We are dealing with a topic today which is a struggle for all of us. If we are truthful, we will admit that not lying can be a problem. There is the fib, the white lie, the half-truth, the clever deception, misleading information, stretching the truth, exaggeration. Who has not been startled to hear yourself say something that is an exaggeration without even thinking about it. It is not that you began the conversation with the intention of saying something that was not quite true, but before you knew it you found yourself embellishing a story. Are you honest about your age? Have you been thoroughly honest with your taxes? Have you ever been dishonest about the time you claimed you worked, or not given an honest day’s work for an honest day’s wage? Have you ever cheated on a test? Have you ever lied to get out of trouble? Have you ever complimented someone when you didn’t mean it? Have you ever kept silent when you should have told the truth? Made yourself appear better than you are? Lied to gain an advantage or get your way? Misled someone to save face?
Jim Carey’s film, Liar Liar, explores how difficult it is to always tell the truth. Because of a wish his son makes, he finds that he is unable to lie at all. The film takes you through a typical day in his life and what it was like for him to always tell what was sometimes the excruciating truth. The Ninth Commandment prohibits giving false testimony against one’s neighbor, and commands that we be truthful. Just think of how different the world would be if everyone kept just this one commandment You could always trust everything anyone said. You would not have to have expensive legal agreements and contracts. The courtrooms would be radically changed and cases would be quickly settled, because the guilty would admit their guilt, and we could trust those who would say that they were not guilty. All salespeople would tell you the truth about their product, and people who return things to stores would always be truthful. You could always believe your spouse or your kids when they tell you where they have been. There would be no divorce, because everyone would keep their promise: “to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, according to God’s holy law; and thereto I pledge you my faith.” All of this would be different because one simple command of God was kept.
But Jesus does not excuse our lack of truthfulness just because it is hard to be truthful, or because we might get into trouble. He commands that we be truthful, and when we have not, we need to correct the false impression we have given. But honesty is not just about the words we speak, it is about the person we are. As I have tried to think carefully about this passage, there are three attributes of inner character that I believe are involved. The first is: Simplicity. Jesus said: “Keep it simple. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” Why did Jesus say that anything beyond this comes from the evil one? Because as he was speaking to a group of hypocritical religious leaders of his day, he said to them: “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). So when we lie we are speaking the devil’s language and becoming like him.
I remember when I was a kid that when my sister and I had an argument about something and she wanted to exact the truth from me, she would start out by saying, “Rod, really, did you do that?” And then if she was not satisfied with my answer, she would say, “Do you swear?” When I would answer at that level, she gave the real test of honesty: “Honest to God?” That’s when I knew I could not avoid the truth any longer. Or maybe you would take this oath as a child: “Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye ” (Of course, if you had your fingers crossed it didn’t mean anything.)
But we do the same as adults. We say, “I swear by all that’s holy ”, or “As God is my witness ” When we go to court we are asked to place our hand on the Bible and swear that we will “tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” But the reality is that taking that kind of oath will not make a dishonest person any more likely to tell the truth, and the lack of an oath will not make an honest person any less likely to tell a lie. This statement of Jesus is not an injunction against taking a required oath in court, rather a command to keep our lives free from elaborate oaths and schemes to assure others that we are indeed telling the truth. Live simply. Speak simply. Speak the simple truth. If you are a person who has an honest character then you will not need to swear or promise to make others believe you. Your character will be your oath. The Essenes, a Jewish sect that existed at the time of Christ, avoided taking oaths, because they said, “One who is not believed without an appeal to God stands condemned already.”
Jesus was referring to a very complex and elaborate system of oath taking that had developed in his day. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary explains, “The Mosaic law forbade irreverent oaths, light use of the Lord’s name, broken vows. Once Yahweh’s name was invoked, the vow to which it was attached became a debt that had to be paid to the Lord. . . A sophisticated casuistry judged how binding an oath really was by examining how closely it was related to Yahweh’s name. Incredible distinctions proliferate under such an approach. Swearing by heaven and earth was not binding, nor was swearing by Jerusalem, though swearing toward Jerusalem was. That an entire mishnaic tract is given over to the subject shows that such distinctions became important and were widely discussed.”
Jesus said to these oath takers: “Woe to you, blind guides You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind men Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it” (Matthew 23:16-22). This is why Jesus said that we were not to swear at all. If you do not swear, you cannot swear falsely. Keep it simple, let your words few. The book of Ecclesiastes says, “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words” (Ecclesiastes 5:2-3).
We live in an age where we have more legal documents and contracts which mean less than at any other time in history. It used to be that agreements were sealed with a handshake, and they were far more binding than the reams of paper generated by the legal experts we have today. We used to say, “A person’s word is as good as his bond.” But now we have prenuptial agreements, sales agreements, employee contracts and many other legal documents which are only as good as the character of the people who sign them. Do you really think that the blue-eyed, 34-year-old Slovenian fashion model named Melania Knauss, who signed a prenup and married Donald Trump, was honest when she promised to stay with him in sickness and in health, and for richer or poorer? Did she marry him because of he had great hair? Do you think he gave her a 1.5 million dollar ring and a $200,000 dress because he loved her mind? Would they be at all honest about their real motives? Will they keep their vows any more this time than the other times? It is interesting that Jesus links his teaching on honesty with his teaching on divorce. Marriage is the highest commitment that we make outside of our commitment to God. It is the place where honesty is more important than at any other time in our lives. Let the “I do” mean “I do.” Say what you mean and mean what you say, and keep it simple.
The second character attribute involved in honesty is: Transparency. Transparency is defined in the Merriam Webster Dictionary as, “a: Free from pretense or deceit: Frank; b: easily detected or seen through: Obvious; c: readily understood; d: characterized by visibility or accessibility of information especially concerning business practices.” This attribute is very closely related to humility. You do not have to pretend to be something you are not. What you see is what you get. I had a relative who dominated every conversation he was in, and talked loudly so everyone could hear him. He would never tire of telling stories that made him appear to something more than he was. He gave the impression that he knew everything about everything. It was tragic really, because the other family members did all they could to avoid him. When someone did become his victim you could see the anguish on his or her face. He was not transparent, he was all facade.
I remember when I saw a program showing how they used to film Gunsmoke, one of my favorite TV shows as a kid. I learned that Dodge City was really just a place in the middle of nowhere not even close to the real one. There was no Longbranch Saloon, no stores or jail, it was all front with nothing behind it — a facade, a wooden structure that only made it look like a city on television. If you looked through the door you would only see more of the prairie. Kittie, Doc Adams, Chester, Festus and Marshal Dillon were sitting on a set somewhere, not the Longbranch where you thought they were. The Gunsmoke set is like many people. They only have a front with nothing behind it. They are all facade. That is why they cannot afford to be transparent — people would see right through them.
But an important part of the Christian life is the development of something behind the facade. It is the growth of character, and a spiritual life that supports who we are. Only when we really come to Christ and have a relationship with God do we begin to have substance. We are not just keeping up appearances, we are developing a quality of character. Being a Christian means being real. The Bible says, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:5-7). You have to walk in the light if you are going to be transparent.
Honesty means that we let people in on who we are — even if it means showing that we are less than perfect. Even if it means admitting that we have problems, or that we are broken in some places. The city might still be under construction, but at least it is a real city. Honesty brings a freedom to our lives because we are free to be transparent. We are free to let other people in. We have the freedom that humility brings, because we no longer have to pretend.
If there is a light burning inside, you need to let it shine. Jesus said, “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open” (Luke 8:16-17). Christians know that it is okay to be transparent and open with others, because they have been open and transparent with God and experienced full acceptance. It is that acceptance that gives them the courage and freedom to be open with others, even if they are not totally accepted. They have been forgiven and accepted by the most important person in the universe, and it has freed them to be who they are. They also know that there is no use hiding anything since everything will be exposed in the end. It is their motivation to keep their lives free from dishonesty and moral compromise.
The third character attribute involved in honesty is: Integrity. Honesty is what you do, but integrity is who you are. Integrity comes from the word meaning entire or whole. It means that you are not going two ways at once. You are not duplicitous — living a double life. When I was young, we lived in what was called a duplex. A duplex was a house that was a two family dwelling. It was one, yet two. If you went into one side you met one kind of people, and if you went into the other side you met another kind of people. Some people’s lives are like that duplex. You go in one side and meet one person, and if you go in the other side you meet another person entirely. Sometimes they don’t even know who they really are. They don’t have integrity; they are living in a duplex.
Jesus calls us to be one person. Unfortunately we live in a culture where people expect to be lied to. Does anyone really expect Michael Jackson or Martha Stewart or the Enron executives to tell the truth? They keep two sets of books. They have a public and a private persona. You almost never hear a person plead “guilty” in court. Although it did happen recently— if only briefly. Dan Leach made national headlines when he confessed to murdering his girlfriend, Ashley Nichole Wilson. He had gone to see Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion of The Christ. After seeing the movie, Leach felt enormous remorse for what he had done. He had gotten away with killing Ashley Wilson, because her death had been ruled a suicide. But Leach went to the police and admitted to strangling her because she claimed to be pregnant with his child, and he did not want the responsibility. He had killed her and somehow avoided suspicion, until he turned himself in. But the surprises did not end there. On May 3, 2004, Leach shocked everyone by changing his plea from “guilty” to “not guilty.” His attorney, Ralph Gonzalez, explained that he told Leach that if he pleaded not guilty he would not represent him. Gonzalez said, “If I entered a plea of guilty, I waive several valuable rights that I’m not prepared to do for my client at this time.” The problem is that we are more interested in our rights than our integrity.
We live in a culture where denial is the norm. But there is another culture that is growing within the present world culture where truth reigns. It is the kingdom of God. It is the place where Jesus says, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). The Christian life is not merely a set of beliefs or moral values. The Christian life is a way of living. It is a way of knowing the truth, being set free by the truth and living by the truth. There are many today who live in a prison of lies. One lie leads to another, and to another and to another. Very soon the person who told the lie becomes unable to recognize the truth any longer. When we come into contact with Jesus, we come into contact with the truth. Jesus says to you, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). He does not just speak the truth, he IS the Truth. The Bible says, “The man who says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4). Again it says, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God” (John 3:19-21).
Our culture says that truth is whatever you sincerely believe, but you can sincerely believe in something and be sincerely wrong. Cynics like Pilate ask, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). But there is truth and your life needs to be lived in the truth. But in order to do that you need simplicity, transparency and integrity.
William Sloane Coffin, in his book A Passion for the Possible: A Message to U.S. Churches writes, “Of all Michelangelo’s powerful figures, none is more poignant than the man in the Last Judgment being dragged down to hell by demons, one hand over one eye and in the other a look of dire recognition. He understood, but too late. It’s a familiar story, isn’t it? Rarely do we see the truth that stares us in the face until it HITS us in the face. . . . Michelangelo was right: Hell is truth seen too late.”
At the present moment it is not too late. I pray that before it is, you will see the truth, believe the truth and live the truth. You will live with simplicity, transparency and integrity.
Rodney J. Buchanan
February 20, 2005
Mulberry St. UMC
Mount Vernon, OH
www.MulberryUMC.org
Rod.Buchanan@MulberryUMC.org
The Quest for Honesty
(Questions for February 20, 2005)
1. When is it most difficult to be truthful? Be honest.
2. How are lies destructive in the lives of people?
3. What helps you to love the truth?
4. Why will oaths not actually affect either a dishonest person or an honest one?
5. Jesus said, “Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’.” How does simplicity help us in the area of honesty?
6. Read John 3:19-21. Why is transparency an important character trait?
7. Integrity is related to the word integrated. How does this connect to the ability to be honest?
8. Read 1 John 2:4. What does this say about compromise in the area of honesty?
9. Read John 8:44. What is dangerous about lying?
10. Read John 14:6. What did Jesus mean when he said he was the Truth?
