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Allow me to harp on a rare virtue: Truth-telling.
How boring! Lies are much more exciting. Cheaters and adulterers are far more interesting, especially when they are public servants or celebrities. They even become heroic if they can manage to get criticized by us religious extremists. Perjurers are not nearly as irritating as those of us who harp on the truth.
Amos the irritating prophet, described such a situation perfectly over 2,750 years ago; “You hate the one who reproves in court and despise him who tells the truth.” (Amos 5:10). Bashing honest prosecutors is an ancient sport.
Jean Rousseau wrote, “Truth is no road to fortune.” Indeed, the money-trail is seldom a truth-trail. Following truth can be hazardous. It rarely wins elections. In 1918, Eugene Debs said, “The truth has always been dangerous to the rule of the rouge.” Yes, truth has a long history of falling on hard times.
Am I harping yet?
The Bible is rather rough on liars. No less than two of the seven deadly sins in Proverbs 6:16-19 are sins against the truth. Liars make up the “synagogue of Satan” (Revelation 3:9). Their place will be in the “fiery lake of burning sulfur” (Revelation 21:8). Lying is the devil’s “native language.” In fact, the devil is the “father of lies” (John 8:44). Paul associates liars with murderers, adulterers, perverts, slave traders and perjurers (1 Timothy 1:10). The most telling text of all tells us: “A lying tongue hates those it hurts.” (Proverbs 26:28). Don’t be shocked when this hate flows forth amid smooth words of comfort and compassion.
Truth was dangerous for Jesus. Nothing outraged Jesus more than hypocrisy. No one outraged the hypocrites more than Jesus. His accusers got tired of being harped at by Jesus in public. They had him executed on a cross.
Harping is hazardous to one’s popularity, to say the least.
You may be asking the question Pilate asked Jesus before condemning him: “What is truth?” (John 18:38). Pilate’s question, in context, deserved no answer and Jesus offered none since Pilate turned his back and walked away after posing his question. He was no truth seeker. He was a people-pleaser.
I must take a break from my harping and emphasize that God loves liars as much or more than He hates lies. Lies destroy lives. Liars need forgiveness. The truth is that if we honestly repent, the grace of God will be lavished upon our post-lying hearts. This is the only known cure.
Now, back to my harping.
Step one: love the truth. Pascal said that those who do not love the truth cannot know it. A preacher’s first duty is to promote this love. I know that harping gives us preachers a bad name. However, the top ten harpers of all time, in my view, all had Bible books named after them. They did their duty.
Step two: keep loving the truth, even when it hurts.
Truth is not the mystery we make it. It is for children (of all ages). The greatest thing parents (and teachers) can do is to teach their children (or students) to tell the truth. If they fail, we all fail. If our children cannot answer Pilate’s question, it’s time to harp.
Joel Mark Solliday, B.A., M.Div., is the editor of Campus CrossWalk and the pulpit minister of the Northern Light Church of Christ in Minnesota. He earned his M.Div. at Fuller Theological Seminary and has worked at Pepperdine and ACU. His lovely wife Katie is a junior high school teacher.
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