Truth, Honesty, and Deception in the Workplace (Overview)
Article / Produced by TOW Project
Scott Rae
Accessed on October 1, 2022
Outline of the publication [excerpt 1]
- Introduction
- Truthtelling is the Norm in the Bible
- Exceptions to Truthtelling in the Bible
- Why Truthtelling Is Important
Introduction
Virtually everyone knows that the people of God are supposed to tell the truth.
Even though we recognize there are exceptions-protecting the innocent, guarding national security, and a few others-we remember how
Jesus described himself as
“the way
and the truth
and the life”
(John 14:6),
and we understand that truth is the way of life God calls us to.
Jesus described himself as: (1) “the way (2) and the truth (3) and the life”
(John 14:6)
But our commitment to truth is often stretched thin in the workplace.
Sometimes it seems that it is impossible to succeed at work by telling only the truth.
Sometimes it even seems that the workplace is a different realm from the world Jesus inhabited, and that truth is actually out of place at work.
Consider the case of Philippe Kahn.
Philippe Kahn was the head of startup software company Borland International, and needed a break to launch his company.
His software was field-tested and ready to market and distribute, and all he needed was an opportunity.
But Kahn had no employees (beyond his assistant) and no money to mount an expensive advertising campaign.
What he really needed was an ad in the niche magazine Byte. But the ad cost $20,000 that he didn’t have, and he had insufficient collateral for a loan that size. He needed 100% credit for the ad.
The only way he knew to get credit like that was to attempt an elaborate bluff, to convince the sales person for Byte that his company was much more of a going concern that it actually was.
So he rented office space for the day, hired temporary employees to answer non-existent phone calls, left a folder open that indicated that Byte was far down the list of potential advertisers, and told the salesperson that he didn’t think Byte was the right forum to advertise his product.
His intention, as he admitted in a later interview in Inc. magazine, was to make the salesperson believe that his company was strong enough to generate the sales from the ad to repay the loan.
And in fact, that is precisely what occurred. The ad sold roughly $150,000 worth of software, Byte got paid, and Borland International was on its way. Clearly, everyone benefitted and no one got hurt.
Kahn’s strategy raises important questions about truthtelling and deception.
It seems clear that Kahn’s intention was to deceive the Byte salesperson.
Many in the business community assess actions such as Kahn’s as clever, and would blame the salesperson for not doing his homework on the company before extending the credit. But this scenario strikes many others as unethical.
This illustrates some of the nuances that must be explored in coming to a well-reasoned view of truthtelling and disclosure and its application to work.
In this article, we will first lay a Biblical foundation for truthtelling, establishing it as the prima facie norm for interactions between human beings. Then we will look at exceptions to this norm.
We will emphasize why truthtelling is important, both for the believer and for the culture at large.
Then we will apply the notion of truthtelling to the workplace and suggest that though truthtelling is a very strong norm, there are times when it is not necessarily required.
We will address puffery, white lies, bluffing and occasions when the other party has no right to the truth.
Although the vast majority of the believer’s life is spent in pursuing truth, describing the exceptions takes many words, and much of the text of this article is spent in developing their proper limits.
The balance of text in an article on truth and deception does not reflect the proper balance of truth and deception in a believer’s life.
Truthtelling is the Norm in the Bible
As is apparent by simply listing key biblical passages that speak to this subject, honesty and telling the truth are highly valued by God and are considered an integral part of a life of integrity and faithfulness to him.
The Mosaic law commands that God’s people do not lie or deceive each other (Leviticus 19:11) or give false testimony about another (Exodus 20:16).
The Psalmist describes the person whose walk is blameless and righteous as speaking the truth from the heart (Psalm 15:2).
The New Testament echoes this when it connects honesty and truthfulness with the believer’s new life in Christ (Colossians 3:9).
One of the first manifestations of the believer putting off the old self and putting on the new self in Christ is a commitment to honesty (Ephesians 4:24–25).
The Mosaic law commands that God’s people do not lie or deceive each other (Leviticus 19:11) or give false testimony about another (Exodus 20:16).
The virtue of honesty is grounded ultimately in the character of God-that is, we are to be truthful because God is truthful.
God never lies the Bible informs us (Titus 1:2), and both Jesus and the Holy Spirit are referred to as the truth (John 14:6, 16:13; 1 John 5:6).
Similarly, God’s word is called the truth (Psalm 119:142, John 17:17).
Theologically, honesty is a virtue because, like all the virtues, it is rooted in God’s nature.
Truthtelling is a moral principle to be followed because God is truthful, and we are called to emulate his character.
God never lies the Bible informs us (Titus 1:2), and both Jesus and the Holy Spirit are referred to as the truth (John 14:6, 16:13; 1 John 5:6).
Theologically, honesty is a virtue because, like all the virtues, it is rooted in God’s nature. Truthtelling is a moral principle to be followed because God is truthful, and we are called to emulate his character.
God also commands people to tell the truth, most notably in the Ten Commandments, given in Exodus as …
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16)
and restated in Leviticus 19:11 as
“You shall not lie to one another.”
Proverbs informs us that telling the truth leads to the best long-term outcomes for us:
“Truthful lips endure forever,
but a lying tongue lasts only a moment”
(Proverbs 12:19).
In other words, truthtelling is the biblical norm under all three approaches to ethics, virtues, commands and consequences. (See the article Ethics at Work at www.theologyofwork.org for more on biblical approaches to ethics in the context of work.)
No matter how we look at it, then, the biblical expectation is that we tell the truth.
Above all, honesty is a virtue because, like all virtues, it is rooted in God’s nature.
Truthtelling is a moral principle to be followed because God is truth, and we want to be in a close relationship with God.
The only way to draw close to the truth is to be truthful. In other words, God’s Law is not only prescriptive-God tells us to tell the truth- it is also descriptive-God describes himself as truth.
If God’s laws for us are considered descriptive of how we were created to be in relationship with him and with one another, then deception denies our very humanity, reduces us to less than who God created us to be, and damages ourselves and others.
Truthtelling is a moral principle to be followed because God is truth, and we want to be in a close relationship with God.
If God’s laws for us are considered descriptive of how we were created to be in relationship with him and with one another, then deception denies our very humanity, reduces us to less than who God created us to be, and damages ourselves and others.
In short, the basic attitude of the human faith is
“speaking the truth in love,
we must grow up in every way into him
who is the head, into Christ”
(Ephesians 4:15).
“For we cannot do anything against the truth,
but only for the truth”
(2 Corinthians 13:8).
In short, the basic attitude of the human faith is: “speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Ephesians 4:15).
Exceptions to Truthtelling in the Bible
God holds truth and love together in a perfect marriage.
When they are married, there is no conflict. When they are sundered, we face dilemmas; for example, when love requires deception (e.g., Corrie Ten Boom lying to the Nazis about hiding Jews in her house) or when truth causes harm (e.g., telling a child a truth he or she is not prepared to understand).
This is not because there is something wrong with God, but because of the fallen nature of our world.
Until God’s kingdom is fulfilled, those who would follow God will experience periodic conflicts as they try to love in truth and tell the truth in love.
In other words, the fact that truthtelling is a biblical principle does not necessarily mean that it is an absolute to be always followed in every circumstance.
There are at least two occasions in the bible in which deception seems to be allowed, if not praised.
For example, the midwives who were charged with caring for the infant Moses carried out an elaborate deception in order to safeguard the life and well-being of Moses, hiding his Hebrew origins and leading the Pharaoh to believe that he was actually one of his own sons (Exodus 2:1–10).
In addition, Rahab deceived the soldiers of Jericho in order to safeguard the lives of the Israelite spies who came to serve as advance scouts of the promised land (Joshua 2:1–24). She actually ends up in God’s Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11 on account of her faith, exercised in protecting the lives of the spies (of which the deception was an integral part).
One classic example of this kind of exception to the general principle of truthtelling occurred during World War II in the well-publicized story of Corrie Ten Boom, later written in The Hiding Place.
For some time, she and her sister hid Jews and enabled them to escape from the Nazis and certain trips to concentration camps.
Repeatedly she was asked point-blank by the Gestapo if she was hiding Jews, and she routinely lied to the authorities in order to protect their lives.
This was a genuine moral conflict, one in which two or more moral values and virtues come into conflict, and the Ten Booms were in the difficult position of having to weight competing values. They correctly weighted the obligation to protect the lives of Jews more heavily than the obligation to tell the truth, especially to those who had no right to it.
These conflicts are not common, nor do they suggest that God’s commands are intrinsically contradictory.
Rather they reflect our fallen world in which these demands of morality work themselves out, sometimes in conflicting ways.
In addition, God’s commands are given through human concepts and language, and thus the way we comprehend God’s commands is subject to the limitations of human conception. Human language is not capable of covering all situations without mutual contradiction, so even things expressed as absolutes have exceptions.
We should expect that at times we should have to weigh competing values and we should also expect that God would direct us in doing so. Thus, rather than saying that truthtelling is inviolable, it is more accurate to suggest that it is a general rule that admits periodic exceptions when in conflict with other important moral values.
In fact, even God is described as working in ways that border on deception in the fallen world.
There are some examples, particularly in the Old Testament, where God uses deception, and they seem to be a puzzling contradiction to the notion that God does not lie (see for example, 1 Kings 22:23; Jeremiah 4:10, 20:7). But in all these cases, the people of Israel are firmly entrenched in idolatry and awaiting God’s judgment in the coming exile.
God has already made the truth clear to the people and they have rejected it and their judgment is forthcoming. It is clear that God is not deceiving the people as a means of instruction but as a means of judgment.
When people reject truth, even God’s character becomes a deception to them. However, in deceiving the self-deceived, God’s actions do not contradict his character of truth.
A New Testament parallel occurs in Paul’s teaching in 2 Thessalonians 2:11–12:
“For this reason
God sends them a powerful delusion
so that they will believe the lie
and so that all will be condemned
who have not believed the truth but delighted in wickedness.”
Here, Paul describes how at the end times the “man of lawlessness” sets himself up to be God.
To counter this self-deception, God uses deception not to mislead the people, but to judge those who have abandoned the truth.
Thus, when Paul speaks of the “God, who never lies” (Titus 1:2), he is stating the character of God, yet recognizing that in a fallen world, the deepest truth at times must be cloaked in deception for the sake of love. Corrie ten Boom is not a justifiable exception to the truthful character of God’s image in humanity, but a fulfillment of a deeper truth in love.
Viewing truthtelling as a prima facie moral principle also appeals to our common sense intuitions about certain professions that make regular use of deception.
Take for example, intelligence gathering.
There is little doubt that the intelligence apparatus of most countries uses deceit in order to gain critical intelligence information about one’s enemies.
In addition, undercover police work requires that officers disguise their identity and create entirely new personas in order to infiltrate organizations effectively.
Few questions are raised about the necessary use of deception in these occupations.
And, of course, virtually no one questions the validity of bluffing in poker games or the use of elaborate faking in sports, because they are considered part of the game-acceptable within the rules of the game.
However, none of the above scenarios are entirely analogous to business and other arenas in which most work occurs.
We will discuss later whether ends-justifies-the-means exceptions exist beyond national security and public safety.
And situations in which truth is not expected, such as in poker, are very rare and can hardly serve as the norm for conduct in work.
This raises important questions about what criteria should guide us when it comes to truthtelling in our work.
Why Truthtelling Is Important
Besides emulating the character of God, truthtelling is critical for a flourishing society.
Therefore, except in rare circumstances, God mandates it.
Though God’s command would be a sufficient motivation, theologians and philosophers have identified other reasons as well.
To be continued …
Originally published at https://www.theologyofwork.org.
Note: “Overview” articles are full-length explorations of major topics in the theology of work. If you’re interested in a specific aspect of the topic, the table of contents can help you jump there quickly.
This study of truth and deception in the workplace takes a look at why truth-telling is important, both for the believer and the culture at large. Designed for 30-minute lunch breaks, the study contains Scripture references, thought-provoking questions, and prayers to help you apply biblical principles to your work life.
Contributors: Scott Rae
Adopted by the Theology of Work Project Board October 3, 2012. Image by Used under license from Veer.
Author: Theology of Work Project
© 2012 by the Theology of Work Project, Inc.
Unless otherwise noted, the Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, Copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission. All rights reserved.
This is a republication of the article above, for discussion purposes. The editor of the site does not necessarily agrees with all the statements made here.
