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| A truthful witness does not deceive, but a false witness pours out lies. |
| —Proverbs 14:5 |
| Five days later the high priest Ananias went down to Caesarea with some of the elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, and they brought their charges against Paul before the governor. When Paul was called in, Tertullus presented his case before Felix: “We have enjoyed a long period of peace under you, and your foresight has brought about reforms in this nation. Everywhere and in every way, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with profound gratitude. But in order not to weary you further, I would request that you be kind enough to hear us briefly. “We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect and even tried to desecrate the temple; so we seized him. By examining him yourself you will be able to learn the truth about all these charges we are bringing against him.” The Jews joined in the accusation, asserting that these things were true. When the governor motioned for him to speak, Paul replied: “I know that for a number of years you have been a judge over this nation; so I gladly make my defense. You can easily verify that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. My accusers did not find me arguing with anyone at the temple, or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city. And they cannot prove to you the charges they are now making against me. However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, and I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.” |
| —Acts 24:1-16 |
Once again, at the beginning of another blog post, I want to very respectfully ask you to think back over the course of your life. For some of you, that may take a bit longer than it does for others. I know, in my own case, I have to search through more than seven decades to cover that span of time.
During your life, have you ever been rewarded for being good?
When I was a little boy, there were two places where little boys were likely to receive a reward for being on their best behavior. One was at the doctor’s office, and the other was at the barber shop. When my mom would take me to the doctor’s office so he could give me a checkup, the doctor would listen to my heart. He would look into my ears, nose, and throat. He would shine his little flashlight into my eyes. He would poke me a little bit on my chest and tummy.
If I endured all the doctor’s looking and poking without crying or squirming, when I went back out into the waiting room, the nurse would give me a lollipop. You know, a piece of candy on a stick.
When mom would take me to the barber shop to get a haircut, the barber would put this booster seat on the barber’s chair and my mom would lift me up onto that little seat resting on the big chair. You know that big chair—the one that turns around and around.
Then, the barber would put a narrow band of tissue-like paper around my neck and then tie big cloth around my neck that covered all of my small body in order to catch the little hairs he would cut off my head. Next, he would comb my hair and take the electric razor and cut around my neck and side of my head. He would then take his scissors and snip, snip, snip away at the hairs on the top and sides of my head. Finally, he would make a few minor adjustments to my haircut, brush me off with a camel’s hair brush, and remove the protective cloth and the narrow band of paper.
If I would endure all of those buzzes and snips without moving around too much, when the barber was finished and my mom would lift me out of the barber’s chair and set my feet on the floor, the barber would let me choose a lollipop from a big basket.
Do you remember the neat thing about lollipops? Surely you do. You can tell the flavor by the color. Red lollipops taste like cherries. Purple ones taste like grapes. Orange ones taste like oranges. And, yellow ones taste like lemons.
You know what would be really silly? It would be really silly if, on purpose, just to be mean, someone mixed up the colors and the flavors.
You would pick out a yellow lollipop expecting it to taste like a lemon, and it would taste like grapes. Or, you would select a red lollipop expecting it to taste like cherries, and it would taste like oranges. That would be really silly, wouldn’t it?
The person who would mix up the colors and the flavors just to be mean would be doing a really bad thing. He or she would be telling a kind of lie. He or she would be “deceiving” us. He or she would be deliberately trying to trick us.
Some people seem to lie as much as they tell the truth. In fact, some people seem to have developed such a pattern of lying that they will twist and turn the smallest detail to produce the outcome they want—always focusing attention on themselves. Or, they will always tell a story in a way that favors their own reputation. These are all forms of lying.
When we love someone, we don’t lie to him or her. When we love someone—really love that one—we always want to tell him or her the truth.
That’s the way God treats you and me. God really loves us. He loves us so much that he sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Savior. Because God loves us so much, the most important thing we can do is to love Him right back. And, because we love God, we always want to tell the truth. Telling the truth—always telling the truth—is one way that we show God we love him.
Wise people stay alert for lies. They never let their guard down. No matter who speaks to them, they always receive information and filter it looking for possible lies. This is particularly important for people who hold positions of responsibility. God gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit to help us tell the difference between the truth and lies.
God also teaches us in His written Word that we must insist on information coming from “first sources.” So, in receiving information—especially information about some other person or event—insist on obtaining that information from first sources. Never, never, never take the word of someone else about something important. Find out for yourself what’s true and what’s not.
In the Scripture passage from Acts 24 at the beginning of this blog post, the Jewish leaders had accused the Apostle Paul and told lies about him to the Roman Governor, Felix. But, Felix wisely insisted on hearing directly from Paul. Felix did not rely on what the Jewish leaders had told him about what Paul had supposedly done or said. Rather, Felix insisted that he would rely only on first sources. Upon hearing charges against Paul, Felix went directly to Paul and gave Paul the opportunity to explain. Felix did not pass judgment until he had heard directly from Paul.
In a sentence, what I’m trying to convey: “Wise leaders always keep watch for the truth by insisting that information comes to them only from first sources.” Let me say that again. “Wise leaders always keep watch for the truth by insisting that information comes to them only from first sources.”
