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“Speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.” (Ephesians 4:25)
Four high school boys decided to skip the morning classes. After lunch they showed up at school and reported to the teacher that their car had a flat tire. Much to their relief, the teacher smiled and said, “Well, you missed a quiz this morning, so take your seats and get out a pencil and paper.” Still smiling, she waited as they settled down and got ready for her questions. Then she said, “First question- which tire was flat?”
Truth is becoming an increasingly rare commodity in our world. Former US President Barack Obama in a speech in July 2018 celebrating Nelson Mandela’s 100th birthday, took the opportunity to warn against a dire trajectory in world politics. The very idea of truth is being thrown out the window, and in its place, raw power is taking over. Obama identifies various factors. “Censorship and state control of media is on the rise.” Social media has become a tool for “promoting hatred and paranoia and propaganda and conspiracy theories”. People are not interested in reasoned debates; we simply “surround ourselves with opinions that validate what we already believe.” And because of this, nobody is calling politicians to account for their lies. Politicians have always lied, but it used to be if you caught them lying, they’d be like, “Oh, man.” Now they just keep on lying. (Barack Obama, “Obama’s South Africa speech, annotated”, The Washington Post (ed. Eugene Scott, 17 July 2018).
We don't lie any more, rather we just shade the facts. Here are some examples of how people try to shade the facts to their advantage in the court: "The pedestrian had no idea which direction to go, so I ran over him." "The telephone pole was approaching fast. I attempted to swerve out of its path when it struck my front end." "The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him." These "excuses" may bring a smile, and some were probably meant to. But they also remind us of how prone we are to shade the facts, especially when it works to our advantage.
The book of Proverbs tells us "lying lips are an abomination to the Lord" (12:22). Too much of politics today seems to reject the very concept of objective truth. People just make stuff up. We see the utter loss of shame among political leaders where they’re caught in a lie, and they just double down, and they lie some more.
Our businesses are built on systems that hide the truth. Have you seen those fine prints? Those are the hurting and painful truths in your agreements that nobody can read. They hide the truth to win the businesses. Our insurance companies are well known for hiding the truth. We got some surprise bills from the hospital. When called, the hospital says we owe it. We called the insurance company, they said, the hospital sent them duplicate bills and they denied it. We are caught in the middle.
Commercials on TV are just plainly lying when they claim that they can make a seventy year old look like a 17 year old. Or, the best in class product or service. So we try our best to get away with answers that shade the facts. People are trying to beat the system in anyway possible.
During the Covid pandemic, the government issued loans to support businesses like PPP Loans. Now, many are getting caught and sent to jail for receiving the aid supported by fraudulent documents. Unfortunately, there are many churches and pastors involved. People lie to get immediate returns and then realize that it was wrong. It happens during the tax seasons every year. A hilarious letter received by IRS reads like this: "Enclosed you will find a check for $150. I cheated on my income tax return last year and have not been able to sleep ever since. If I still have trouble sleeping I will send you the rest. Sincerely, A Tax Payer.". A lot of people have this cloud of guilt hanging over their heads due to lying.
Deception is so often part of the air we breathe. Our systems are built on the premise that truth can be stretched and worked around. It’s like the story about the man who was applying for life insurance online. There were a number of questions that asked him, "How old is your mother?" He said, "She’s dead." "How old was she when she died?" "She was 41." "What did she die of?" "Cancer." "How old is your father?""He’s dead too.""How old was he when he died?""Forty-three.""What did he die of?""Heart attack."Immediately, the system rejected him saying, "You’re a terrible risk! There’s no way you can get this insurance!" So the man decided to go to another insurance company. And the computer asked him the same questions. "How old is your father?""He’s dead." "How old was he when he died?""Ninety-four.""What did he die of?""He fell off a horse, playing polo.""How old is your mother?""She’s dead too.""How old was she when she died?""Ninety-one.""What did she die of?""CHILDBIRTH." This imaginary story says that he got approved
Truth starts from the individual and it comes from the heart
It’s worth taking time to reflect about your daily life and asking yourself how you’re going at telling the truth, minute by minute and hour by hour. But be warned: it’s an uncomfortable exercise!. A friend of ours always says, “ To be perfectly honest..” I have warned her a couple of times that is not a good expression because it gives a meaning of being not being honest all the time. You can see it in the expression “To be (perfectly) honest…”. We use this expression at the start of sentences when we want to indicate that we’re being straightforward and down to earth; telling the truth without any embellishment. But why do we need to say it? Because most of the time, we’re not being (perfectly) honest! And we all know it. Our habit is to use our words, to achieve other goals, to increase our own prestige, to get people to do things for us, etc. and not worried about the truth in our conversations.
Like it or not, unfortunately, truth is dying. And this situation may well have serious consequences for us all: in fact, it may destroy mankind. In schools and universities throughout the West, the idea of “objective truth” has been ridiculed. It relentlessly dismantled and ridiculed. They teach that there are really no objective standards of right and wrong that apply to everyone and Truth is an individual thing. What’s true for me is different from what’s true for you.
Heart is the root of all lies. The mouth is the outlet of what is filled in the heart. Jesus taught, “the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.” (Matthew 12:34-35).
Before Jesus was handed over to be crucified, John 18:37-38 records an interesting conversation about truth he had with Pontius Pilate. Here’s the exchange: Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—I to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
“What is truth?” statement is one of the most important questions being asked for centuries since. In fact, how one lives and dies, what and who one values, and what one believes is dependent upon how one answers this question. Indeed, I submit that it is life’s most important question. Therefore, determining what is true is the most essential and necessary task of our human existence.
When it comes to truth, there are two types of folks in the world. Let’s call them “Mr. Objective” and “Mr. Subjective.” Mr. Objective believes truth can be, and often is, separate from what he feels. And, since feelings can change or be misleading, there must be an objective standard to determine what is true. Therefore, Mr. Objective is on a constant search for this objective standard. In contrast, Mr. Subjective believes that truth is based on what he feels. In other words, if he feels that something is true, it is true. Therefore, rather than seeking an objective standard to determine what is true, he has a subjective standard based on what he feels.
For example, imagine that Mr. Objective and Mr. Subjective are asked the temperature of a room in which they are both sitting. Mr. Objective says 68 degrees and Mr. Subjective says 72 degrees. Now, of course, they both can’t be right. In fact, they both could be wrong. But, how would one determine this? Well, one would go to a thermostat to find ou. Let’s say that the true temperature is 75 degrees. In this case, Mr. Objective would align his belief about what was true to the temperature on the thermostat, which is an objective standard. However, Mr. Subjective would not. He would say that it’s 72 degrees because it feels like 72 degrees to him.
Over the last few decades, something very pernicious has happened. Mr. Subjective has changed. As Mr. Subjective has increasingly acquired power in our culture, he now demands that Mr. Objective abandon any standard of objective truth because he finds it offensive. No longer is Mr. Subjective’s truth just his own, but Mr. Objective must now embrace it too or risk being labeled as suffering from some kind of “phobia” and/or being silenced and shamed from the public square. Mr. Subjective’s new mantra is “Live and insist that others live and believe like me.” The “thermometer” is now meaningless. Of course, there is an irony in all of this because in order for Mr. Subjective to enforce his standard, he must embrace an objective truth worldview. In other words, Mr. Subjective must say that the only standard for truth is that there is no standard, which, of course, is an objective standard.
Mr. Subjective’s double mindedness can be if fully embraced by our culture, consider two real life situations. First, a physician once told me about a 50-year-old patient who was biologically a man but was living as a woman. When this doctor suggested that the patient get a prostate exam, which is standard of care for a man who has the prostate gland. The patient refused because the patient believed and felt that he was a woman. The physician was emphasizing an objective truth and the patient preferred a subjective truth, even at the risk of death.
Second, there is a young woman I have known for many years, who, unfortunately, struggles with an eating disorder. Although she is underweight for her height and frame, when she looks in the mirror, she feels significantly overweight. So much so that she often throws up after her meals, exercises excessively, even at the risk of her life. Indeed, she rejects the objective truth that her bathroom scale shows her. The good news is that her physician didn’t get her medical degree based on subjective truth. So, when this young woman goes for treatment, she is encouraged to embrace the fact that there is the truth that separates from what she believes. Truth has life and death consequences.
That is why the question, “What is truth?” asked by Pilate is so relevant today. It demands an answer. Our very lives depend on it. When Pilate heard Jesus speak of “truth”, he asked, “What is truth?” It wasn't an enquiry. He didn't wait for an answer. He said it to justify himself. He went out to the mob, pronounced Jesus innocent, then had him flogged and handed over for crucifixion. Pilate apparently went along with the idea that truth is subjective and relative. For him it was “truth” that Jesus was innocent, but for the Jews it was “truth” that Jesus was guilty. So Pilate in all “fairness” washed his hands and let the Jews follow their truth.
So much for subjective or relative truth! A good man was crucified because in a mob’s version of “truth” he was a criminal, and their truth was considered as valid as Pilate’s. Jesus is not the first victim of relative truth, nor the last.
God’s word stands as the ultimate truth. in stark contrast to this situation.
Jesus prayed in John 17:17 “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” The scripture is itself is a claim to objective truth. And it’s a truth that stands above us all. It’s a truth that humbles us, disciplines us, and severely limits our designs on power. We are all held accountable to this truth. And we can hold others accountable to the same truth. It’s not that there’s one truth for me, and another truth for you. There is a truth for us all. This means, of course, that there are lies. And Christians are people who don’t tell lies. They tell the truth. The Spirit of God asks John: “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:5).
Jesus is the Embodiment of Truth.
“I am the way the truth and the life.” (John 14:6)
He is not only true but truth itself: this may regard his person and character. He is the true God, and eternal life; truly and really a man; as a prophet, he taught the way of God in truth; as a priest, he is a faithful, as well as a merciful one, true and faithful to him that appointed him; and as a King, just and true are all his ways and administrations: he is the sum and substance of all the truths of the gospel. They are all full of him and center in him; and he is the truth of all the types and shadows, promises and prophecies of the Old Testament; they have all their accomplishment in him; and he is the true way, in opposition to all false ones of man's devising. And this phrase seems to be opposed to a notion of the Jews, that the law was the true way of life, and who confined truth to the law. They have a saying, that, "Moses and his law are the truth."
Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ, in opposition to Moses, by whom came the law: When the Jews say, "The law is the truth", they are denying the person of God, as God in Jesus Christ is the Truth. By accepting Jesus Crhist as the Lord of our lives, we become the carriers of Truth. There is no lie in Him as He is the Truth.
What does it actually mean to speak the truth to our neighbor?
Speaking the truth rules out lying. We lie because we don’t value the truth highly enough. We think that a lie will achieve some greater good, normally for our own benefit. A lie might make one look more intelligent or interesting or powerful. A lie might stop from feeling awkward in a situation where the truth is hard or uncomfortable. A sinner continues in sin until it gets exposed. Some lies can be devastating for the society and the church. But in fact, all lies are serious. If you make a habit of telling small “white lies” that don’t seem to hurt anyone, all you’re doing is laying down habits of deceit in yourself that make it so much easier for you to lie to cover up bigger things.
Speaking the truth will sometimes involve not speaking, especially if you don’t know all the facts. In a church family, it’s all too easy for rumors to spread. We hear somebody tell us a few one-sided fragments of information about somebody else, and assume we’ve heard the full story. We pass it on, thinking we know it all. And we use our “inside” knowledge to gain prestige or a following for ourselves. We too easily talk about each other, without talking to one another and listening to one another. This is called gossip, and it’s one of the most insidious forms of self-deception around. It makes us feel like we’re speaking “the truth” to one another when we’re actually speaking lies.
Speaking the truth brings freedom in our relationships
Most fundamentally, it means speaking like Jesus would speak to one another, reminding one another that truth will make us free when we are honest and truthful to one another. “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32). Paul exhorts: Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ." (Ephesians 4:15).
May the Lord help us to speak the truth in love and and be truthful in our lives as we strive toward growing up in to the head, who is our Lord Jesus Christ.
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