IF I'M LYIN', I'M DYIN'!

Jeremiah 6:16-8:7; Colossians 2:8-23; Psalm 78:1-31; Proverbs 24:26

“Tell them all this, but do not expect them to listen. Shout out your warnings, but do not expect them to respond. Say to them, ‘This is the nation whose people will not obey the Lord their God and who refuse to be taught. Truth has vanished from among them; it is no longer heard on their lips.”

“Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.”

“O my people, listen to my instructions. Open your ears to what I am saying, for I will speak to you in a parable. I will teach you hidden lessons from our past—stories we have heard and known, stories our ancestors handed down to us. We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders.”

“It is an honor to receive an honest reply.”

Why is it that, upon being challenged or questioned, the instinctive response of so many people is to cover up their wrongdoing? Does a lie ever really make anything better? Not in my experience. I know men who have engaged in extra-marital affairs for months, fibbing to their wives, but the weight of their untruths always eventually collapses their integrity altogether. Gossip has destroyed more good people than the facts ever have. The simple reality is that any lie is like slow acting poison. Its effects may not be initially noticeable. At first, cover up may look like the best option. But for God’s people, there is never any excuse for being less than truthful, and never any justification for a lie. Too bad the rest of the world does not live this way. Certainly, we would not be in our current condition had a few more individuals stood up for the truth.

I learned not to lie the hard way. Very intimidated by my parents early on, I would pretty much say anything it took to avoid their wrath. Getting older, I had to admit this “survival mechanism” had become a plainly bad habit. I started to stretch the truth just because I could… until I got busted by my folks. Memory fails as to the specifics, but there came a time when my lying got to be worse than my initial disobedience and mistakes. One lies to Mom at their own risk, and if she ever discovers it, there is nothing that pushes her buttons any harder. Well, one day after a particularly transparent lie, my mother – all 5’4” of her – charged me. The last thing I remember is the fury in her eyes, and then…

Absolutely nothing. At 6’0”, I fainted dead away. As in Ker-PLUNK! I don’t know how long I was out, but when I came to, I was looking up into a severe scowl obviously trying not to turn into a guffaw. This happened a few more times, and I finally gave up lying as just a bad job. I would love to be able to say this was some great spiritual commitment. No such luck. What one can’t do, one shouldn’t do. I decided to tell the truth, not because it was and is the right thing to do, but because apparently, it was the only thing I could do. Just the thought of changing the facts started me hyperventilating and got me dizzy, praise God.

Wouldn’t it be a blessing if all humans had such a truth barometer? If we could be certain when we were being lied to, at least we could protect our hearts.  But that’s not how we work. We were not created to protect our own hearts; we were meant to protect the hearts of others. At the end of the day, that’s exactly why lies are so devastating to the person being lied to. They demean relationships, and they betray trust and confidence. In no way do they protect others.

I haven’t read any books on the subject, but I’d be willing to bet that fully half or more of the world’s problems could be avoided if folks just told the truth. Only truth survives the test of time. Only truth allows us the freedom to not remember what we said. Only truth can cement a relationship. But the world is more interested in taking advantage of the un-truth. We mislead others to protect or promote our own agendas. We lie to cover up earlier lies. Eventually, we get so bogged down by the alternative fantasies our lies create that we cannot catch up or clean up the mess, so we simply abandon the relationships our lies have impacted most.

If this is true in human friendships, families and marriages, it is even more true in our relationship with the Holy Spirit. We attempt to lie to Christ (as if our sins have not already been catalogued and forgiven) and break faith in the process. Guilt rears its ugly head, until we decide it’s just easier to avoid Christian fellowship altogether. We cannot afford to allow lies to separate ourselves from each other or our Creator. Lies have no spiritual benefit. This next few days is a good time to practice absolute truth. It honestly does beat the alternative, hands down.