Today is September 13th. I am enjoying our church picnic on a glorious sunshiny day. Now if you believe that, I have a friend with some beachfront property on Galveston Island.
In reality, you will not be reading this on September 13th. I am writing this on that date because our church picnic was cancelled due to the ongoing rains. I do indeed have a friend who owned beachfront property on Galveston Island until Hurricane Alicia eroded the area in 1983 leaving it about 500 yards offshore. Everything in the first paragraph is a lie.
In Matthew 15:10-20, Jesus is responding to the Pharisees complaining about not washing hands before eating. Christ teaches what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart and this can defile (v 18). Bearing false witness is among the seven sins in verse 19.
Nobody likes being called a liar even when they are lying. I try very hard never to lie because I like having the reputation of being someone who tells the truth-even when it hurts. I could not write these meditations in good conscience if I did not believe I was telling the truth.
The Bible is full of places where people lied and suffered the consequences. With the help of his mother, Jacob lied to Isaac about being Esau and gained the birthright. Many of the Arabs alive today are descendents from Esau.
So just how common is lying in our
society? Deserved or not, people in sales have the reputation for misleading
consumers about their products. Rarely are any of the get rich quick
schemes
anything more than a lie. Personally, all of the ones I have seen have a
missing element in them.
Sadly, many people I know never
hesitate to tell a little white lie
. In college, a friend made her own
evening gown for a beauty contest but she looked slightly pregnant in it. I
dodged her question of how she looked by telling her truthfully it was a
beautiful dress.
In our world, lying seems to be
okay if you don't get caught
. Even if you do get caught, might often makes
right here on earth. Either way, you are always lying to yourself. Worse, the
Father always knows when you are lying. How often do you lie?
Grace and peace in the power of the Holy Spirit.
(J. Wesley McComb is a published author and a member of Christ Episcopal Church, 1534 7th St, Slidell, 643-4531.)
© by The Slidell Independent newspaper; originally published on August 29, 2009. Used by permission of publisher and author.