The Justified Lie

“And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?” – James 2:25

Is telling a lie ever justified for a Christian?  It certainly seems that a small class of lies can be justified, but how?

Modern ethical theory is generally divided between two camps: consequentialism (a type of teleology) and absolutism (a type of deontology).  The former claims that moral actions are those which maximize some value or values.  The latter speaks of duties, obligations, and types of actions that are absolutely wrong (e.g. murder, no matter the intent, is never right).  What makes ethical theory tricky is that we have intuitions toward both poles.

So what of Christianity?  At first blush, it would seem to strongly favor absolutism.  A sin, of course, is a breach of God’s law.  Yet these problem cases linger.  Why was Rahab justified in her lie?  It is tempting to give a consequentialist explanation and defense.  This line of reasoning, however, moves us into dangerous territory.  The more beneficial path, I think, is to examine the character and intention of the actor.  Justified lies come not out of a desire to maximize some value, but rather from a selfless interest in furthering God’s kingdom.  A useful question at this point is whether there will be lying in Heaven.  It’s safe to say that the answer is no.  While some lies may be justified, the fact that lying happens indicates the fallen nature of our world.  This analysis puts justified lying in an interesting metaphysical place.  Perhaps we just need to acknowledge this tension and move past it.

Moving past this tension becomes infinitely easier in light of God’s redemptive plan.  We enter this world as sinful creatures in need of a Savior.  The fact that our very nature is wholly sinful renders our consideration of the moral status of individual actions rather insignificant.  As Paul writes in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  This absolutist standard is impossible for us to uphold; there’s no “ought implies can” here.  We live in a constant state of sin, whether or not the lie we just told is somehow justified.  And this is where Christian morality radically differs from contemporary theories: we have forgiveness for our transgressions.  It’s not that our constant violations of these absolute standards don’t matter; Christ had to die on the cross because of them.  Instead, it’s that, on the last day, God won’t see our sinful, broken selves.  He’ll see Christ instead.