No Spin Zone
Matthew 5 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Please turn to Matthew 5:33. From 1996 to 2017, commentator Bill O'Reilly hosted a show titled, “The O’Reilly Factor” with the tagline,
“You are about to enter the no spin zone,”
implying that he would uncover the truth without any spin. What is this word “spin?” According to Merriam-Webster, we have several definitions, one of which is, “a quantum characteristic of an elementary particle that is visualized as the rotation of the particle on its axis and that is responsible for measurable angular and magnetic momentum.” Got it? That’s not what we’re talking about.
Spin is the twisting of truth to fit a particular point of view for the purpose of influencing opinion, outcome and/or justifying certain actions.
In WWII, well over 100,000 Japanese-Americans were abruptly ripped from their homes and placed in concentration camps that our government called “relocation centers.” That’s spin. Abortion is called women’s healthcare. That is spin. Those are extreme examples, but you can see how our government, the news agencies, doctors can spin truth for the purpose of influencing, opinion, outcome, and justifying certain actions. But our government and leaders are not the only ones capable of spinning. Jesus makes that very clear in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7 it is indeed a no spin zone.
You see, by the time Jesus came on the scene, the religious leaders of Israel had so complicated the Torah [OT Law] that it became a burden to the people. Not only did they complicate the Torah, but they also found ways to spin the Torah – to twist God’s truth to fit particular points of view and to influence opinions, outcomes and to justify certain actions.
There is another word for spin – manipulation.
We’re all victims of manipulation and perpetrators to some extent. So the purpose of Jesus here in Matthew 5-7 was to lift the burdens imposed by the religious leaders and to reveal how God intends humans to live together in honest, loving, and authentic community. The whole Sermon on the Mount is a course correction for God’s people.
“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’
But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,
or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.
Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
First things first – context is critical to this passage. So, we need to spend a little time to understand Israelite oath taking so we can make sense of this passage then apply it.
Biblically, when people make promises to God, that is a vow
Vows are between people and God (i.e. made to God).
E.g. “God, if you do this for me, then, I’ll do that for You.” “God, if you get me out of this, I promise I’ll ….”
An oath is between humans (person to person), which often invokes the Divine Name.
E.g., “By the name of Yahweh, I promise that by this time tomorrow the sermon will be over” or “I swear to God, I’ll pay you back.” Vows are vertical. Oaths are horizontal.
The Torah makes some provision for this. There are several Scriptures we can point to, this is just one.
When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.
Simple! God wants His people, who represent Him, to be people of integrity. We do what we say we’re going to do – period. The Torah states that we are not to disgrace God’s name or His character by breaking a vow or an oath.
Vows and oaths are serious business because they are relational in nature and communicate the trustworthiness of God and His people, or the lack thereof.
By the time of Jesus, the Jewish people avoided saying the Divine Name – Yahweh – believing God’s name was too sacred to utter. Therefore, they devised ways of making vows and oaths that supposedly had the same weight but without using the Divine Name. So what do we swear by? They developed a practice of swearing by things closely associated with Yahweh, hence Heaven, earth, Jerusalem, and one’s own head. They replaced Yahweh with other sacred things. Good idea – right? Perhaps.
Humans have the uncanny ability to complicate things. They also have the uncanny ability to spin truth, to find or create loopholes, and even twist God’s Word to one’s own advantage. That’s what the Jewish people were doing – largely from the religious leaders but this had permeated the Jewish culture. Let’s cut to the chase. They were creating and spinning loopholes to justify breaking vows and oaths. For example, I swear by heaven that I’ll pay you back tomorrow. Tomorrow comes and because of this loophole a person may say, “Hey, I can’t pay you back and it doesn’t really matter because I only swore by heaven. Too bad so sad.”
Ultimately, the spinning and twisting of God’s Word is for self-centered purposes; for manipulating and taking advantage of others. At its core, it lacks genuine love. So that is what Jesus was correcting. First, who owns heaven, earth, the temple and you gave you your head? God! So you can’t separate those things from God so don’t use them to make oaths or vows. Secondly, as I mentioned early, God’s people are to be people of high integrity – impeccable integrity – without manipulation or stretching the truth or the puffing up of self to get our way. Jesus said, Matthew 5:37 “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil [or the evil one].” Jesus was referring to the serpent and the Fall of humanity. In Genesis 3, the serpent twisted the truth of God to fit his particular point of view for the purpose of influencing and manipulating Adam and Eve toward his desired outcome – which was for them to rebel against God and for him to gain ownership of humanity. When we do that, spin and twist and stretch truth for our own purposes – when we create loopholes and manipulate through vows, oaths, promises, agreements etc. etc., and especially if we have no intention of keeping them, we are acting as serpents – not as children and representatives of a holy and loving God. We probably do this more than we realize because it’s so prevalent in our culture. If we would stop and evaluate our words and actions …. “If you love me, then you would ….” If you call yourself a Christian, then ….”
Dallas Willard, in his book The Divine Conspiracy wrote this.
“The essence of swearing oaths that Jesus targets, here, is about invoking something or someone else, especially God, to make your words seem more significant and more weighty.
Dallas Willard - “The aim is to impress others with your seriousness or your piety, so that you get what you want. It’s a device of manipulation,
designed to override the judgment or input of others, in order to possess them for our purposes. It's manipulation, or as we say in our culture, spin.
And Jesus says it’s evil. Instead of loving and honoring others with truthfulness, the intent is to get one’s way, by verbal manipulation of the thoughts and choices of others.”
Nailed it.
So what do we do with this?
We must slow down and be honest with ourselves and understand that none of us are beyond using God or our faith or “Christianese” to manipulate others for our own purposes – to get others to do what we want or to justify our actions.
Jesus is calling His people to cultivate hyper-self-awareness, which requires serious self-reflection and accountability.
Board member.
Consider attending the EHR, which starts in January. Furthermore, there is good news through Jesus Christ and His Word. God calls us to walk in truth and follow Jesus who is the truth. If we allow Him, He will sanctify us through truth – His Word.
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
“Jesus, help me to be self-aware. That is the challenge to us! Spirit, create in me an awareness of how I might spin truth, manipulate, don’t keep my word ….”
Our lives should be no spin zones.
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
Laying down one’s life is not just a physical thing. It’s laying down my ego, need to always be right or in control, or to manipulate, spin ….
So as we close – let’s listen to the One who is Truth ….
Further reflection:
2 Corinthians 4:1–3
Ephesians 4:25
