Why Double Standards Are Evil
Photo by Pau Casals on Unsplash
Deception destroys trust
I’m sure you’ve heard someone say, “The numbers don’t lie!” Well, maybe the numbers don’t lie, but people who manipulate numbers for their own gain at the expense of others do. They make the numbers lie.
This is the nature of a double standard. A double standard is a form of deception—a lie. Lies destroy trust. What should be trustworthy isn’t.
Remember the Enron scandal? The numbers lied. Well, those who reported the numbers lied about the numbers. How about Bernie Madoff? Remember him and his Ponzi scheme? Both scandals involved billions of dollars, affecting thousands of lives. Not just the principal investors, but the ripple effect it had on others. But none of this is new. The scale may be greater, but the schemes are ancient.
Even little lies erode trust. When someone lies to you in a small way, it can make you question other things that a person says. This is especially true when we hear someone say something untrue in your presence, then justify it to you.
Wouldn’t that cause you to wonder if they tell you the truth? It would shake my confidence in what that person says and make it hard to trust them.
Scripture
A double standard of weights and measures— both are disgusting to the Lord.
A double standard of weights is disgusting to the Lord,
and dishonest scales are no good. (Proverbs 20:10, 23 GW)
(Context—Proverbs 20:9-25 GW)
Simple insights
The double standard in these verses refers to the use of different weights used to measure goods paid according to weight. The principle is the same—deception of others to profit the deceiver. Somewhat of a bait-and-switch approach or shell game ruse.
It’s nothing new, and God hates this type of deception. It “disgusts” Him. Or, as said in another version, it’s “an abomination.” Seem too harsh? Well, it’s evil, but for more than obvious reasons.
My wife and I delight in our grandchildren, as most grandparents do. We play and interact with them as we did with their parents (our children) but without the immediate responsibility as parents. That’s part of the fun of being grandparents!
I’m a jokester—always have been, but my kids and now my grandkids are on to me. They expect me to joke with them, tease them, and play tricks on them. And believe me, as they grow older, they learn to turn the tables on me and it gets harder for me to trick them.
One silly thing I did, as they became conscious of weight as a measure of their growth, is to step on the scale behind them as they weighed themselves. When the numbers are much higher than expected, their eyes widen with astonishment. Then either Nana or I tell them how I tipped the scales to fool them. I can only do this once or twice before they wise up to my trick.
Now, as innocuous as my stepping on the scale is, it reveals an underlying principle of humanity. We are trusting by nature. It’s innate. We trust until we learn not to trust. This is the real issue with double standards and differing weights and why God hates this. I’ve seen this truth over and over. Trust only exists until it’s violated.
God hates it when trust is broken. When trust is violated, it breaks the bond of a relationship. This goes back to the garden with Adam and Eve. When they stopped trusting God implicitly because they believed the lie of the serpent, their innocent and pure relationship with God was broken (Gen 3:1-10).
Because the serpent lied to them, Adam and Eve believed God was holding something back from them and it all went downhill from there (Gen 3:11-19). Since then, deception of others and of self continues to prevail because lies—even small ones—violate trust and break relationships.
I’ve learned that even with my jokes and teasing, I need to be careful not to cross a line. I don’t want to break or undermine the trust of those closest to me or anyone else who looks to me as a trustworthy person.
We all need to be careful in our interactions with others in whatever environment or situation in life we find ourselves—home, work, business, community, church, or wherever. Trust is fragile—easy to break, but hard to mend.
Reflection—
The real issue with double standards and differing weights and why God hates them is an issue of trust. Trust only exists until it’s violated. It’s easy to break but hard to mend. Lies and deception only lead to broken trust and broken relationships.
Prayer Focus—
If you find yourself trapped in some form of deception—of others or yourself—ask God to help you see how to put an end to it. Ask the Lord to help you be honest and open, and if relationships and trust have been broken, ask Him how to restore them.
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