When was the last time someone told you an outright lie, assuming that you recognized it or could prove it was a lie? Maybe the more difficult question would be this: “When was the last time you told someone else a lie?” Ouch! Maybe you just thought what you said was not too bad because you only s t r e t c h e d the truth; you didn’t tell an outright lie. Or maybe you answered quickly when you were in a tough spot, and you told a white lie (Do lies come in colors?) to try to protect yourself. Afterward, you were stricken with conviction, but you never did tell the truth because you didn’t know how to correct what you had said without really making yourself look bad.

Here are some more possible scenarios:

1. What about the story you told recently that you thought would sound more exciting if you embellished and exaggerated the details a bit?
2. You heard the phone ring and you told the person in your home answering it to tell the person on the other end you were not home.
3. How about that day you didn’t want to go to work (or school or church), and you called in sick?

Sometimes lies are not really obvious while other times they are glaringly apparent. A survey of almost 6000 workers and over 2900 hiring managers and human resource professionals revealed that almost one third of the employees involved in this survey admitted calling in sick at least once in the past year when they truly were not sick at all. You will not believe some of the fantastic excuses (lies) for missing work:

• Employee got whiplash from brushing her hair.
• Employee said her chickens' feet were frozen to the driveway.
• Employee was injured while getting a haircut.
• Employee tasted some dog food because the dog was not feeling well and now the employee is sick.
• A groundhog bit the employee's car tire, causing it to go flat.

(CreativePro.com, Employers Share 12 Most Unusual Reasons Employees Gave to Explain an Absence; Written on November 11, 2007)

Proverbs 23:23 admonishes, “Buy the truth, and sell it not.” In John. 8:44 Jesus plainly taught that the devil is a liar and the father of it (a lie). Lying is so much a part of our society today that I fear that what many people say is no longer credible, whether they are unbelievers or professing Christians. I suspect that a significant number of Christian employees taking the survey above were among those who were “sick.” We know from other studies done concerning those who are getting divorced today that the rate is almost the same among Christians as non-Christians. The last time I checked, I believe the marriage vows still say “’til death do us part.” Apart from exceptions the Scriptures may allow, it seems to me that lots of people are lying when they repeat the vows and then apply for a divorce.

I think you get my point—lying is every-day, common practice, but it should not be! A Christian must be a truth-teller. The Apostle Paul told the Ephesians, “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.” We owe the truth to fellow Christians because of our being part of the body of Christ. I think we owe the truth to the world around us also as a virtue that models the righteousness of the One who dwells in our hearts. I hope you will remember well that “He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness. . . “ (Proverbs 12:17a)

Jim Sproul, B.A., B.D.
Senior Adults Pastor