So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Ephesians 4:25 (NRSV) [1]
You have probably never seen a more purely uncomplicated presentation of the Gospel than the scene we’re about to watch. In Disney’s 1940 animated film “Pinocchio” the heart of Geppetto longs for the relationship of a son.
Whether intended by Disney (or not), Geppetto is a fair analogy for the Father, Creator. He is a maker of toys, and the strong desire in his heart for a child causes the Blue Fairy (representing the Spirit?) to animate one of Geppetto’s creations, a wooden puppet named Pinocchio. But the little wooden toy is not a real son, only a toy who, by the end of the story, would become a real, live boy. The end of the story does indeed have Pinocchio becoming a real live boy, a true son of the father, Geppetto, but not before giving-in to temptation and needing forgiveness! How very much like the real Heavenly Father’s children!
--- Pinocchio video clip --- [2]
Pinocchio’s lies have trapped him in the cage of his disobedience (the bondage of sin). He is lying to the Blue Fairy to cover his lies; but they just keep tumbling out of his little wooden mouth – and they’re growing (along with the length of his nose!). His little friend Jiminy Cricket (Jesus Christ the Savior?) appeals to the Blue Fairy: …give him another chance…for my sake? The forgiveness Pinocchio receives wasn’t earned – it was grace! That’s the Gospel!
Now this analogy with Pinocchio representing you and me, and Jiminy as Jesus, has holes in it (as do most analogies). The chief hole is that Pinocchio wasn’t repentant; he wasn’t really heartbroken over his sinful lying – realizing how he’d broken Geppetto’s heart and desiring to be reconciled. Pinocchio is sorry he’s in the cage and he regrets his nose weighs three-hundred pounds! He has regret, but no remorse – which is the chief difference between selfishness and worship.
It is said that art (or cartoons in Pinocchio’s case) reflects the culture. Who could deny that even after receiving forgiveness, and promising never to lie again, Pinocchio still had problems telling the truth? And we do too.
We can get downright self-righteous about it all. Like the time the accountant made a mistake and Harry got an extra $20 on payday; he didn’t say a word. During the week the accountant caught his mistake and deducted the twenty bucks from the following week’s paycheck.
Harry ran to the office, “Hey, I’m twenty bucks short here.”
The accountant said, “You didn’t complain last week.”
“Well,” said Harry, “I don’t mind overlooking a mistake…but when it happens twice, then it’s time to speak-up!”
Why Is Truth So Important?
There are two foundational reasons (beside that sticky one in Exodus 20 about bearing false witness! ):
The first is that Christian fellowship is at stake. Paul had to remind the folks at Ephesus to keep truth a high priority. We also have to be reminded, because anything less than truth loosens the bonds that tie us together as the children of God. Paul said we’re “members” of each other. The word is “melos” () and means “limbs”. Falsehood makes the tendons and joints come unglued – pulls the body apart. Truth is the very nature of God; falsehood opposes God.
When Jesus was dealing with the religious leaders (Pharisees) who were looking for some premise to accuse him, the debate came down to Jesus “laying it on the line”…he reminded them of the separation between truth and falsehood:
You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44 (NRSV)
The second reason why truth is so important is that it has implications for eternity, not just here on earth; Heaven is also at stake. Jesus said so! He told our good friend John to write these words about the division between heaven and eternal punishment:
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”Revelation 21:8 (NRSV)
The point should be made that one lie can make you a sinner, but that doesn’t mean that a momentary lapse into a lie will keep a Christian from Heaven. The use of the word in many places in scripture, and the context indicate an habitual commitment to lying – a lifestyle of lying.
It’s like fruit trees; an apple tree produces apples habitually…it is an apple tree! The fruit which a tree bears reveals its nature – bearing fruit does not change its nature. An habitual liar is not a changed, regenerate child of God – his nature is still the old self. Now, when an apple tree produces a grapefruit – THAT indicates something unusual going on! It usually means something alien to the tree’s nature has been grafted-into the tree to change its fruit-bearing. With a human being, we produce falsehood because that is our sinful nature. But a child of God who has been transformed, born-again from above, we have received the Holy Spirit, and that changes what we produce.
For a person to be an habitual liar, or something else in John’s list (habitual fornicator, murderer, drug dealing), indicates there has been no transformation of nature – it does not matter what religious rituals you have undergone, the nature tells all by what fruit it bears! And that nature will decide where you spend eternity.
And, while we’re at it, let’s recall that YOU cannot change that nature – it requires repentance, the kind of genuine sorrow and heartbrokenness for your sin…laid bare before Jesus, trusting him and his death on the cross for you to receive the forgiveness of God. Only God can give you the nature that produces truth!
How Shall We Live?
The lectionary text for today is so connected to the transfiguration – a time when Jesus stood and became transparent so that the disciples saw his glory – nothing but transparent eternal verity – the Word had become flesh, now the flesh became the very epitome of truth…nothing held back! The disciples saw Jesus’ glory and that changed James, John and Peter – transformed them to the core – and they were willing to die for Jesus.
Paul would later write about what that kind of transformation produces in daily living:
We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God. 2 Corinthians 4:2
What Paul describes is “life in the light”. He lived what Jesus said on the hillside one afternoon –
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16 (NRSV)
Some Plain Talk
We all have the temptation to do damage to truth. A farmer took his horse to see the vet. He said, “This plow horse is driving me crazy; one day he limps, the next day he doesn’t – what should I do?”
The vet told him, “On the day he doesn’t limp – sell him!”
We can’t live like that because heaven and our relationships here on earth are at stake; we must live in the light of truth!
It’s much more than just our words:
• If you cheat at school or on your taxes, or in your relationship with a spouse, you’re not living in light, you’re flirting with the habitual side of Satan the liar, who is still winning the character war in your soul!
• If you gossip and slander others with your words, you are living just like your father, Satan.
• If you are prone to exaggeration or flattery, you are losing the war for light in your life.
Paul says STOP RIGHT THERE – You strip-off that falsehood like you would peel-off a dirty old shirt – lay it aside and put on the garment of truth!
It’s Hard To Do That!
Is it ever! There are obstacles that will pop up to convince you that it’s too hard to live with just the truth. Popular televangelist and apologist John MacArthur writes about this text:
Our society today is so dependent on lying that if it suddenly turned to telling the truth our way of life would collapse. If world leaders began speaking only the truth, World War III would certainly ensue. So many lies are piled on other lies, and so many organizations, businesses, economies, social orders, governments, and treaties are built on those lies that the world system would disintegrate if lying suddenly ceased. Resentment and animosity would know no bounds, and the confusion would be unimaginable. [3]
The problem with worrying about the fallout of just living in truth is that it isn’t our job. God is in charge! He told us to live in truth; if that damages our relationships, jobs, friendships or the entire world, it is God who will address it. Our job is to live it – not solve every difficulty with how truth fits in God’s plan for the ages. We simply trust and live in truth – He fits it all together!
To Begin
If your heart is resonating here, please remember that it is difficult to graft truth into a lying tree. It takes time and it takes God’s touch. He is the master gardener who desires “truth fruit” in you.
Pinocchio wanted to be a real boy – alive in every sense, like the Velveteen Rabbit wanted to be real. But Pinocchio did the very opposite – he lied; he worked against life with his falsehood. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life. Truth leads to life; Lies lead to death.
To begin means you must start…somewhere. It means making a commitment to God that you desire truth, and that starts on the inside before anything on the outside can become a reality. You may have to start small, with the little things – after all, character is a matter of living in truth even when nobody’s looking.
It begins with asking yourself the question – Why not tell the truth?
And then deciding if you’re happy with the answer you got…on the inside!
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ENDNOTES
1] All Scripture quotations are NRSV unless otherwise noted
2] Walt Disney Pictures, 1940, used by permission, WingClips.com
3] MacArthur's New Testament Commentary: Ephesians © 1986 Moody Bible Institute, Chicago
