March 16, 2003: Tell The Truth

Be honest, all the time, about everything.

The following stories are true, and they all involve Christians. I've changed their names.

- Heather told a potential employer that, since she was making $11 an hour, they would need to offer her at least $13 to entice her to change jobs. But she was really only making $9.50.

- Alice went to a funeral and was embarrassed that her grown children did not attend. So she signed their names on the guest register. They received thank-you notes from the bereaved.

- Ed needed to run an errand, but did not think his boss would give him time off for it. So he planned to tell him that he had to take his wife to the doctor.

- Wilma was asked by people who wanted to buy her house what her heating bill usually came to. She gave a figure that was low by $100.

I'm afraid I could go on with many more examples. The lies are troubling enough, but what really knocks me off my feet is that Christians report their fabrications to me without a shred of guilt, without any indication that they need to repent. They would do it again, and it seems they assume that I approve or that I would even do it myself. Well I wouldn’t. And I don't approve. It is wrong to lie.

The Bible says, "Do not lie to each other" (Colossians 3:9). In Matthew 5:33-37 and 23:16-22, Jesus rebuked people who thought they only had to tell the truth when they were under a carefully crafted oath. He said, "Let your 'Yes' be 'Yes' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one." Lies are of the devil. In John 8:44, Jesus calls Satan "a liar and the father of lies."

Several years ago a church officer told me what he thought was a really funny story. His mother called in sick to work so that she could go to a Cubs' game. She sat in the bleachers and got sunburned, and then had to scramble to explain at work the next day why she was so red. Ha ha. Later, when this church leader was slandering me with malicious falsehoods, I remembered the story he told about his mother and thought, "Of course! It all fits. His mother raised him to lie." He had learned on his mother's knee that lying was just something you did to get what you wanted - whether that was an afternoon at the ballpark or a pastor out the door of your church.

Don't lie. Ever.