Tangled Webs

Walter Scott Quoted: O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive!

In many ways deceiving someone is worse than telling them a lie. A lie can be a short, even simple deviation from truth, and as long as you have a good memory, you can get away with it for a long time before being found out. Deceit however takes effort and time to build up a new and different picture which might have a basis of truth, but that kernel of truth is coated in another layer of deceit, and so it goes on with every part of the tangled web we try to weave. Let’s face it, we all know at least one person who is adept at this deliberate attempt to make themselves look better by trying to rewrite the truth to suit their own needs.

The child of God doesn’t need to fall into webs of deceit anyway, so why bring this subject up? Well, you could be forgiven for thinking the Christian is exempt, but think again. Are you always up front and clear in your speech to others? Sometimes we don’t want to tell that nice church steward how you really feel when they ask how you are doing, and that might be because you don’t have time to go into it. Or the subject is personal. Or just maybe you feel it’s none of their business. In any event what we say (yes, I do it too) can sometimes bear no resemblance to what we really feel or think. I agree that this example is not a particularly good one, and not very serious in anyone’s thinking.

Let your mind wander for a minute. No one wants to look bad to their family and friends. That’s human nature I believe, but that bit of our nature opens the door to more serious forms of deceit. The guy in church who always has it together, you know, the one who is the life of any group and knows and quotes his Bible sincerely? Is it possible that he is spinning a web of deceit, but all for good reason of course? Could he be hiding a broken relationship, marriage, or heart? It may be better for him to rise above his feelings when among friends. After all, nobody likes a moaner-groaner!

Then what about the well dressed lady who is always depressed and down, and first to tell you how bad things really are when you ask how she is doing, and she can go on a bit? Is it likely or probable that she is spinning her own web of deceit because she lost her husband just over a year ago, and doesn’t want her friends to know that she is really relieved because he was not good to her. It would look all wrong to her friends if she looked too upbeat when she should still be in mourning.

These are two very short and unlikely examples, but not impossible to understand. Now take a step back and look at yourself in the mirror. Is the person you see there, the same person that everyone else sees and knows? No, I thought not. Me neither!

...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

Tru-lary. The Solution?

I admit it. It’s my own fault. I watched the debates, all three. Since they were aired in the middle of my night, I recorded them and watched the next day. You would have thought one would have been enough, but no, I had to watch all three. It was like seeing a car crash or a train wreck. I didn’t want to see any more, but I watched anyway. I couldn’t help myself, and I am asking why, now that we are down to a few days before the USA Presidential Election. Mind you ‘Presidential’ is one thing neither of these candidates are, but one of them will become President, but neither has behaved in a ‘Presidential’ manner, and as an outsider with no vested interest, that worries me.

I have, and still do, enjoy a good relationship with our American cousins. As a family we had the pleasure to live and work in various parts of the great nation, staying a year or more at a time, over five separate visits and three different States. I found the country, and its people equally kind hearted, friendly, and sincere. Imagine my shock to have followed this election and see the nasty side, not just of politicians, but of ordinary people, some whom claim to be Christian.

Are these two candidates the best this great nation can muster? Let me be clear, we can’t blame the candidates for being where they are. That is down to the voting that took place person by person, State by State to whittle down many starters to the two now left to finish the race. I think that is what surprised me most. The bad blood, rancour, lies, half truths, arrogance, bullying, infantile tantrums, closed mind tactics by the leaders and their followers who will support them in just about anything they say is what got to me most. I am reminded of the truth of these verses by David in Psalm 36:2-4 (NIV):

“In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin. The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful; they fail to act wisely or do good. Even on their beds they plot evil; they commit themselves to a sinful course and do not reject what is wrong.”

The Truth of the Matter

It is election time in the UK. The Scottish parliament elections for a new group of MSPs and the in/out EU Referendum are constantly in our media streams, and if I hear the words “The truth of the matter is…”, I will not be responsible for my actions. Whose truth? These words are spoken with passion and conviction by all sides, and about the self same question or situation. No wonder we are confused and switched off.

Politicians are famous for doing it, but we do too. Truth is bandied about like a shuttlecock in a badminton game. It becomes a tool to be used to make a point, and the meaning of the word is completely lost on us. So how can we know what the truth is? I suppose the truth, or part of it, is hidden in among the arguments used but it is disguised by the lies and half truths that surround it, so where to turn? We have some serious decisions to make, but we are left to our own devices on what to do. We certainly can’t trust any of the politicians. None!

But is the truth a ‘what’, or a ‘thought’ to be figured out? I don’t believe so, but I am convinced the truth is not a ‘what’ but a ‘who’ in the form of a person who cannot lie or tell half truths, or even mislead to suit his own ends. Having said that we must be prepared to hear the truth, and recognise it as such. Jesus tells us directly in John 14:6,  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” So, the next time you hear a politician, or anyone else for that matter, say the words, “The truth of the matter is…” don’t ask where the information came from, ask yourself if they are the kind of person who is close enough to Jesus to know that truth for themselves? Then and only then will you and I have the truth to the question being asked and answered!

Somebody's Lying!

“Don’t tell me lies. I can’t stand lies!” The words were spoken with chilling sincerity. A mum to her daughters and to her husband. I mean, as if we would! We were almost afraid to tell even the faintest whiff of a fib, never mind an outright lie. That has stayed with me, and to this day I cannot stand deliberate lies or deceit, given just to save face.

There was a terrible chemical attack on the innocents in Syria this past week. The perpetrators can fire the nerve gas rockets, and they can be big macho men, but they don’t have the backbone to tell the truth. Somebody is lying! There was another case of a celebrity accused and arrested for abuse that happened some years back. It is his word against a fistful of the abused victims who say he was a predator. Somebody is lying.

When a government or a highly paid famous celebrity shouts, “It wisnae me. It wis a big boy and he went that way” you can be sure something is wrong. The Shakespeare play Hamlet, has these words, “She doth protest too much”. It was a true saying then, and it is still true today. But just where do these and all lies come from? They come from an evil heart. Am I allowed to use the word evil, because we don’t usually like it because we are all sophistaced now to know that evil does not exist, but we are just misguided. The devil himself is in the hearts of these liars, after all, the following verse shows what Jesus thought about the source of lies and deceit: You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44 NIV