... On Lance, Manti and Lying.

courtesy of hollywood.com

This past week, two major stories in the sports-world have unfolded concerning high profile athletes involved in weird and sketchy stories.  Many of us know about the Lance Armstrong doping scandal in which he bobbed and weaved through allegations of illegal substance abuse and corruption like he was peddling through the French countryside.  And now he apparently confessed to Oprah his part in both cheating and the coverup.

And if that wasn't enough, the wild-world of sports took a turn for the bizarre as it was discovered that the tragic story of the death of Norte Dame's Heisman runner-up Manti Te'o's girlfriend was in fact a hoax.  She didn't die that day back in the fall.  In fact, she never existed.  So what had been a heart-breaking story of a young man losing his soul mate and overcoming tragedy has become a stomach-turning, confusing soap opera of deceit and, at best, over exaggeration.  As we learn more and more about this crazy situation and who knew what and when, we do know one thing - someone somewhere was lying about something.

So, what is the deal with all this lying?

Lance lied about doping.  Then he lied about the coverup.  He lied to his governing authoirities.  He lied to some of his teammates and trainers.  He lied to his fans.  He lied to his supporters and those championing his cause to fight cancer.  He is a liar.

And someone in the Te'o situation is lying.  If, as Manti claims, he is the victim of an internet relationship scam then someone was lying to him.  If that's not true, then maybe Te'o is lying to us and has been for a while.  Someone is lying to someone.

Where does all this lying coming from?

Why do people choose to lie?

Everyone Does It
Let's face it.  We all do it.  Now, we may not lie to whole organizations, millions of fans, or news reporters.  We may not have to hold a press conference or talk on national television to "come clean" - but we all lie is one way or the other.

And I can prove it.

Here's some of the most prolific lies we tell.  Quiz yourself.

How many of these are regulars you shoot out like your in an old west gun duel?:

"I'll be there in 5."
"I'm on my way."
"Stop or your face will stick that way." (moms!)
"I don't mean to be talking bad about them, but..."
"Officer, I had no idea what the speed limit was."
"That looks GREAT!"
"It's no big deal."
"I'm doing ok."
"No, really.  I'm fine."

And if you came away unscathed from that list, this one is garunteed to get the rest of us:

"I have read and agree to the Terms and Conditions listed above."

We lie.  We take short cuts.  We spit out half-truths.  We take the easy way out.  Sometimes we blatantly claim some things to be true that we know are false, and vice-versa.

Why?

It stems from who we are.

Liars-Not-So-Anonymous
"My name is Mike, and I'm a liar."

Lying is selfish.  Lying is about me.  It's about making me look good, about protecting myself, it's about being lazy and trying to get the results without the work.  It's considering my needs and desires above others.  It's allowing others to suffer and hurt in order to get what I want.  It's about not wanting to admit that I'm not perfect.

It's ultimately trying to find a way to promote myself above others and protect myself at whatever cost.

It's part of who we are.  All of us.

And it is the root of all the problems in the world.  Every evil and all brokenness and suffering we experience is because we are people who are rooted in a lie.

A couple thousand years ago a guy named Paul wrote the quintessential piece on understanding the story of existence.  He wrote about how and why the world is as it is, and what it will take to make it right.  And right off the bat he tells us that the chaotic tailspin this world finds itself in is because we, as humans, are bent to be liars.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.  [Romans 1:24-25]

It is our continued participation in the Adam and Eve's distrust of God and trust in lies that is the root of all the brokenness and wickedness in the world [Gen. 3:1-13].

Looking Deeper Into It
But it is not simply a behavioral issue, it's a heart issue.

Our actions flow from who we are - our identity.  Lies are just the symptom of something deeper.  God gave us up to the lusts of our hearts.  We are getting what our hearts want.  We don't want to be people of truth.  We love the lie.

We are liars because we want to be.

Lance and Manti, you and I, are part of the human family that at it's core would rather trust in lies than trust in truth.

We are liars and we can't change it.  We are liars and we don't want to change it.  It is who we are - to the core.

So what we need is for the truth to set us free. [John 8:31-32]

A Truth Transplant
What we need is Jesus to give us new life, to change us from an identity of being a liar who distrusts God to a new life of someone who seeks God.

We need Jesus to put to death the liar in us, and to raise to new life a truth-seeker in Him.

We need Jesus.

Here's a description of the only One who has ever lived and was truth.

Jesus is full of grace and truth. [John 1:14,17]
Jesus has no deceit in him. [Isaiah 53:9]
Jesus is the personification of truth. [John 14:6]
Jesus is the only truth that can free you. [John 8:31-32]
Jesus is the source of truth. [John 16:7-13]

New life through faith in Jesus.
Our life gone - his life given.
Our identity changed - from liar to son/daughter of God, from truth exchanger to truth possessor.

Lance and Manti, you and I, and everyone that has ever existed needs to hear the truth.  Let us quit being people of lies and be reborn through Jesus as people of the truth.

And let the truth truly set us free.