At midnight, one spring evening in 1987, a terrible thing happened: Seven million American children suddenly disappeared. No, it wasn’t a mass kidnapping or a serial killer. It was the IRS. They had changed a rule for the night of April 15, which for the first time required a Social Security number for every dependent child listed on form 1040. Suddenly, seven million children – children who had been claimed as exemptions on the previous year's 1040 forms – vanished, representing about one in ten of all dependent children in the United States. (Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, Freakonomics, HarperCollins, 2005, p. 21)
Ooops! A rule change caught a lot of people in a lie, but does it really matter? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Exodus 20, Exodus 20, where God shows us what really matters.
A new nation is being established on Mt. Sinai, where God establishes the principles for a strong, healthy society. We recognize them as the 10 commandments, but they are foundational principles for all healthy relationships. This morning, we are looking at the 9th commandment.
Exodus 20:16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
The situation here is a court of law where a witness is called upon to testify about what he saw a neighbor do. In that case, the witness is called upon to refrain from any groundless or false accusations. I.e., he must not make any statements that are not based on fact. The integrity of our court system depends on witnesses who in fact “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”
But God doesn’t want us to limit our honesty to the courtroom. Whether we’re under oath or not, God wants us to always…
TELL THE TRUTH.
God wants us to be honest; or as Jesus put it, “Let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no.”
A couple of years ago, I shared some research Dan Ariely conducted to try and understand why some people lie, cheat, and steal. Ariely and his team went to college campuses and offered to pay students for every math puzzle they could solve in five minutes. At the end of the five minutes, the students were asked to grade their own papers and shred them in the back of the room. Then the students stood in line and received money for every right answer. But the students didn't know that the shredder didn't actually shred their papers so the researchers could check to see if they were telling the truth. Ariely found that, on average, students reported solving six problems, when in fact they solved only four.
Over the course of their research, after testing 30,000 people, Ariely found only 12 “big cheaters,” compared to 18,000 “small cheaters.” The big cheaters stole a total of $150, while the small cheaters stole around $36,000 – just one or two dollars at a time. Ariely did this research project all over the world – in the United States, Western Europe, Turkey, Israel, China, and many other countries – and the results were always roughly the same.
Ariely concluded that most dishonesty happens among ordinary people who think of themselves as basically honest. But when added together, all this "little" dishonesty has a huge impact. Most of the problems faced by the human race are not rooted in the lives of outliers and psychopaths – life’s big cheaters. Our problems are rooted in the lives of typical, ordinary people who find ways to rationalize their own bad behavior. In other words, we want to think of ourselves as honest people while enjoying the benefits of dishonesty. (Adapted from Tim Suttle, Shrink, Zondervan, 2014, pp. 114-115; www.PreachingToday.com)
It is not life’s “big cheaters” who cause the most trouble – the criminals and psychopaths, no. It is typical, ordinary people, who find ways to rationalize their own bad behavior. It’s the “little cheaters” who in the long run cause the most damage. Telling the truth is very important even in the small matters. Exodus 20:16 is very clear: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
But why? Why is telling the truth so important? Well, let’s look at Ephesians 4, Ephesians 4, where we have the New Testament commentary on this commandment.
Ephesians 4:25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
Why do we speak the truth? Because we belong to one another as believers in Christ. When Christ saved us, His cross broke down the barriers that once separated us and brought us together in One Body, called the church.
Now through His power, Christ wants us to maintain that “unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” That’s what this whole chapter is all about according to Ephesians 4:3. It starts with the general admonition to live worthy of your calling in Christ by maintaining unity He purchased so dearly on the cross. Then as the chapter progresses, it gets more and more specific until you come to the detailed admonitions at the end: “Put away falsehood” and “speak the truth” (vs.25); “Be angry and do not sin” (vs.26); “Don’t steal, but labor” (vs.28); ending with “Be kind to one another, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
These are specific ways to “maintain the unity of the Spirit it the bond of peace”, and they start with truth and end with love. Truth is the foundation for all healthy relationships, without which there can be no real love.
So if you want to bring people together, speak the truth. Be honest and strengthen your connections.
TELL THE TRUTH AND HEAL BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS.
(illus.) Mike Krzyewski, the men's basketball coach for Duke University since 1980, is basketball's all-time winningest coach. Most people know him as just "Coach K." But he's not just a coach; he's also a genius at creating teamwork. Here's one of his keys to success:
“In our program, the truth is the basis of all that we do. There is nothing more important than the truth because there's nothing more powerful than the truth. Consequently, on our team, we always tell one another the truth. We must be honest with one another. There is no other way. (Diedra Riggs, “We're All in This Together: Teamwork and Unity,” The High Calling, 9-27-15; www.PreachingToday.com)
That’s because honesty is the key to bringing a team together, so they can win! Honesty preserves unity. Telling the truth brings people together, instead of tearing them apart.
When the father of the great Emmanuel Kant was an old man, he made a dangerous trip through the forests of Poland to his native country of Silesia. On the way, he met up with some robbers who demanded all his valuables. At the end of the ordeal, they asked him, “Have you given us all?” and they let him go only when he answered, “All.”
Then, when Mr. Kant was safely out of their sight, his hand touched something hard in the hem of his robe. It was his gold, sewn there for safety, which he quite forgot in all his fear and confusion.
At once, he hurried back to find the robbers, and having found them, he said meekly, “I have told you what was not true; it was unintentional. I was too terrified to think. Here, take the gold in my robes.”
Then to the old man’s astonishment, nobody offered to take his gold. After a moment, one robber went and brought back his purse. Another robber restored his book of prayer, while still another led his horse to him and helped him to mount. They then all asked for his blessing and watched him slowly ride away. That day, truth triumphed over thievery. (Darren McCormick, www.SermonCentral.com)
It’s amazing what the truth will do to our relationships! Now, I can’t guarantee that the results will always be this dramatic and quick. But I can guarantee that the truth will do more to heal our relationships than any lie ever will.
Why is it important to tell the truth? Because we are members of one another. So tell the truth and heal broken relationships. More than that…
TELL THE TRUTH AND HONOR CHRIST.
Be honest and bring glory to our Lord and Savior. Speak the truth and make Jesus look good before a watching world.
Look at verse 15. Ephesians 4:15 says, “Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the Head, into Christ.”
In other words, when we are honest with each other, our church grows up to become strong and healthy, reflecting the faithfulness and integrity of Christ. When we, as followers of Christ, are honest in all our dealings, it reflects well on Christ and all of his followers. But when we are dishonest, we bring dishonor to Christ and His church.
In 31 years of ministry, thankfully there were only a few times when someone in the community told me, “I’ll never come to your church because so-and-so is a member there. He’s a hypocrite. He cheated me in business or he promised me something and didn’t follow through.”
You see, that church member’s behavior reflected poorly on the church. But worse than that, it kept some from trusting Christ as their Savior, for as one person said, “if that’s what Christianity is all about, I get better treatment from my drinking buddies at the bar.”
Dear friends, the way we do business, or the way we interact with people in this community, reflects positively or negatively on Christ and His church. We can’t be a “good Christian” on Sunday, and be dishonest in our dealings with people Monday through Friday. It just doesn’t work. Our Christianity has to follow us throughout the week; otherwise it is no Christianity at all, and it discredits everything we’re trying to do here at Faith Bible Church. It discredits our message that Jesus Christ is worth living for.
Several years ago (2004), Golfer Chelsee Richard, of Bloomingdale High School in Brandon, Florida, lost her chance to win the state championship – by being honest. In the qualifier for the state finals, Chelsee hit her tee shot on the second hole into the rough. Without knowing it, she played another golfer's ball out of the rough and finished the hole. On the third hole, she realized what she had done. The rule is that a golfer must declare the wrong ball penalty before putting on the hole where the infraction occurred, or be disqualified.
Drawing strength from her favorite Bible verse, Philippians 4:13, Chelsee reported her error, a painful ending to her senior season and her dream of going to state. She later said: “With my faith and with God, being honest was the most important thing to me, and that's what is going to advance on throughout my life, being honest and making the right choices.” (www.OfftheFringes.com newsletter, November, 2004; www.PreachingToday.com)
That young lady not only did herself a favor in the long run. Her honesty spoke very well of her Christian faith and the Lord she serves.
So tell the truth. Tell the truth and heal broken relationships. Tell the truth and honor Christ. And finally…
TELL THE TRUTH AND HELP YOURSELF.
Be honest and gain credibility. Speak the truth and earn the respect of others.
You see, dishonesty destroys your credibility and always comes back to haunt you. If you will, turn with me please to Deuteronomy 19, Deuteronomy 19, where the penalty for being a false witness is described.
Deuteronomy 19:16-19 “If a malicious witness comes forward and accuses someone of a crime, then both the accuser and accused must appear before the LORD by coming to the priests and judges in office at that time. The judges must investigate the case thoroughly. If the accuser has brought false charges against his fellow Israelite, you must impose on the accuser the sentence he intended for the other person. In this way, you will purge such evil from among you. (ESV)
Here, God makes it very clear that a false witness is to get the same penalty he hoped to have inflicted upon the accused.
Flywheel is a film about Jay, a Christian used-car salesman who has been grossly overcharging his customers. In one scene, he manipulates the sale of a car to his pastor.
The pastor is looking at a Camry, which the dealership has listed in its files at $6,500. He wants to buy the car for his daughter, Lindsay. So Jay tells his pastor, “I've got $8,500 in this car. If you want, I'll give it to you for $9,000.”
Thinking it over, the Reverend decides to take it for a test drive. A later scene shows Jay's pastor signing on the dotted line, buying the Camry for $9,000. The pastor says to Jay, “Thanks. You've treated me so well today. I would like to do something for you. I'd like to pray and ask God to bless you and your business.”
Then he puts his hand on Jay's shoulder, and says, “Lord, today I come before you and thank you for this day. I thank you for Jay and his business. I thank you for the car for Lindsay, and I ask that you protect her and give her grace as she drives this car. And Lord, I ask that you treat Jay just like he treated me today in this deal. In your name I pray, Lord, Amen.” (Flywheel, Sherwood Pictures, 2003, directed and written by Alex Kendrick)
How would you like it if God treated you the same way you have treated others? But that’s a principle of life: You reap what you sow. If you sow dishonesty, you reap being discredited; you reap personal destruction.
If you are consistently late on our payments, if you don’t follow through on your commitments, if you lie in these and other ways, then people learn not to trust you, and they stop doing business with you.
Dishonesty discredits you, but honesty gives you real credibility. It really does help you in the long-run.
In northeast Kansas, a friend of mine (Allen Tollefson) built a very successful construction company on one simple principle: “Don’t promise what you can’t deliver, and always deliver what you promise.” In the early days, he and his wife were living in the basement of their unfinished home. Today, they live in a very beautiful home, and he has construction contracts all across the country.
That’s because he built his company on the principle of basic honesty, and people appreciated that very much! When he said a job was going to be done by such-and-such a date, he didn’t go one day over. Early on, there were some very late nights and long days, and sometimes he completed jobs on time to his own hurt, because he had to pay overtime wages to his workers. But then he learned not to make promises he couldn’t keep, and he made sure he kept every promise.
It’s basic honesty, and in the long-run it paid off handsomely.
Joel Prusak was an employee at Dairy Queen, serving customers, when one day he noticed that a blind man had dropped a twenty-dollar bill on the floor. A lady standing in line quietly bent down and put the twenty dollars into her own pocket. Young Joey Prusak approached the lady, asking her to give the twenty-dollar bill back to the blind man. She refused, quite aggressively, claiming it was her own. And then Joey did something very generous. Quietly, he opened up his own wallet and handed the blind man a twenty-dollar bill of his own. The man took the money gratefully, and Joey continued serving customers.
A customer in line observed the whole episode and sent an e-mail to the Dairy Queen management, telling them of Joey's generosity. The DQ management wrote a post about it on Facebook, and the post went viral. A couple of days later, Joey received a call from the billionaire Warren Buffet, a big investor in Dairy Queen. He thanked Joey for showing such integrity and asked him to come to the next Dairy Queen investors' meeting.
There, the report of Joey’s integrity inspired thousands of people to believe that their small acts of integrity and generosity could impact the world for good. His small act had a huge impact, and God can do the same through you! He can take your small acts of integrity or kindness multiply them for His glory and your good. You don't have wait until you can do big things to be used of God. (Ken Costa, Know Your Why, Thomas Nelson, 2016; www.PreachingToday.com)
Just start small. This week, with God’s help, just tell the truth! Tell the truth and heal broken relationships. Tell the truth and honor Christ. Tell the truth and help yourself.
