A minister was making his rounds in his small town when he saw, down one side road, a group of young boys standing around a dog. Worried that the boys might be teasing the pooch, he walked over and asked them what was going on.

One boy said, “This dog’s a stray. We all want to adopt him, but only one can, so we’re having a contest: Whoever tells the biggest lie gets to keep him.”

Needless to say, the minister was appalled. “That’s a terrible contest to have—the biggest lie,” he chided. He then launched into a spontaneous sermon about lying. “Don’t you boys know that lying is a sin?” he asked. Ten minutes later he concluded with, “In my entire life, I’ve never told a lie.”

The boys stood in silence, looking at one another. The minister knew he had made his point. He was just about to turn and walk away when the youngest boy said, “OK, Reverend. You win. You get to keep him.”