Young man Murphy applied for an engineering position at a firm based in Dublin, Ireland. An American applied for the same job, and since both applicants had the same qualifications, the department manager asked them to take a test to determine who would get the job. They were left alone in a room together, seated side by side, to answer ten questions.
When their tests were graded, both men only missed one of the questions. The manager went to Murphy and said, “Thank you for your interest, but we’ve decided to give the job to the American.” The Irishman replied, “And why would you be doing that? We both got 9 questions correct. This being Ireland, and me being Irish, I think I should get the job!”
The manager replied, “We have made our decision based not on the number of incorrect answers, but on the way you missed your question.”
“And just how would one incorrect answer be better than the other?”
“Simple. On question #5 the American put down, ‘I don’t know.’ You put down, ‘Neither do I.”‘
Employers value honesty – and for good reason! Without honesty, there can be no trust. Without trust, normal relationships are simply impossible.
Young ladies, if you are dating a young man and you discover that he has repeatedly lied to you, RUN, do not walk, to the nearest exit. That relationship has no future, because your boyfriend has no integrity.
Young men, the same is true for you. Honesty is the first prerequisite for a stable marriage, AND for a stable life!
That is why the Ten Commandments include a call for integrity: the Ninth Commandment says, “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.”
This commandment specifically addresses a crucial component of a stable society: the need to establish justice! Even today our court systems rely on the testimony of witnesses to determine truth. And it doesn’t take much imagination to picture the awful consequences you can suffer if people are willing to get up on the witness stand in a courtroom and lie about you.
Proverbs 25:18 “Like a club or a sword or a sharp arrow is the man who gives false testimony against his neighbor”
Christians, of all people, ought to be especially sensitive to the perils of perjury, because our Lord was tried in a kangaroo court and executed as an innocent man, all because a couple of witnesses were willing to lie! READ Mark 14:55-59
Testimony is used to determine the fate of individuals who have been accused of a crime; the words spoken by witnesses often determine whether a man will be convicted or acquitted, even whether he will live or die. And if that testimony is willfully false, then innocent people can be wrongfully punished.
There is a lot of skepticism about the possibility of innocent people being imprisoned – there is a natural tendency to say, “Well, they all claim they were framed – you can’t listen to that.” But the reason the Ninth Commandment forbids false testimony is because it CAN happen! Do you remember the story in 1 Kings 21 of old King Ahab, who coveted the vineyard of Naboth?
Naboth wouldn’t sell his family land to Ahab, so Ahab went home, lay on his bed sulking, and refused to eat. His wife, the evil Jezebel, said, “Why are pouting? You’re the king! You’ve got the power to take care of petty problems like this. Just watch me.” So what did Jezebel do? She arranged for two scoundrels to bring charges against Naboth, claiming he had cursed God and the king – the false witnesses testified against Naboth – and on the basis of their lies, that good man was tried and executed – all so that a pouting potentate could seize his property.
When scientists developed the capacity to read DNA, the biological “fingerprint” that uniquely identifies every human being, it created a way to double-check the testimony that had been given in many criminal trials. To take advantage of this new scientific tool, the “Innocence Project” was founded back in 1992. When they applied the DNA testing, what did they find? To date, 267 people in the United States have been exonerated, including 17 men who were languishing on death row! These people served an average of 13 years in prison before being cleared.
The Ninth Commandment specifically applies to perjury, but the principle of honesty applies to ALL of life!
Leviticus 19:11 “Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another.”
Someone has compiled a list of what they nominate as the five most common lies in America:
“The check is in the mail”
“I’ll have it ready for you by tomorrow”
“I was only kidding”
“No, no, you didn’t wake me up”
And any statement that begins, “If you’ll vote for me….”!
Yes, lying and falsehood are common – but we are called to a high standard of honesty! The Bible illustrates a wide variety of “false witness.”
THE “LITTLE WHITE LIE”: Sometimes people will engage in what they call a “half-truth.” There are two problems with a “half-truth”: First, we generally lean on the wrong half
Second, it soils our character, weakens our integrity, and opens the door to bigger lies. Lies produce lies! The great Scottish poet Sir Walter Scott observed – “Oh! What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.” (Be honest – you thought that quote came from Gomer Pyle, didn’t you!)
The basic problem with a “little white lie” is not the amount (how big it is) but the attitude (that the truth is not sufficient).
Psalm 119:26 “Keep me from deceitful ways”
FLATTERY: Here’s a form of dishonesty that we don’t often think about, but the Bible repeatedly condemns it!
• Proverbs 26:28 “A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin”
• Psalm 12:3 is even stronger: “May the Lord cut off all flattering lips”
• 1 Thessalonians 2:5 “You know we never used flattery”
Flattery is the opposite of encouragement: when we encourage, we build someone up for THEIR good – when we flatter, we butter them up for OUR benefit! Flattery is a sin because it’s a lie – it is what Ken Durham has called “counterfeit caring” (Speaking From The Heart, p. 43). Flattery is a form of “false witness,” and like all dishonesty it has the unintended effect of creating doubt and distrust. I want someone to tell it to me straight”: Proverbs 27:5-6 “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. The kisses of an enemy may be profuse, but faithful are the wounds of a friend.”
NOTE: this does not mean we are to be hateful or tactless! When someone begins, “Let me be brutally frank”…… I generally know I’m the one who’s going to hurt, not him! Correction must always be accompanied by caring: the rule of thumb is never point out another’s faults unless it genuinely grieves you to do so! We are to neither flatter our friend nor flatten then: we are to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15).
CHRISTIANS ARE TO BE A PEOPLE OF THEIR WORD!
READ Matthew 5:33-37 If we had time we could talk about the legalism of the Pharisees, and their hairsplitting over the exact oaths they considered binding, and the degrees of oaths, etc. (see Jesus’ discussion of this in Matthew 23:16-22) – but rather consider how sad and pathetic is this whole practice of individuals having to “swear” to confirm their statements!
A.M. Hunter wrote that “oaths arise because men are so often liars.” “I swear to God,” “Cross my heart and hope to die,” “If I’m lying I’m dying,” “I swear on my mother’s grave.” When a man uses those oaths to confirm his statement, do you know what he is really saying? “Ordinarily you can’t trust me, but this time is different”!
The real issue is not the confirmation but character: after all, Jesus taught that we are what we say (Matthew 12:33-37).
We are to be the kind of people who don’t have to “swear” –
because the whole tenor of our life will demonstrate us to be
people who are honest, dependable, trustworthy. We are to be people of our word – our word is our bond – we should say what we mean and mean what we say.
There are some people whose word is rock solid – if they tell me something, I know I can take it to the bank. There are others who, if they came in soaking wet and told me it was raining outside, I’d go to the window and look to make sure.
Friends, guard your honesty – because when you do, you guard your integrity, your character!
“This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as night the day,
Thou canst not be false to any man.”
(Hamlet, I, iii, 75)
Dan Williams