Honesty:God's Reality--Linden Malki

"To be honest about it.." I cringe when I hear those words; even when I catch myself about to say them. The implication is not only may it be something someone may not want to hear, but that other things I say might not always be as honest. I try to avoid saying this because I want everything I say to be honest. It's easy in one sense, and not easy in others. It's easy because you don't have to keep track of who heard what from you, but often hard because it deals in hard reality.

We live in a world that doesn't do reality well. We are learning that a whole lot of what we are told isn't real--it's all about someone's agenda. How many internet ads to we see that promise a new face, or body, or hair, or whatever, for only $5 (plus access to your credit card)? This is the political season that is loaded with a zillion versions of reality--some of them carefully crafted to be what they think we want to hear, some of them based on what someone wants to believe about the world, too many based on someone's self-interest. The problem is that honesty is not usually a factor. And some people will respond that what you say may be true for you but not for them--everyone has their own truth.

This attitude has been around as long as mankind and even before--when one of God's own angels challenged His reality and was allowed to go his own way. Jesus constantly had to deal with "religious leaders" who couldn't--or wouldn't--deal with the reality of Him. At one point, He bluntly told them that they were listening to the wrong side, that  "He [the Devil] couldn't stand the truth [about Jesus] because there wasn't a shred of truth in him. When the Liar speaks, he makes it up out of his lying nature and fills the world with lies. I arrive on the scene, tell you the plain truth, and you refuse to have a thing to do with me. (John 8:44-47, The Message)

Doesn't that look like the reality of the world? We are called to something different: "Tell the truth, the whole truth, when you speak. Do the right thing by one another, both personally and in your courts. Don't cook up plans to take unfair advantage of others. Don't do or say what isn't so. I hate all that stuff. Keep your lives simple and honest. [This is the] Decree of God." (Zechariah 8:16-17, The Message)

"What this adds up to, then, is this: no more lies, no more pretense. Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ's body, we are all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself. Tell the truth, the whole truth, when you speak. Do the right thing by one another, both personally and in your courts. Don't cook up plans to take unfair advantage of others. Don't do or say what isn't so. I hate all that stuff. Keep your lives simple and honest." (Ephesians 4:25, The Message)