Would you lie to benefit yourself?

A store manager overheard his clerk say to a customer, “No ma’am, we haven’t had any for a while, and it doesn’t look as if we’ll be getting any soon.

Horrified, the manager came running over to the customer and said, “Of course we’ll have some soon. We placed an order last week.”

Then the manager pulled the clerk aside.

“Never,” he snarled, “Never, never, never say we’re out of anything — say we’ve got it on order and it’s coming. Now, what was it she wanted?”

“Rain,” said the clerk.

Lying will eventually make a fool of you. Yet, we have made it commonplace in our lives.

As I have been working on the next ministry step for myself, I’ve sought secular employment for short-term sustenance while I work on developing new ministry. Unfortunately, I’ve ran into a long problem of constantly being told I’m over-qualifed; even the simplest positions won’t consider hiring me because of my background. That has resulted in profound loss and hardship for me. During this time, I’ve had family, friends, and even folks from church (including some church leaders) encourage me to not tell the truth. Their rationale was that, since I was being hurt by telling the truth, that I should not tell the truth so I wouldn’t be hurt.

That bad advice is the same message we get from the world: If you can’t get ahead by telling the truth, get ahead by telling lies. That might be how things are done in the world, but not so in the kingdom of God.

“There are six things the Lord hates — no, seven things he detests: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family,” Proverbs 6:16-19.

“The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in those who tell the truth,” Proverbs 12:22.

“Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds,” Colossians 3:9.

Telling the truth may come with a cost, but it also comes with a reward; lying will cost you much more and ends in judgment.

Are you committed to living a life of truth? Or do you practice trying to compromise the truth when doing so seems to benefit you?

Scotty