Truth Be Told

             Maybe I am just now seeing something that has always been there, but it seems to me that more and more people are lying about things that don’t really matter.  I see it with appointment times; the person will tell you they will arrive at your home before 10 and well after noon no one is there.  I see it with questions; I ask the clerk, “Do your carry this product?” They will answer “Yes” I will drive over to the store to find out that they don’t really carry it but they can order it.  I see it in planning events, you will ask someone are they going to an event, and they will tell you “Yes, we are excited about it” but when the time comes you find out they made other plans.  Is my car ready to be picked up?  Yes (But it’s not).  Will this be in by tomorrow? Yes (But it won’t be).  Can I get a straight answer? Yes (But you never will).  Over and over, I ask for simple answers but rather than give me the truth, people give me the answer they think I want to hear.  None of these answers would be as infuriating as the lies they tell.  However, since they lie to me, I change my schedule, make the extra trip, buy the extra ticket, take the extra time all based on an assumption that people wouldn’t lie about something so small but more and more they do.  Is it just me?

            It can’t be just me because I see this too much in other areas. Coaches that will tell the media of their commitment to their current job, all the while they are putting the final touches on their new contract elsewhere.  Employers telling the staff that a raise or promotion is just around the corner, when in fact it is nowhere in sight.  Politician telling us the “facts” of an event when they don’t have a clue what is going on.  Our society has just gotten too comfortable with lying and what’s worse, we have gotten comfortable with being lied to.  The truth isn’t what we always want to hear.  It might upset us, make us uncomfortable, might inconvenience us.  It seems easier to lie and be lied to.  Easier but still very wrong.  Lies come from a terrible source (John 8:44).  Liars have no place in heaven (Revelation 21:27, 22:15).  Lying may be easy but it comes at a steep price (Revelation 21:8).

           

That is why we see over and over the importance in scripture of not only saying the truth but knowing what you say IS truth.  In Ecclesiastes 5:5-6 we read, “It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Do not let your speech cause you to sin and do not say in the presence of the messenger of God that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry on account of your voice and destroy the work of your hands?”  Jesus told his followers, "But let your statement be, 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no'; anything beyond these is of evil (Matthew 5:37).  James tells us, “But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment (James 5:12 ).

               We need to quit lying.  We need to quit liking being lied to.  We need to realize that truth is always  preferable to lies.  Part of the reason that lying in our society has becomes so ordinary is because we tolerate it.  As Ephesians 4:25 tells us, “Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another.” Truth be told, the truth need to be told!