The Whole Truth and Nothing But

Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

This is a legitimate oath and it's my understanding that it's still used in a court of law. The telling of truth is important and individuals who testify are bound, by tradition and fear of divine retribution (apparently), to tell the whole truth. How's that working?

I'm not so sure the fear of God still holds much sway. I'm thinking people lie in court all the time. Am I wrong? I mean, if they didn't lie, there wouldn't be much use for lawyers. In fact, the lawyers pretty much count on hearing lies as does the judge and the jury. Their job in today's courtroom is to try and catch a person in the lie or surmise, based on "evidence," that the witness (or defendant) is telling a whopper and convict them for it. Best guess in some cases.

Who's monitoring the daily lies?

My biggest challenge as a parent has been the lying game. I wanted to believe that my kids would never lie, particularly if I laid out for them a) God's opinion about lying [Proverbs 6:16-17 for starters] and b) the consequences for lies ... if caught. And there's the hitch.

My kids got better and better at lying as they grew older. My oldest, now in the Navy, didn't get really good at it until high school, while my youngest seemed to be born to the lie. He could spin a tale that was so believable, so sincere, so earnest, that I didn't have the heart to question it. Sigh. Poor fool I.

Why do we lie? Why do we believe the quick lie will be better than the plain truth? Where, along the way, did the truth manifest in something so painful that the lie seems preferable from that point forward.

I would like to write about my own righteousness, but, well, you know, that would be a lie. I'd like to say I don't lie; and again, lie. I'd like to confess that I lied yesterday, but not today. Ack! Another lie.

And where did we get the idea that lies have colors? You know, that was just a little white lie and didn't really matter.

You know what goes along with little white lies? Little tiny gossipy stories about someone.

What's the solution? I think it starts with identifying the problem for what it is. If we lie to others, we may also be lying to ourselves. Start there. Then, it's calling on grace through confession. It's one of the reasons we are encouraged to pray every day.

Back in the day, John Calvin's liturgy of 1543 included, "Because of our sin, we endlessly violate your holy commandments. But, O Lord, with heartfelt sorrow we repent and turn away from all our offenses. ... " Nothing much has changed in the last five centuries.

We all make mistakes, we all lie at one time or another, we all fall down. It's one of the reasons I encourage you to participate in church, any church, or here in Havre de Grace, you might try . Why? Because we want to help each other do better, authentically, without condemnation.

Irmgarde Brown
Blogger, Writer, Librarian,
Follower of Christ
Facebook: irm.brown
Twitter: IrmBrown

Restore Church :: 616 Ontario St., Havre de Grace :: Sundays at 9, 10:15 & 11:30 a.m. 

Don’t you wish every church rocked? Let’s face it. Many people don’t like church. There are many reasons. All of them are pretty valid: hypocritical, out of touch, cultish, driven by guilt, and judgmental. When the Bible talks about church, are these the descriptions that God had in mind? We don’t like church either ... at least, not these types of church. We need help. We need the love of Jesus to be more real than these descriptions. We need the church to be different. We can change if we can agree on what NOT to be ... we can change if we value God’s dream for the church. Join us as we start 2012 with a six-week sermon series on changing the definition of church, together!