Truth Bearer?

"If you are of the truth, if you have learned the truth, if you see the sanctity of the truth, then speak truth. We are not called to be deceivers or liars. God is a God of truth, and His people are called to have an enormously high standard of truth." -R.C. Sproul

"Truth has no degrees or shades. A half truth is a whole lie, and a white lie is really black." -John MacArthur

I was recently thinking about the truth, the truth spoken from our mouths. I guess the reality is that most people have come to believe that lying, even small lies, are okay, not that big of a deal and can just be glazed over, but is that really what God's word says? James 3 is a powerful passage on the tongue and the truth behind the fire that it blazes. "And the tongue is a fire, a world of righteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell" (James 3:6). When did it become okay to tell half truths, when was it acceptable among Christians to lie to make someone feel better, or to omit truth in certain contexts? When did we decide to determine what was acceptable before a holy God and what was permissable in our own lives?

I guess I am foremost speaking to myself when I say all this, I have come to realize that although I would never have said I am a liar or that I struggle with lying, my speech and conduct don't always reveal that. Thinking back on the past week, how many times have I exaggerated, smoothed things over with a white lie, or not told the whole truth to make myself look better or to make a situation seem a certain way? I can't say it has never happend because the truth is it has, and often times it has happened as a practice, in other words I do it without even realizing I am doing it...that is scary! John MacArthur said it well, "Satan is the prince of this world, and since he not only is a liar himself but also "the father of lies" (John 8:44), it should not be surprising that the system he heads is characterized by lying... Our whole society is largely built on a network of fabrication, of manufactured "truth." We shade truth, we cheat, we exaggerate, we misrepresent income tax deductions, we make promises we have no intention of keeping, we make up excuses, and betray confidences - all as a matter of normal, everyday living."

As we read on James 3 it becomes obvious that with the same tongue that we sing praises to the Lord with, or tell of His wonderful deeds, is the same tongue that we curse with, make false promises to, and say things that are exaggerations or just plain lies...how can this be? Christians of all people need to be a people marked by Truth because we have the absolute TRUTH in the Word of God. If our lives are marked by half-truths, unkept promises, and white lies how can we be taken seriously when we share the real Truth of the Gospel? When I began to think of it that way, I began to realize the weight of the situation. I want to represent God in all areas of my life, especially in the area of my tongue, because it is there that I will represent the Truth of the Gospel as well in the most outright way.

May we as Christians strive to reign our tongues by the power of the Lord, may we listen to the conviction of the Spirit and respond, may we speak truth no matter what the cost, and may that give us the authority to preach the Gospel wherever we go!

"Think about how much falsehood and deceit there is in the world! How much exaggeration! How many untruths are added to a simple story! How many things are left out, if it does not serve the speaker's interest to tell them! How few there are around us of whom we can say, that we trust their word without question!" -J.C. Ryle