Success on The Other Side Of Failure
“What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!” is a line taken from Marmion, a poem written by Sir Walter Scott. It is a story of lust, unrequited love, revenge, and deceit.
In the poem, Lord Marmion wants to marry Lady Clara. However, Lady Clara is already engaged and wants nothing to do with Marmion. So, Marmion and his mistress, Constance, who is an ex-nun, hatch a plot to discredit the fiancé. That way, Lady Clara will be free to marry Marmion.
Marmion dumps Constance, his mistress. Constance gets sentenced to death for abandoning her vows and plots revenge against Marmion for dumping her. The entire sordid plot is brought to light. Constance is walled up alive inside a convent and dies a horrible death. Marmion dies on the battlefield. The fiancés’ title, reputation, and lands are restored, and he marries Lady Clara.
As I have said, it’s a story of lust, unrequited love, revenge, and deceit. The desire to have something he could not have drove Marmion. The desire to attain something that was not hers drove Constance. Together, they wove a tangled web of deceit that ultimately cost both their lives.
Men and women have been deceiving one another since the beginning of time. Records of deceit go all the way back to the snake in the Garden of Eden. One of the most dramatic Biblical examples of deceit involves Jacob, the son of Isaac and Rebekah.
Jacob’s Deceit
Jacob was the second son of Isaac and his mother’s favorite. At his mother’s urging, Jacob deceived his father Isaac into giving him the birthright blessing due to his older brother Esau (Genesis 27:1-46).
Isaac was old, blind, and near death. He asked his son, Esau to hunt some wild game, prepare it, and then planned to bestow his blessing on Esau.
Rebekah overheard Isaac’s instructions to Esau. She secretly told Jacob to go slaughter a goat, and she would prepare it the way Isaac liked. Then, she said, Jacob was to pretend to be Esau and deliver the meal to his father. To complete the ruse, Jacob covered his bare arms and neck with goat hair to simulate the hairy arms and neck of his brother Esau.
Jacob delivered the meal to his father, Isaac, and when Isaac asked who it was, Jacob lied saying he was Esau. A suspicious Isaac asked Jacob to come closer so he could feel his son’s arms. The voice, he said, was the voice of Jacob, but the arms were the arms of Esau. With the deception complete, Isaac gave the blessing due to Esau to Jacob.
Jacob’s use of deception to gain the birthright blessing due to his brother Esau caused a rift in the family. Jacob had to flee for his life, and he finally settled with his uncle Laban’s family several hundred miles away.
Unlike Marmion, Jacob redeemed himself. God made a covenant with Jacob that if Jacob obeyed God, God would make him the father of many nations and give the Promised Land to his descendants (Genesis 28:10-17, Genesis 31). Jacob became a man of prayer (Genesis 32:9-12), and of great faith (Hebrews 11:21).
Jacob experienced success on the other side of his failure because of God’s grace.
Why Do We Deceive?
Deception flows from a man like lava from a volcano. It burns and destroys everything in its path. The question is, why do we deceive one another?
With all the positive ways to get something we want we choose deception because it seems like the easiest route to get what we want.
Marmion deceived his mistress by leading her on, and the court by falsifying evidence against Clara’s fiancé. All of this was an attempt to win Clara’s heart. Constance joined the deception hoping to win back the love of Marmion. In the end, the deceivers, Marmion and Constance, gained nothing by their deception and lost everything.
Rebekah wanted her son Jacob to get the birthright blessing due to Esau. So, she conspired with her son, Jacob, to deceive Isaac. The deception succeeded, but it caused the breakup of the family.
Lessons for Leaders
Three important lessons for leaders are readily apparent from Marmion and Jacob’s deception:
1) Fallen man is especially prone to deception. We rationalize the deception as a way to get what we want, or think is our due. Leaders guard your hearts and minds against the temptation to deceive as a short-cut to get what you want. Writing to young Timothy, Paul said, “Evil people and impostors will become worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:13).
2) Deception damages both the deceivers and the deceived. In every story of deception, people are hurt. If tempted to deceive others remember deception causes pain. Even if the deception is covered over by man, God knows our actions, “A false witness will not go unpunished, and whoever pours out lies will perish” (Proverbs 13:9).
3) There are consequences for those who hurt others through deception. Remember Jesus’ warning to those who hurt one of His children, “It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to stumble” (Luke 17:2).
Join the Conversation
As always, questions and comments are welcome. Why do you think deception occurs in the workplace? Do you know people in the workplace who have been hurt by deceptive practices or deceptive people? What happened?
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Category: Personal Development | Character
