Joseph’s brothers took his “tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. Then…they brought it to their father and said, ‘We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?’” Well, they didn’t TELL him a lie! Did they? Jacob “recognized it and said, ‘It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces’” (Gen. 37:31-33). Well, they didn’t TELL him a lie! Did they? Jacob just thought Joseph was killed by an animal. Was it up the brothers to correct his misunderstanding?
Some folks have convinced themselves that, as long as their lips do not speak an actual lie, leading someone to a false conclusion or understanding is “the other person’s fault and not mine.” Here’s a word we need to know: deceit. It is “evil” and “defiles a man” (Mark 7:21-23); “those who practice [it] are deserving of death” (Rom. 1:29-32); Christians are to “lay aside all deceit” (1 Pet. 2:1). Even if your lips never move, your heart’s intent to deceive is equally sinful. “Let the words of my mouth and the mediations of my heart…” (Psa. 19:14).