...and nothing but the truth...

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9 ESV

When you take an oath to tell the truth in a court of law, you don’t get to pick and choose which parts of the story you tell. It’s not just the truth that’s needed, it’s the WHOLE truth and ONLY the truth. The oath used by most courts says: “I promise to tell the TRUTH, the WHOLE TRUTH, and NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH.” But why is this oath so tightly worded?

When we are faced with a situation that might put us in a bad light, or show us up in the eyes of family and friends, we choose the easy way of telling only a part of the story, and it may well be true. That also goes as we recount and retell someone else’s account of events, and perhaps even more so. Telling the whole story can be a hazard to our perceived integrity and reputation, so we speak the parts that only go our way, and leave out the damaging parts. You become very vulnerable when you decide to tell the whole truth, and our human nature doesn’t like it when our pride takes a hit.

When Scripture says the heart is deceitful and sick, it does not overstate or sugar coat the problem. In truth, if we look at our own lives, we don’t always tell the whole truth, and we take the chance no one will notice so that we get away with it, again especially as we retell someone else’s story. And anyway we think, the other person who has a different view, is doing the same thing, so we are equal. Yes, we have hearts that are desperately wicked.

We all know that someone who will only answer the part of the question you put to them, and they hold back the rest. The result is that you must ask the correct questions to get closer to the truth, assuming that you do eventually believe you got the full story. How do I know this? Firstly, the Bible tells me, and secondly, I do recognise that heart and at times, it is mine. Sadly, I can get away with only telling a part of the whole truth that I know, and only seldom get caught out. What about you? Are you open and honest enough, when faced with a real question, to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Tough ask, isn’t it? So who is the only one who can be trusted with the whole truth? We must leave that answer in the words of the next verse and be open to the Lord’s searching and testing.

“I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” Jeremiah 17:10 ESV

Living a Lie

World renowned cyclist and record holder Lance Armstrong has finally come clean, and admitted taking performance enhancing drugs over a long period of time, and during his seven Tour De France title wins. He was under immense pressure to tell the truth, because there had been a lot of evidence put into the public domain, that he was hiding a big lie. To cover up his wrongdoing, he bullied others to help him hide his actions for a long time, but as we all know, the truth will out in the end. It was only a matter of time before the lie he was living would be exposed. He believed that retelling the same lie on and on, would make it believable and even the truth!

Let’s not be too hasty to judge him, or anyone else who may be living a lie. Not one of us is the person other people think we are. We all, without exception, hide something, the only difference is a matter of scale. Lance Armstrong deceived many people, and achieved many trophies during his own chosen lie, but can we truly say we have not deceived others to some degree? Perhaps not in such a public way, but deceit it is none the less.

Eventually, the truth will come out, and we may not be able to control how or when. It may be a slight embarrassment, or a massive scandal, but it will come out at some point. We tell our children to always tell the truth, but before we know it, we are peddling our own protective stories to help us save face with our friends and work colleagues. Our exposure may not hit the headlines or the 10 o’clock news, but it will dent our credibility and integrity, perhaps even for the rest of our lives.

The answer is quite simple. Just be yourself. The way God made you, and the way God accepts you. Isn’t it good to know we don’t have to impress our loving Father? After all, He knows us better than anyone, and better than we know ourselves. So stop trying to be someone else, that position is already filled. You are unique, so accept who you are, just the same way that Jesus loves and accepts you! It’s a shame Lance Armstrong didn’t know that little truth, isn’t it?