September 10, 2013

Proverbs 12:22 — Lying lips are abomination to the Lord : but they that deal truly are his delight.
John 8:44 – Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

I had a really nice slim stylus to use with my iPad. Sadly, I misplaced it. While I was at the airport today I saw a store selling all kinds of iPad accessories, so I thought I would get a replacement. The only ones in the store were big and clunky, so I told the assistant what I was looking for, and asked if they had such a thing. “Oh no,” he answered, “they don’t make them because slim ones don’t work with iPads.” Such a stupid pointless lie! Had I not told him that I was looking to replace one that I had before? For the remote possibility of making a very small sale, he was willing to make him self foolish with a silly lie.
Now perhaps you think I’m making a lot of a trivial incident … and maybe I am, but I think the “trivial” incident is a symptom of a big problem. And (may I be forgiven for my presumption). I think God might see it the same way! The verses at the head of this devotion give clear confirmation. We seem to have become a society — one of many perhaps — in which lying is seen as part of the normal fabric of communication. The disease seems to spread across all age groups and all walks of life. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a politician making promises he has no intention of keeping, a saleslady cheating on her expenses or a student “inflating” a grade. Wherever you look dishonesty is endemic. Not very long ago the justices of the Supreme Court even declared that a man lying about having been awarded the Medal of Honor was entitled to constitutional protection!
The decline of truth is no new thing but I continue to be shocked by “little” instances like the one I ran into today. How does this come about? Every child will tell a lie, sooner or later. Parental correction often (but not always) follows. But it seems that as those children grow up the penalties for lying become relatively less significant.
Parental correction is not always matched by parental example. In the same way those who are supposed to be the leaders of the nation or, at least influencers of social trends, provide no good examples — no strong leadership. The lie has become regarded as a legitimate political and business tool.
Popular entertainment is another element. Actors are regularly asked to portray characters whose success depends on deceit. Often those characters are the most popular!
I suppose I’m crying at the wind, but I long for the return of the days when being caught in a lie was cause for the deepest shame. Let’s call out the liars!