Dishonesty Destroys

Chuckle: A children's Sunday School teacher asked her class, "Who defeated the Philistines?" One little boy said, "I don't know. I don't keep up with the minor leagues."

Quote: "A lie can travel half way around the world while truth is still lacing up her boots" --Mark Twain

"No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence" (Psalm 101:7 NIV).

"A little lie is like a little pregnancy -- it doesn't take long before everyone knows" (C.S. Lewis). Lying and other forms of dishonesty seem to be the acceptable standard to many today. Some have adopted the philosophy that a certain amount of lying and cheating is necessary to get ahead. The days when "a man's word is his bond" are long gone. The time when business deals were sealed with a good-faith handshake is a distant memory. They have been replaced by mounds of written notarized legal contracts and other documents signed by multiple witnesses to keeping us honest.  

One of the most tragic stories in Scripture deals with the seriousness of dishonesty. You may remember the Bible story of Ananias and Sapphira who lied to God. God struck them dead for their lack of honesty. You can find this account in Acts 5:1-11. Some of us may have said, "I sure am glad God doesn't still strike people dead for lying." But it just may be that He still does. It seems likely that the wages of dishonesty and deceit is still death. Perhaps not the death of the body, but the death of what is valuable and meaningful in life: trust, integrity, and faithfulness.

A Marriage -- Falsehoods and deceitfulness are like termites that devour the "trunk of the family tree." Lies and deceit undermine the mutual trust and respect which must be present for a marriage to remain healthy and thrive. Once lost, trust and respect are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to rebuild. "I just can't trust him/her anymore" is a common expression in troubled marriages.

A Conscience -- Consciences can become callused and useless as lies and deceit are repeated. The second lie is always easier than the first, etc. Dishonesty will, over time, render our consciences unreliable in determining right from wrong. At this point the old saying, "let your conscience be your guide" has no validity. The conscience becomes worthless as the moral compass for your life. We often see people lying with seemingly no remorse or regret -- with no pangs of conscience.

A Career -- I'm sure the student who was kicked out of school for cheating or the employee who was fired for embezzlement would say, without hesitation, that dishonesty was fatal to his/her reputation. In recent years, we have seen lives destroyed as careers came crashing down because of dishonesty. Many former corporate executives are now serving long jail sentences for such conduct.

But for us who are Christians, the most tragic result of dishonesty is our Christian credibility and witness. Like a jury in a courtroom, the people of the world we are trying to reach for Christ will not listen to the testimony of a perjured witness. "A truthful witness gives honest testimony, but a false witness tells lies" (Proverbs 12:17 NIV). We must never succumb to the temptation to be dishonest, regardless of how small and insignificant the untruth may appear on the surface. Dishonesty can easily become a slippery slope toward moral and spiritual disaster.

Love, Jerry & Dotse