Joshua 7:19-20 – You Can’t Handle the Truth
Max Lucado, in his book Just Like Jesus, tells this story. A man received a call from his wife just as she was about to fly home from Europe. "How’s my cat?" she asked.
"Dead."
"Oh, honey, don’t be so honest. Why didn’t you break the news to me slowly? You’ve ruined my trip."
"What do you mean?"
"You could have told me he was on the roof. And when I called you from Paris, you could have told me he was acting sluggish. Then when I called from London, you could have said he was sick, and when I called you from New York, you could have said he was at the vet. Then, when I arrived home, you could have said he was dead."
The husband had never been exposed to such protocol but was willing to learn. "OK," he said. "I’ll do better next time."
"By the way," she asked, "how’s Mom?"
There was a long silence, then he replied, "Uh, she’s on the roof."
Today we are taking one more look at Joshua 7, the story of Achan’s sin and the Israelites’ defeat at the hands of the men from Ai. I’d like to look at one thing that stuck out in my mind as I read and re-read this passage. It’s the issue of truth. Look at what Joshua said to Achan in v19.
I like that phrase. It’s a serious command to tell the truth. But it’s worded in a way to imply that God is pleased when we tell the truth. Glory goes to God when the truth is told. Praise goes to God when someone tells the truth, at least, in a big picture sense. I’ll explain more about that in a bit.
Truth is a topic that people love to discuss. Today, many people believe that truth is relative. That is, something may be wrong for you to do, but not for me. Morals, which are determined by truth, are flexible, because truth is flexible, or so it is thought.
Even within the church, at times, I’m sad to say. We compromise the truth when it would hurt too much. We candy-coat it when it’s too hard to take. Edward R. Murrow said, “Most truths are so naked that people feel sorry for them and cover them up, at least a little bit.” And Harry S Truman, former president of the US, about whom was said,”Give ‘em hell, Harry” – he himself said, “I never gave anybody hell! I just told the truth and they thought it was hell.” For every hard topic avoided by preachers, for every time a lie was tolerated for the sake of getting along with others, for every time a story was told to prevent hard feelings, a lie was allowed to rise to the surface.
Well, what does the Bible say about the truth? 1 John 3:18 says, “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” 1 Peter 1:22 says that we “have purified yourselves by obeying the truth.” In 2 Thessalonians, Paul speaks of people who “love the truth and so be saved.” Salvation comes from loving and obeying the truth. In Ephesians, Paul speaks of how our faith in Jesus shows up in our lives. He speaks of fruit of the light consisting in all goodness, righteousness and truth.
And of course, in a passage we are quite familiar with, Paul tells us in Eph.6 to put on the full armor of God, which includes the belt of truth. Truth is a weapon we fight with. It protects us from attacks of Satan. By putting on truth, we guard ourselves against lies of the enemy. When he throws half-truths at us, we recognize them and reject them. Truth is something to protect us, not hinder us or hold us back.
Jesus considered the truth quite important. He prayed, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” God’s Word, the Bible, is truth. This sanctifies us, cleanses us, sets us apart, makes us holy before Him. That’s pretty important.
Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit. Jesus called Him “the Spirit of truth”. And Jesus said He would “guide [us] into all truth.” The Spirit is here to help us sort out fiction from non-fiction, error from fact, fantasy from reality. It doesn’t help the cause when we Christians lie. That must grieve the Spirit within us.
And of course, Jesus said this in John 8: “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” I like what Mal Pancoast said about this, rewording his crude language slightly. He said, “The truth will set you free, but first it will make you really angry.” That’s funny.
I think of what the Proverb writer in Proverbs 23:23: “Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding.” I’d like to spend the rest of the time looking at this idea – to buy the truth, and not to sell it.
Well, to buy anything speaks of a cost. “How much?” So, to buy the truth speaks of, “How much am I willing to pay for the truth? How much will it cost me?” Another preacher said, “We must be prepared to pay a fair price for anything really worthwhile.”
What is a fair price for the truth? Jesus told a story of a man who found a treasure in a field, and bought the whole field, just for that little piece of treasure. How much is the truth worth to you? How much are you willing to pay for the truth?
I think of the early disciples. The truth cost them comfort. The truth cost them their homes, their families, their friends, their jobs, their social status, and sometimes their very lives. All because they chose to follow the ways that the truth led them.
The truth cost Achan his life, in a way. But, if you think about it, it gave back his life. In fact, sin cost him his life. When it all came out in the open, the truth revealed his sin. And I’m willing to bet that as the stones were hitting him, he was asking God for forgiveness. I’ll bet he was sorry for what he did. In a way, the truth actually set him free, as Jesus said. French novelist Emile Zola wrote, “If you shut up truth and bury it under the ground, it will but grow, and gather to itself such explosive power that the day it bursts through it will blow up everything in its way.” That’s what happened to the people of Israel. Yes, the truth cost, but it’s because sin had already taken its toll.
For you, the truth has its costs. To tell the truth may cost you something. To stop a lie may cost you something. It may cost you ease. It may cost you family harmony. It may cost you money. It may cost you pleasant feelings. I don’t know, but it seems obvious: the truth will cost you something. American theologian Hosea Ballou said, “Falsehood is cowardice, the truth courage.” It takes courage to face the truth.
But the good news is, it’s worth it. Looking again at the 2nd part of Prov.23:23, “Do not sell it.” Why? Because of its value. Yes, the truth has great costs. But the truth also has great value.
Psalm 15 tells of a person who will never be shaken, and who may dwell in God’s presence. This person is described as one “who speaks the truth from his heart” and one “who keeps his oath even when it hurts.” I’d like to be a person who is never shaken, and who lives in God’s presence. Living in the truth has great value.
Psalm 51 says that God surely desires truth in the inner parts. I’d like to be a person who gives God wants He wants. That’s important to me. That’s valuable to me.
Time and again, Jesus used the phrase, “Verily”, or “I tell you the truth.” Some 30 times in the book of Matthew alone. That means that Jesus was a man of the truth. In fact, He called Himself the truth in John 14:6. That tells me that if I really want to follow in His steps, to the very end, falsehoods and half-truths have to go. No intentions to deceive or mislead. I have to be honest with others. Yes, this will cost, but to follow in Jesus’ steps has great value as well.
Granted, there is more to life than just the truth. Napoleon Bonaparte, of all people, said, “Truth alone hurts.” Some people delight in speaking the truth as they see it. They love to go around and tell people everything on their minds. They shoot down thoughts and ideas, and love to start fights. They are of the mindset that their opinion is always right and needs to be heard.
Well, Paul cautioned against this. He tells us in Ephesians 4:15 that we should “speak the truth in love.” He’s not telling us to lie. He’s telling us to use love when we talk. That means we don’t steamroll people with our beliefs. That means we don’t shoot others down, simply because they disagree with us or maybe are even out-and-out wrong.
Gregory Nunn said, “There is no such thing as a harmless truth.” Well, if that’s true, then we need to be careful with this dangerous weapon. It means we use it carefully. Yes, speak the truth. No, don’t be afraid of it. It can and will set you free.
But be careful how you speak it. Just because something is true doesn’t mean it needs to be said. And if you can’t speak the truth in love, then don’t say anything at all. If you can’t say what you want to say in a nice attitude, then just keep quiet. Our Bible passage today shows that telling the truth gives God glory and praise. Well, not if you say it in a mean or selfish way. If your main goal is to prove others wrong, then you need to re-evaluate your motives.
In a Moody Monthly article entitled, “To Be Perfectly Honest,” Calvin Miller recalls a woman in his former church who became angry because he wouldn’t let her son sing more solos in church. She jotted down in a notebook every instance in her contact with Miller in which he did things “that were not in the spirit of Christ.” Several months later she showed him all he had done that was offensive to her. Miller says, “What amazed me was that her list was mostly true. She didn’t say anything that was untrue, but what she said was unkind.”
Speaking the truth without love can serve the cause of evil, whether preaching or teaching God’s Word, rebuking a believer, or disciplining our children. Truth can be devastating. When clothed in love, however, it eliminates error, builds trust, and promotes the good of others. Calvin Miller states, “Malicious truth gloats like a conqueror. Loving truth mourns that it must confront and show a brother his error. Malicious truth struts at its power. Loving truth weeps to find that the correction it inspires may for a while cause great pain. Malicious truth cries ‘Checkmate, you are beaten!’ Loving truth whispers, ‘I correct you with the same pain you feel. But when the pain is over, we shall rejoice that honesty and love have been served.’”
Let’s be truthful, regardless of its costs. Let’s be truthful, because of its great value. Let’s be truthful, and do it in love.
