Honesty is the Best Policy
“Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” II Corinthians 4:1-2
There is nothing like telling the truth. Some folks like to use a little truth in their lie to make it sound plausible, but a half-truth is not the truth. Politicians tell all sort of untruths and make promises that they cannot keep in order to get votes. When they get caught in making a statement which turns out not to be true, they excuse it by saying that they “misspoke”. Likely, nine times out of ten, they knew exactly what they were saying, but end up having to backtrack because they realize that they offended some voters, voters on whom they were counting to win the election. These politicians have a habit of saying one thing to one crowd, but something different to another. Some of them even try to act like they are just one of the crowd, when much of the time, their upbringing and environment is very different than those of the voters to whom they are pandering. No wonder folks do not trust politicians.
However, it is not just politicians who have that bad habit of stretching, bending, or obliterating the truth. Turn on the television or go on line to any number of preachers, and you will hear all sorts of doctrine, beliefs, and interpretations of scripture, many of them false and misleading. I am certainly not a Biblical expert, far from it, but I know enough to open my Bible and verify if what they are preaching is the truth or not. Scripture is the standard by which all truth is measured.
The Apostle Paul was very conscientious about presenting the truth of the gospel to all those to whom God sent him to deliver the message of repentance and placing faith in God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Paul said that it was God’s mercy which called him into the ministry. God sent Paul into sometimes dangerous territory, hostile people, and difficult situations, so we might ask how that can be called acts of mercy. Paul realized that he had been entrusted to do the most important work for the Lord, and he always desired to preach and serve to the best of his ability. It was God’s mercy which gave him a heart to help folks come to know Christ. God could have left him in his sinful state to carry out his pursuit of those who were Christ followers. If Paul had not come to know Christ, he would likely have grown into an old, miserable man who had absolutely nothing of value to show for his life. However, by God’s grace, Paul was given new life in Christ and a purpose which brought him joy and the satisfaction that he was making a difference in the lives of folks. In his pursuit of people for Christ, he never wanted any taint of dishonesty, deception, nor a desire for personal fame and notoriety to distract from the pure word of the gospel. A lie never saved anyone. Lies can do just the opposite. They can cause a person to miss the truth of the gospel and never realize the saving, purifying, and forgiving power of Christ.
In Matthew 5:37, Jesus said to “let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.” He was speaking of making an agreement with another person. Either say yes or no, but don’t make a vow to back up your answer because your word should be enough. Sometimes we tend to say too much. If we are a trustworthy person, we don’t need to prove ourselves. Actually, limiting our conversations can be a good pattern to follow. I remember when I studied accounting in college, the professor told us in dealing with the IRS to never give them more information than that for which they ask. Sometimes, in speaking with others, especially when making a prayer request, we don’t need to give them all the gory details.
People of integrity are people who always tell the truth and can be trusted to do what they say they will do, unless, as my former pastor used to say, “They are providentially hindered”. that is, something that they couldn’t help prevented them from following through. When that happens, the truthful person will be honest about his reason for bowing out of the promise. He won’t make up some stupid excuse. As a side note, we don’t always have to do what others ask. Sometimes we have to say, “no”. Otherwise, if we always feel that we have to say “yes” to every request, we could become resentful, but we have no one to blame but ourselves. Constantly acquiescing to the requests of others, especially if it is the same folks over and over again, can keep them from learning to do for themselves. There comes a time when we must stop fishing for that person and show him how to fish. Well, so much for all of that. The world needs a lot of things, but more than ever it needs folks willing to stand for truth as found in the word of God.