Marketplace Ponderings (7)

Telling the Truth - 2

We live in a culture of lying. We don’t like to call it lying, we call it “spin” or not hurting people’s feelings or “everyone does it”. Most of the time I don’t think we call it anything because we are so acclimated to it - when we don’t call it anything we ought to fear because it indicates that we have moved from an immoral society to an amoral society. The sense in which I’m using these words is that when we are immoral we can hopefully contrast immorality with morality, but when we are amoral (without a sense of morals) then we have no contrasts by which we might find our bearings, which we might use as a beacon to navigate life. An immoral society can hope to improve for it has a benchmark, an amoral society has no benchmark for everything is the same. Perhaps Paul had something like this in mind when he wrote of consciences being seared as with a hot iron, cauterized beyond feeling or sensitivity (1 Timothy 4:2).

In Proverbs Chapter Six “a lying tongue” is a thing that God hates and it is an abomination to Him. In Proverbs 12:22 we read, “Lying lips are an abomination to Yahweh, but those who deal truthfully are His delight.” Consider that the father of lies lied to Adam and Eve in the Garden - is lying something we really want to propagate?

How do we tell the truth in a society of lying, in which a straight answer is ever more rare, in which twisting the truth and cloaking the truth are an art form and a way of doing business, engaging in relationships, and all too often a part of church?

As I pointed out in the previous post, we ought to maintain an awareness that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all; that the devil is the father of lies; and that we are either drinking from the cup of the Lord or from the cup of the enemy. This is not about pragmatism and just getting through a bad moment with a lie, this is about who God is, who the devil is, and who we are - it is only pragmatic in the sense that it is about life and death, spiritual health and spiritual death. What shall it profit a man (or woman) to gain the world and lose his own soul (Mark 8:34 ff)? If we must be pragmatic then let it be pragmatic with a capital “P”.

Telling the truth must be a way of life within Christ, our Way of Life. If we are married we must be truthful with our spouse, the foundation of truth-telling is found in the home - if we lie to our spouses we will lie to others. Sadly I have met many professing Christians who are not honest with their spouses, whether in or large or small things - it is as if they inhabit alternate worlds - manipulation is the norm. Marriages must be truthful to grow in Christ, to be formed into His image, to experience ever-deepening foundations, and to build trust.

Paul writes to the Ephesians (4:15, 25) that they are to speak the truth to one another in love and that they are to “put away lying” and speak the truth with their fellow Christians. Our fellowships need to learn (if they have not already done so) to be communities of truth. Yes, telling the truth can be hard, can require much prayer in order to discern how to best communicate truth, and truth-telling can lead to difficult situations that must be worked through in obedience to the Word and leading of the Holy Spirit - but if our churches are not churches that live in a culture of truth how can we hope to witness to the world? Can we trust the Head of the Body to care for His Body when the members of the Body speak the truth to one another in love and care and humility?

It is true that telling the truth can lead to conflict, but we are not called to avoid conflict, we are rather called to work through it as we allow the truth to engage us and as we submit ourselves to one another under the Word of God and the working of the Holy Spirit. Telling the truth can uncloak that which has been deliberately hidden, bringing things from darkness to light thereby allowing us to repent, confess, help one another, and experience relief. Bringing to the surface that which everyone may know but which no one will acknowledge can lead to health in the church, healing of wounds, and witness to the world.

Whether at home or in the church we must tell the truth, speaking and living the truth must be our Way of Life.

Since the Word of God is True, our souls must be anchored in it. Just as a deep-sea diver may use a bell helmet with an air hose attached to a pump on a ship, so must we continually breathe the Word of God in daily life. We may not always be conscious of the Word, just as a deep-sea diver may not always be conscious of the air he breathes; but you can be sure that the diver has a quick sense when there is a problem with his oxygen supply; and so the Christian living in the Word, with the Word living in him (or her) develops a sense when a situation comes into conflict with the Living Word. Just as the deep-sea diver does not want to jeopardize his air supply, so we should not do anything to bring us out of submission to the Word of God - Christ in His Word is our source of life. Christ in us means that the Nature of God dwells within our frail temples of flesh, and since the Nature of God is Light and Life and Truth, embracing His Nature and submitting to Him is part of the dance of partaking of the Divine Nature (2 Peter 1:4). If Jesus Christ did not and would not lie, and if we are indeed indwelt by Him (see John Chapters 14 - 17); then we must not lie for His incarnation continues within His Body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all (Ephesians 1:23).

In every situation we find ourselves we are Christ to the world. Will we have Christ lie (I speak as a man)? Will I? Will you?