Exaggeration

[JimB]

I was told that I shouldn’t use exaggeration in my sermons and that I needed to be more exact in my statements. I told him I knew it and had cried barrels and barrels of tears over it.

Question: is exaggeration (i.e., hyperbole, overstatement, embellishment) proper or is it sinful? What does scripture say?

 

[ByTheSpirit]

Jesus exaggerated things to make a point... For instance, gouge out your eye or cut off your hand if they cause you to sin... He wasn't being literally serious, He exaggerated a truth so His audience would understand the seriousness of the teaching and what their response should be to it. My view anyway

 

[Eyesee]

I was told that I shouldn’t use exaggeration in my sermons and that I needed to be more exact in my statements. I told him I knew it and had cried barrels and barrels of tears over it.

Question: is exaggeration (i.e., hyperbole, overstatement, embellishment) proper or is it sinful? What does scripture say?

I'm not quite sure what you are getting at here. If you are talking about embellishment, hyperbole and overstatement in order to make something other than what it actually was, that is akin to lying.

If you are talking about using extremes to illustrate a point, there's nothing wrong with that just as long as you are using truthful extremes.

We should never ever embelish a story (like a testimony) no matter what the motive (as in making it seem super miraculous, etc.). The Holy Spirit is the one who makes our words effective; we don't need to "help" him.

In fact, as I write this, this passage is quickened to me. I am quite certain it is for you:

And I, brothers, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

God bless you.

 

[Faulty]

Paul exaggerates quite a bit in 2 Corinthians 11.

 

[Biblicist]

I was told that I shouldn’t use exaggeration in my sermons and that I needed to be more exact in my statements. I told him I knew it and had cried barrels and barrels of tears over it.

Question: is exaggeration (i.e., hyperbole, overstatement, embellishment) proper or is it sinful? What does scripture say?

Even though the reference to 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 by Eyesee has its place, for most of us we do not seem to be operating in the power of the Spirit to the degree that Paul did. This means that if we can effectively use ‘exaggeration’ providing that we do this within acceptable guidelines then by all means it should be employed. The same can go for sarcasm which Paul also employed and providing that sarcasm employs elements such as irony and situational irony then this effective tool of debate and instruction is also a very useful device.

There is of course a caveat with ‘exaggeration’ in that the recipients of this type of language would need to understand that it is being employed.

 

[REPHAIAHPEDAHEL]

There is nothing wrong with exaggerating to make a point!

 

[New_Wineskin]

I was told that I shouldn’t use exaggeration in my sermons and that I needed to be more exact in my statements. I told him I knew it and had cried barrels and barrels of tears over it.

Question: is exaggeration (i.e., hyperbole, overstatement, embellishment) proper or is it sinful? What does scripture say?

Whether it is sinful or not is between the Lord and you . Whether it is proper or not depends on your audience . You may need to adjust your statements to help them understand what you are saying . After all , you most likely spend your time designing sermons with the initial intent to be understood . Is it really needed to convey the message ?

What do the Scriptures say ? A couple of passages say to let your yes be yes and no be no and anything else is of the devil . Another states ...

In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.

In the end , the Scriptures say whatever a person wants them to say .

I don't know why this person set you off . Perhaps , they presented their request in the wrong manner or you were in the wrong mood to hear it . If you are doing it to such a degree that people notice it , you may not be able to stop yourself even if you wanted to .

 

[jamadan]

Exaggeration is lying. Telling the congregation that there are a multitude of healings when one person was healed is a lie. Telling them that you had a vision in which you were swept into Heaven, when it was just a quick insight into something while taking a shower, is a lie. Testifying that you were once a drug addict when you tried marijuana twice, is a lie.

 

[Faulty]

Exaggeration is lying. Telling the congregation that there are a multitude of healings when one person was healed is a lie. Telling them that you had a vision in which you were swept into Heaven, when it was just a quick insight into something while taking a shower, is a lie. Testifying that you were once a drug addict when you tried marijuana twice, is a lie.

Don't think that's exactly the same thing. I'd consider those more embellished lies rather than exageration, which I consider as hyperbole.

 

[Faulty]

In Numbers 13:32-33 is a report from the Israelite spies who scouted the promised land, who reported the great height of those who dwell in the land:

So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.
​

In Amos 2:9-10, God adds his part concerning the height of the people who were in that land, saying they were as high as the cedars, which range between 18m to 35m (59 to 115 feet):

Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars and who was as strong as the oaks; I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath. Also it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
​

So, was God exaggerating or was the promised land filled with people of that height?

 

[Eyesee]

In Numbers 13:32-33 is a report from the Israelite spies who scouted the promised land, who reported the great height of those who dwell in the land:

So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.
​

In Amos 2:9-10, God adds his part concerning the height of the people who were in that land, saying they were as high as the cedars, which range between 18m to 35m (59 to 115 feet):

Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars and who was as strong as the oaks; I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath. Also it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
​

So, was God exaggerating or was the promised land filled with people of that height?

Good grief.

Look you guys -- I don't know about the rest of you, but slicing and dicing what should be VERY SIMPLE down to symantics and arguments is just plain foolishness. If you read that passage that you cited in context Faulty, it should be very obvious that God was citing (almost in a sarcastic manner) how the children of Israel saw the Amorites; it was a metaphor. Remember how the children of Israel compared themselves to grasshoppers to these giants?

Please, let's just stick to the topic at hand: I think (and hope and pray) that we all agree that embellishing a testimony or whatever else is LYING.

I think we can also agree that exaggerating along the same lines is LYING.

I'm still in the dark as to what on earth JimB is referring to with his original question; there's just way to much context and detail that's missing.

JimB, I for one would really appreciate it if you would elaborate a little bit so that we can actually help you instead before your thread turns into yet another bickerfest.

 

[jamadan]

Don't think that's exactly the same thing. I'd consider those more embellished lies rather than exageration, which I consider as hyperbole.

It is lying. If it's not truth, it's a lie.

 

[JimB]

Was Christ being factual when he told the parable of the man who owed his master the equivalent of the national debt and yet refused to forgive one who owed him some pocket change ... or was he exaggerating the amount to make a point?

In fact, one could say that a parable, like all fiction, is a lie that tells the truth.

 

[Giver]

I was told that I shouldn’t use exaggeration in my sermons and that I needed to be more exact in my statements. I told him I knew it and had cried barrels and barrels of tears over it.

Question: is exaggeration (i.e., hyperbole, overstatement, embellishment) proper or is it sinful? What does scripture say?

Who was it that told you?

It truly does not matter if some man tells you something about God. One only needs to ask Jesus if what man tells you could be right or wrong.

If it was the Holy Spirit telling you that your sermons were not accurate, then you need to let the Holy Spirit explain what was wrong.

One should never talk about God unless it is the Words of God.

 

[Faulty]

Good grief.

Look you guys -- I don't know about the rest of you, but slicing and dicing what should be VERY SIMPLE down to symantics and arguments is just plain foolishness. If you read that passage that you cited in context Faulty, it should be very obvious that God was citing (almost in a sarcastic manner) how the children of Israel saw the Amorites; it was a metaphor. Remember how the children of Israel compared themselves to grasshoppers to these giants?

Please, let's just stick to the topic at hand: I think (and hope and pray) that we all agree that embellishing a testimony or whatever else is LYING.

I think we can also agree that exaggerating along the same lines is LYING.

I'm still in the dark as to what on earth JimB is referring to with his original question; there's just way to much context and detail that's missing.

JimB, I for one would really appreciate it if you would elaborate a little bit so that we can actually help you instead before your thread turns into yet another bickerfest.

It is the topic at hand and it is contextually accurate. Thanks though.

 

[toolmanjantzi]

I was told that I shouldn’t use exaggeration in my sermons and that I needed to be more exact in my statements. I told him I knew it and had cried barrels and barrels of tears over it.

Question: is exaggeration (i.e., hyperbole, overstatement, embellishment) proper or is it sinful? What does scripture say?

It's lying. And when someone says Jesus used Hyperbole Statements, one needs to ask themselves if it was not meant to be literal. Can one still take it literally and it benefit them. Truth is truth, and Jesus only spoke the truth.

 

[Faulty]

It is lying. If it's not truth, it's a lie.

So, when Paul told those in Corinth concerning those causing them trouble that he wishes he could be like them as they are "super apostles", he was lying?

A lie is deception with the intent to deceive. Exaggeration and hyperbole may or may not intend to deceive. That's why we have different words for it.

 

[Faulty]

It's lying. And when someone says Jesus used Hyperbole Statements, one needs to ask themselves if it was not meant to be literal. Can one still take it literally and it benefit them. Truth is truth, and Jesus only spoke the truth.

Sound to me like you just said "it's lying except when its not lying".

 

[toolmanjantzi]

Sound to me like you just said "it's lying except when its not lying".

"I caught a fish this big" in most conversations is an exaggeration, non-truth. A lie.

Cut off your limbs so they don't burn in hell. Is both a metaphor for the members of the church, or our very own body literally. All truth.

 

[Tobias]

We have an interesting phenomenon in society today where people use the truth with the intent to deceive. I guess because of the laws against things like libel and slander, people in the media and politicians have learned how to technically tell the "truth" yet put a spin on it to where the listener walks away believing something entirely different.


I think lying is saying something with the intent to deceive, whether it is technically the "truth" or not. I also think this is perfectly acceptable in certain situations, especially in times of war.

Exaggeration is not lying, as it is often a language based off of emotion rather than fact. Sometimes it is a more truthful representation of our feelings than simply giving factual information. Some mask their feelings behind factual statements, which in essence is lying about how they feel.

Sarcasm is a bit different, as some people have real difficulties in identifying it. It's an exaggerated lie that implies the opposite is true. I don't see a problem with that either, as long as the listener understands.