Articles
Coping with Life 19 – Lying
Coping with Life 19 – Lying
Mike Willis
“Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another” (Eph. 4:25).
Lying has become endemic in American society. Sometimes we joke about it. An old joke is, “How do you know a politician is lying?” The answer is “because his mouth is moving.” Unfortunately, politics creates liars out of many elected representatives and political appointees. Even though all of America knows that the illegal border crossings number in the hundreds of thousands each year, the head of the department of immigration and news reporters tell us the border is secure. It has gotten so bad that the American people have trouble knowing what to believe after watching the news, whether reported by the left or the right. Medical doctors under oath before the Congress will not give a straight answer to a simple question like, “Can a man have a baby?”
As a child, I remember hearing the story of George Washington and the cherry tree. It was told to encourage me to always tell the truth. “The story goes that when Washington was six years old, he received a hatchet as a gift, after which he promptly went and cut down his father’s favorite cherry tree. When his father found out about it, he was understandably angry and confronted his son, asking if he had done it, to which little George replied that yes, indeed, he had done it. And with those brave words, father’s anger melted away and he embraced his son, exclaiming that his honesty was worth more than a thousand trees” (https://www.nps.gov/articles/george-washington-and-the-cherry-tree.htm). Though this makes a good story, I learned later that this too was a “myth,” a lie! It never happened.
The fact is that honesty lies as the foundation of a society. It is essential for the judicial system, inasmuch as so many trial decisions depend upon finding out the truth from eyewitnesses. So witnesses are asked to put their left hand on a Bible and raise their right hand and answer the question, “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”
Our financial system depends upon honesty. Loans are made on the belief that a person will repay what he owes. Businesses depend upon employees who are honest. They give an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. Inexperienced customers are at a disadvantage when doing business with professional contractors. Contractors may exaggerate their costs to elevate their prices and take advantage of people who know little about the true costs of a project. Everyone wants to find an honest contractor—mechanic, carpenter, and financial advisor.
David posed a haunting question when he wrote, “if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psa. 11:3). Unfortunately, America has lost honesty and integrity as part of her moral foundation. King Solomon wrote, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Prov. 14:34). Do you feel like our nation values moral integrity or do you feel like our foundations have crumbled underneath our feet?
