
Pro 6:16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
Pro 6:17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
Pro 6:18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
Pro 6:19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
Col 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
We can read of the incident of
Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter 5 in the Bible. They both fell dead when they
lied to the Holy Spirit.
Rev 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Rev 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
As Christians, we want to represent our Father well in this
life and be honest and free from lies. The Christian must recognize
lying for the evil it is and never try to justify it under any
circumstances, no matter how difficult they may be. Nothing will
destroy our influence quicker. No confidence can be placed in a liar.Eph 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Comments (8)
Just meant as an answer to the question, so please don’t take it as anything more:
The way I was taught a lie is not the same as a joke, so there is no need for a justification. A lie is an intentional deception intended to hurt someone, where as we joke (At least when we joke with our friends) to play and enjoy each others company. That having been said there are the mean sort of “jokes” that are intended to hurt others. Those are sinful.
Classifying all jokes as wrong and judging people based on that however is the same kind of things that the pharisees did. And remember that Yesua condemned that practice. (I wish I could remember the exact passage but you’ll find it in Mark) “Woe to the pharisees they make rules upon rules but never lift a finger to help anyone!” Also a good study in the epistle to the Galatians would be helpful.
@nidan - I could never go to a church where a pastor would lie to me (Growing up
the church I went to the pastor lied to me to get me to my 16th
birthday party. I lost
respect much of my respect for him because of it). Lying hurts our
Christian witness no matter what day it is.
I realize I am a very Black and White person. Things are either right or wrong. I dont have many shades of gray in my life.
Lying is a black. It is wrong. If my husband would ever lie to me
we would have trust issues for a long long time as to me lying is a big
thing. YOU DONT LIE.
Thats a big no no with me. My children have been taught that I dont
care what you did wrong you tell me the truth. You will get in more
trouble if you lie to
me.
Lying is wrong no matter what it doesnt matter if you say April fools after it.
Again I do hope you’re not taking what I said as a personal attack. As I said I was just offering up my own particular answer to the question at hand. And what I believe Yeshua’s view was, based on scripture.
“My children have been taught that I dont care what you did wrong you tell me the truth. You will get in more trouble if you lie to me.” I have no doubt about that, My parents enforced the same policy with my brothers and I, and I enforce the same policy with the boys in my charge. Allowing joking and play time is not eclusionary to that. And my father is a soldier so as you can imagine discipline was enforced.
As for your pastor: I have no idea what he told you, or what he taught from the pulpit, so there is no way I could make any kind of judment on that. (Or even your view of the situation. I’m sure you simply did what you thought best.)
I do know that with my students I maintain a lot of distance for many reasons, and what you say is a part of that. However is one of them lost a lot of respect for me based on just one incident of anything, I would suspect that they didn’t have much respect for me to begin with.
But again I was not in your sitution I know nothing of what went on, aside from the four short sentences you just told me.
I agree with you that lying and saying, “April Fools” is still a lie and I think it teaches “mistrust” to our children (or ANYone, for that matter).
Someone had suggested putting drops of different colored food coloring in the bottom of empty glasses and watching the milk become different colors when their children poured it into the glass. That (to me) is a harmless joke and doesn’t involve lying or deceitfulness. And, it doesn’t make someone feel stupid.
I’m not a big joke-player because I think making people feel dumb, at the expense of me having a good laugh, is hurtful. Maybe I’m just WAAAY oversensitive.
@Kristenmomof3 - Black and white thinking. That’s the kind of thinking that leads to something called borderline personality disorder and then there are those who are on the autism spectrum.
I tend to think in black and white. It’s caused me more suffering that anyone can imagine.
@A wanderer - I don’t think there is anything wrong with thinking of thing as being either black or white…right or wrong.
God thinks the same way does he not? Either things are ok or they are a sin. There is no gray.
Not all April Fool’s tom-foolery is connected to a lie.
Say, I seem to recall the Bible saying that you are in danger of hell fire, or something like that, if you call someone a fool. I worked with a crazy hillbilly that taught me that. Yeah. She was pretty sure I was headed to hell for calling another co-worker a fool.
dude i thought that the “lord doesnt hate” haha… okay i guess im wrong in your book xD