A Lie Is Not A Lie

The news has been buzzing around the Ohio State University’s football team the past couple of weeks. Head coach Urban Meyer was under investigation for not reporting an assistant coach to the compliance and title nine offices. This assistant coach, Zach Smith, was abusing his wife, having an affair with a school secretary and many other immoral acts. Yet Urban Meyer kept Smith on his staff and did not report any of Smith’s actions to the school which is required in his contract as an employee of the school. Eventually Zach Smith’s wife divorced him and she went to the press about what her husband did to her and how the school turned a blind eye. Before the news story was released Urban Meyer got wind of it and fired Zach Smith this past July. 
When Urban was before the media during a conference event he was asked about Zach Smith’s firing. According to CBS Sports when asked why Smith was fired Meyer  stated, "I'm not going to get into that. A decision was made," Meyer said. "The details I'm obligated to give, I gave. The decision was made, it's time to move forward." He was then asked if he knew about Smith being arrested for felonious assault and domestic violence of his wife in 2015. The article states,”...[The] 2015 case remains open and Meyer claims he did not know about that case until Monday. 
"I got a text last night that something happened in 2015, and there was nothing," Meyer told reporters.”
So Meyer clearly and deliberately stated he knew nothing about Smith’s arrest in 2015. The school eventually investigated the matter and concluded that Urban did have knowledge of what was going on and did not properly report it. Because of this he has been suspended for three games for this season.The part I found very interesting is what was said in the press conference by the lead investigator. Mary Jo White was stating to the press the findings of the investigation. At one point she addressed when Meyer lied to the press earlier about knowing anything about the 2015 arrest of coach Smith.  She stated, “Third, despite Coach Meyers's clear awareness and monitoring in 2015 of the law enforcement investigation of Zach Smith for domestic violence, we ultimately did not conclude that Coach Meyer deliberately lied during his comments at big ten media days on July 24th, 2018.” Wait...what? Urban Meyer clearly knew about the arrest but didn’t lie? She continues by stating, “Meyer falsely stated he lacked knowledge of all relevant events regarding alleged domestic violence by Zach Smith in 2015. While those denials were plainly not accurate, Coach Meyer did not, in our view, deliberately lie.” Huh? He falsely stated these things, his denials were plainly not accurate yet he didn’t deliberately lie? How is that possible? What else is a false statement but a deliberate lie? Can you accidentally lie all of sudden? 
This is a clear example of the postmodern thought of our day. Truth is relative and subject to interpretation. There is no clear right and wrong. Truth is in the eye of the beholder. Whatever you want to believe is true is true to you. That  is perfectly fine. No one should question it. And false statements are not lies. Or as long as the lie is not deliberate it is perfectly fine. Our society has the mentality of Pontius Pilate when he asked Jesus, “What is truth?”. We are constantly redefining our morality. What is suitable for the situation we will bend what is right. Our culture likes to massage, manipulate, twist, shave, alter and flip the truth. There is no line to cross anymore. You can put the line wherever it suits you and nothing or no-one can tell you that you are wrong. 
These people run a major university that is educating our kids. This is the mindset and environment in this and many other universities. Truth is relative. Something may be wrong to you, but it may not be wrong to me. There is nothing objective to tell me definitively what is right and wrong, true and false. But there is right and wrong. It is defined by God and His holy word. God is objective and He has given us a moral law to follow. He is the standard of right and wrong. And He has clearly stated that a lie is a lie, whether deliberate or not. Urban Meyer would have done well to listen to God and let his “yes” be “yes” and his “no” be “no” (see Matthew 5:37).