Open: Today I want to talk about something that every one of us has in varying degrees & every one of us need more of. I want to talk today about credibility.
What is Credibility? Webster's says that it's, the quality or power of inspiring belief. capacity for belief -- Credibility is the quality of bring believable or trustworthy. Credibility is the reasonable grounds for being believed. One who is credible is trustworthy. We have confidence in a person's character and competence. You might use the word believability as a synonym. Whether we like or not we have to earn the right to be heard in this world. The more credible you are the more likely you will be able to influence others.
Credibility has a lot to do with reliability -- whether or not we can actually count on someone. It's trustworthiness. Let's say you have a friend that calls you and says "I really need to talk to you -- Can you meet me Friday morning?" Now Friday morning isn't all that convenient for you but there seems to be some sense of importance attached to this as you listen to the tone of their voice. So you agree. You make the effort to rearrange your Friday morning schedule and go to the designated meeting place and you wait. And you wait. And you wait. And your friend doesn't show. All right, things happen. You figure something must have come up and you go about the rest of your day. Three weeks later the same friend agrees to work with you on a community project. You're going to pick up discarded trash in town's public park. You agree to meet Thursday afternoon at 3:00 PM to get the task done. You show up and again you wait and you wait and wait. No show. No call. Later when you ask them about it they just blow it off and say, "Hey something else came up." What are you going to think the next time that same person says they'd like to get together with you? You're not going to believe them, right? Why? -- Because their actions show that their words are not reliable.
It is impossible to live a successful life without establishing a foundation of credibility.
Ill of going to get a car loan for the first time. My first car was a 1963 Ford Fairlane. I wasn't saved when I bought it -- but it was a holy car. By that I mean it had lots of holes in it every where you looked. I remember the day when I first went to the bank to get a loan for the car. I think the loan was for the amazing amount of $500.00. I filled out the application and gave it to the banker. He looked it over for a few moments and then said, "I'm sorry but I'm afraid we will not be able to loan you the five hundred dollars for your car." I asked why. He said, "You have not established financial credibility. In other words you have no credit history. Once you have a good credit history it will show us that you are a credible risk for us." "OK so how do I establish a credit history?" "You have to get a loan." How do I get a loan?" "You have to have a credible payment history on a loan." That was a little confusing to me at that time. But it was clear to me that having credibility was a fairly important issue for me. Credibility is not something you start with. No one starts out in life with credibility. It is something that you have to establish.
Not only can it take a long to establish -- but you have to fight to keep it. You don't realize the value of credibility until you don't have any. Success or failure in a person's life is determined by the issue of credibility. When there are discrepancies between words and action there is a credibility gap. When a person loses credibility -- what they've lost is the ability of others to trust them. Credibility is fragile quality in our lives. We are all familiar with the term "credibility gap." Originally it was coined in the 1960's to describe the discrepancy between a politician's public statements and the reality of what they actually did. The distance between spoken words and observable action is the credibility gap. So we can see that credibility is closely tied to honesty -- but it not just about telling the truth. Truthfulness is a big part of credibility but we can probably add another word that will help us to understand it real meaning: Dependability. In other word, am I a person that others can count on? If I say something, can other people count on me to follow through with what I say? Am I dependable? or do others always have that lingering thought "Is this really going to happen or not?"
Gaining credibility is like depositing money in the bank. In other words you aren't going to gain credibility w/o making some deposits. There's no mystery about credibility -- you have to earn it & accumulate it. It comes as a result of right decisions, wise choices, sound judgment, and sensible behavior. How can we make deposits into our credibility account? That's what James wants his congregation to understand.
Now, to really appreciate his teaching on this topic you have to first understand that back in his day, lying was so common that people resorted to very frequently using oaths or vows to try to convince people that "this time" they were really telling the truth. They would at different times in their conversations use different oaths in their speech patterns to really underline that this time they were really telling the truth. Maybe you've at times said "As God as my witness" or "I swear to God," "May God strike me with lightening if I'm lying." "I swear on a stack of Bibles that this is true." Or my particular favorite - "Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye." (Who comes up with this stuff?) Those are all oaths. Sometimes when we are asking our kids about something where we suspect that the whole truth might not be coming out - they will raise their right hand like they were taking an oath and say, "Mom - dad - I swear the teacher really didn't give us any homework tonight." That usually means that we need to ask a few more questions, right? Dishonesty is a very serious problem, and not just because it breaks one of the Ten Commandments. Dishonesty is a serious problem, because all relationships are built on trust, and trust cannot be built on a lie.
Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear--not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your "Yes" be yes and your "No" no or you will be condemned." (James 5:12)
Notice how James starts this verse. He starts by saying, "above all (things.)" Above what things? James has been teaching throughout his book what an authentic Christian faith looks like. And he's hit on a number of different topics. And all the topics are tied together with the issue of true authentic faith. That's the common thread that runs through the entire book. One author said the book of James is like a string of faith and what James does it add one beautiful pearl after another as he teaches us what real faith looks like. He says, "If you really have true authentic faith -- this is what it looks like." The problem that we face is that we've all learned how to become experts when it comes to lying. We've learned how to shuck and jive our way through just about every situation we face in life -- and hanging on to that kind of behavior can undermine everything else that we've learned in this book.
Our culture teaches us that it is acceptable and normal to lie. Our society is built on a framework of lies, leading one to wonder whether our social structure would survive if everyone were forced to speak the truth for even one day." I doubt that any of us go through even one day without someone lying to us. Even if we had a day in which we didn't interact with anyone. Chances are we lie to ourselves about something.
Why Do People Feel The Need To Lie?
* Self-Protection--first of all, people lie because they're afraid. We're motivated by fear and we want to protect ourselves. We're afraid that we're going to get in trouble. Or that we'll be rejected. Or that we'll be in the middle of a confrontation. Or we will hurt someone's feelings. Or we'll lose our job. We lie because we're afraid. One study I found asked the question, "If you were caught in a lie, would you lie again to get yourself out of it?" The vast majority of the people said "Yes"
* Self-Centeredness - secondly, people lie because they benefit from their lies. They lie because they are selfish or self-centered. It enables me to paint the image that I want others to have. We might get recognition, or a promotion, or a job, or a date, or a credit card, or sympathy. How many people lie on their income tax for that very reason? How many people call in sick when we really aren't? How many people willingly lie for their employer as long as it benefits them as well?
* Self-Importance - thirdly, people lie because of their pride. Somehow the lies of this kind feed our self-importance. Either we lie to save face, or to cover our mistakes, or to be liked, or to appear more important, or more successful than we really are. We have all kinds of reason to lie. The unredeemed believe that a lie works to personal advantage. We may lie because of fear or selfishness, or pride, but the truth is, when it comes right down to it, we lie because it is the easiest thing to do. I don't know if you've noticed this, but the wrong thing is always seems to be the easiest thing. Satan is always tempting us with the easy way. The way of least resistance is usually a slippery slop to sin. Eventually our lies will catch up with us and our integrity will suffer. C. S. Lewis once said, "A little lie is like a little pregnancy it doesn't take long before everyone knows."
Now that might be the way of the world but it is not the way of the Christian. So when it comes to keeping our word -- everyone one of us needs to have our brains reprogrammed. Jesus said, "I am the way the truth and the life." If we say we love him that we will certainly want to become like him. We will not use deception and manipulation to get what we want. There is no way any of us can establish and keep credibility in our lives if we continue to hang on to the old normal ways things are done in our culture.
The most difficult time to hold onto your credibility is those times when you are being pressured and tested.
Now catch the context here for a moment in the book of James. James has been addressing people who are being put down and taken advantage of by the aristocracy -- the wealthy. Their not paying their wages, they are abusing and even killing some of them. So last week we saw that James says to them, "Be patient" "Don't jump and react to quickly -- Don't grumble and complain -- Don't argue - Be patient. Keep in mind that Jesus is coming again soon and when he does he is going to settle accounts properly. Now you just persevere." They were under extreme pressure. Now at that point you would think he would say, "Now brothers and sisters -- above all -- you pray." Or "Above all -- trust in Christ" -- or "Above all dear brothers and sisters . . . fill in the blank" You would never imagine that he would say this. Why does he say this here?
When we face pressure we begin to rationalize why we need to start cutting corners. "I need to take the bull by the horns and do whatever seems right in my eyes" -- "who else is going to watch out for me if I don't watch out for myself?" "I have to do whatever seems right in my own eyes -- even if it involves compromising my word." We start to cheat and we start to lie and we start doing things that God has not really led us into, but we rationalize it by saying, "This is what I have to do, given my circumstances." And what we begin to do is compromise our credibility. And the primary issue when we do face pressure is whether or not we really trust God, right? We trust our decisions and our own wisdom rather than trusting God with patient perseverance.
Everyone here is familiar with Pinocchio, right? Pinocchio is a fictional character that first appeared in 1881. Carved from a piece of pine by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a small Italian village, he was created as a wooden puppet, but dreamt of becoming a real boy. Now Pinocchio had an unusual quality about him -- every time he told a lie, his nose grew longer. And throughout the story, every time he got under a little bit of stress, he told another lie.
YOU TUBE VIDEO HERE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ3lxzuI_sc)
"Remember that a little boy that won't be good, might just as well be made of wood." It's just a fairy tale -- but it's a good lesson. It's almost the same lesson the Bible is trying to teach us today. So when James says, "Above all" he's recognizing the potential that we all have to compromise under pressure and he's saying, "Don't do that!" If you begin to compromise your integrity -- your credibility as a witness for the Gospel and for Jesus Christ goes out the window. You can do everything else in this book -- you can be a doer and not just a hearer of the word -- you can control your tongue -- you can lean into the wisdom of God and not your own -- you can handle your money properly -- you can practice patience - you can do all those things perfectly and still loose your ability to impact your culture in a positive way you - you can still loose your credibility and integrity if you don't keep your word. What James is talking about is preeminent over everything else. It is the king that rules over everything else.
Compromising the truth is not something that is new to our culture. During Jesus' time on the earth lying was so common that people resorted to very frequently using oaths or vows to try to convince people that "this time" they were really telling the truth. They would at different times in their conversations use different oaths in their speech patterns to really underline that this time they were really telling the truth. Maybe you've at times said "As God as my witness" or "I swear to God," "May God strike me with lightening if I'm lying." "I swear on a stack of Bibles that this is true." Or my particular favorite - "Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye." (Who comes up with this stuff?) Those are all oaths. Sometimes when we are asking our kids about something where we suspect that the whole truth might not be coming out - they will raise their right hand like they were taking an oath and say, "Mom - Dad - I swear the teacher really didn't give us any homework tonight." When you hear that from your kid you know what you need to do right? Call the teacher.
Jesus addressed this kind of thing in the SOM: "Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one." (Matt. 5:33-37)
The people back in the first century created this very elaborate system that, in least in their own minds provided a means for them to lie, but at the same time maintain the appearance that they were telling the truth. This is what they said; they said "If we swear by God's name we are absolutely bound to be truthful -we all understand that. But - What if we swore by something less then God's name? Then we could be less then truthful - right?" So that's the game they started to play. Instead of swearing by God's name they would swear by heaven - or by the earth, or the temple, or the gold in the temple. (kind of like the child's game of making a promise with your fingers crossed -- They'd say, "no crossies" you'd look at them and uncross your fingers but cross your legs instead) They developed this formal formula for fraud. It was a crazy system. Every time you sign a contract with someone (like a credit card agreement "this contract is binding and you can not break it without express written permission....") Let me tell you what that is about; They want to protect themselves, but get you. And that's what they were trying to with this really weird system of theirs. They wanted to take oaths but at the same time provide a loophole for themselves.
Now what's the problem with all that? -- there is a lack of integrity in their heart. The distance between what they say and what they do -- the credibility gap -- is caused by their desire to remain liars. They want to keep the option of lying so they can protect themselves in some manner. Or find some loophole to wiggle out of a commitment. Now what Jesus and James is saying is this: that attitude of wanting to establish a loophole so that you can wiggle out of standing for your word - you think that works to your advantage but in reality it works against you. Because every time you find some loophole that rationalizes why you don't have to keep your word -- what you are loosing is your credibility.
Without Credibility We Have No Platform By Which We Can Share The Gospel
Without credibility we have no way of impacting our world. If Christ Followers aren't people who can be trusted to keep our word -- no matter what -- who will be? James is talking to people who are facing pressures unlike anything that you and I are ever likely to experience. They're being chased from their homes and killed and martyred - and he says to them -- Don't you buy into the old ways you used to live by -- don't you start to rationalize why you can tell a little fib here -- or color up a little story there or say you are going to follow through with a specific action but then start to say, "Oops -- had my fingers crossed -- didn't really mean it. Didn't know that was going to happen -- Something came up, so I don't really have to keep my word. I got a loophole." Don't rationalize things. Dump that whole system. You are called to be world changers and with credibility you forfeit your ability to accomplish your primary mission.
LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the LORD; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind;
(Psalm 15:1-4)
We don't look for loopholes when there is a bit of pressure or stress -- we keep our word. That's what establishes credibility.
CATCH THIS:
A Promise Is A Holy Thing,
no matter to whom you make it. Whether you make it to the chairman of the board of a corporation -- or to a child. We need to remember that there is no such thing as an insignificant promise. A promise is a holy thing, whether it is big or small. We need to not only refrain from telling lies--we also have to be men and women who keep our word. Our own integrity and the integrity of the church demand nothing less. Even when it is uncomfortable and even when it hurts -- we keep our vows.
Ill. of a friend calls you up and says, "Hey I need some help to move -- Could you help?" "Sure not problem -- what time?" "Sat. morning 9:00 AM" "I'll be there" Friday night comes and you get another phone call -- "Hey bud, I got tickets to the UConn basketball game -- right on the floor, midcourt - it's yours for free -- what to come?" You call your first friend up and say, "Listen I'd like to help out, but the kids got sick -- sorry." No credibility. If you say you're going to be there -- then be there -- even if it hurts to be there. That's what this verse says, right?
Let your "Yes" be yes and your "No" no
It's really that simple, isn't it? Let your yes always mean yes and your no always mean no. I hear people always talk about the good old days when a man's word was his bond. How deals were sealed on a handshake and that was good enough. In many cases it was. But ever since Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden, we have lived in a fallen world. And the reasons we have so much paperwork and contracts today is because people didn't always honor their word. You are to be a person of your word. And the only way to do that is to be intentional about it. Be purposeful about it. If you tell someone you're going to do something--do it. If you say you're going to be somewhere--be there. I think that this is something that many of us--including me--struggle with this morning. How many times have you told your kids, "I'll be at your game." And then something comes up at work and you can't make it. How many times have you told your husband or wife that you would help them do something, and then left them to do it by themselves--because of something more important? How many times have you committed to doing something at church or at home or at work and then not followed through with it? How many times have you made promises to yourself and not followed through with it? Be intentional. Let your yea be yea. What about when you say "no"? Do you mean it? When you tell your child or grandchild, "no", can they pester and pester until your "no" becomes a "yes"? When your buddies at work or the kids at school try to get you to do something you know you shouldn't do--does your no mean no? Or do you give in to the pressure? Be intentional. Let your nay be nay. If you say you're going to do something--do it. If you say you're not going to do something--don't do it.
"Or you will be condemned."
Now that seems a bit harsh doesn't it? "I'll be condemned?" Why would he say something like that? He's not talking about discipline. (God will spank you if you do this") The word condemned is the word (krisis) We get the word crisis from it. This word as it is used in the Bible never once speaks of discipline for a believer but every single time speaks of condemnation --as in going to hell. That's pretty heavy, isn't it? Does that mean if I violate this command, I go to hell?
Now listen: What you say does not save you, but once you are saved- what you say, changes.
What does that mean? When I've come to know Jesus authentically -- when my faith is genuine -- everything changes. When Jesus comes into a person's life he changes his heart -- he changes what is on the inside. If the heart is changed, thoughts change -- actions change, my speech patterns change -- everything changes. God immediately begins to change everything about you to conform you to His Son Jesus Christ. "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters." (Romans 8:29) God's whole goal in your life is to make you look like Jesus Christ.
Now look at how Jesus talks to the Pharisees -- who had no real relationship with God:You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44)
Satan is a liar and the father of lies. So why is credibility so important? Because when we do things to destroy our credibility - Things like lying and deceiving and not following through on our commitments - When we do those things, we are acting as if we are of the devil. And I've got news for you. If your life is marked by a continual pattern of a lack of integrity - you need to check your heart. Because that is an indication you are of your father the devil. If Satan is the father of lies, and you consistently lie like he does, then odds are, he's your father. And if he's your father, you have fallen into condemnation.
Sensitize yourself daily to the horrors of deception.
You need to convince yourself daily that God hates the lack of credibility. Every day when you wake up you need to remind yourself that you are going to face a battle to keep your credibility. Everything about the culture we live in is designed to cause you to want to compromise.
Don't take the promises you make lightly.
Mean what you say and say what you mean. Even if it hurts. Become a person that follows through with your commitments. If you say you are going to be somewhere -- then be there. If you make a promise than keep it.
If Your Credibility Has Been Compromised - Own your sin and repent.
In fact the more that you do this, the more credibility you will have. IF you are talking to someone and midstream you realize that you are not quite telling the whole truth -- you're not exactly lying, but you're not exactly telling the whole truth. Just stop and correct yourself. Straiten it out. Don't let that incomplete false impression settle in the other person's mind. It's OK to correct yourself -
Today more then ever, we have to let our "Yes" be yes and our "No" be no.
