the basic message #E224

12/17/03

Can you imagine a world in which people tell the truth every time?  Some of you might think that telling the truth has as many bad qualities as good ones, but  I think not.  When is the truth usually unwelcome?  It seems to me that in a world where lying is common, truth sticks out like a sore thumb.  I can't tell you the number of times I've attended business meetings in which the group lied the whole time.  Lied about commitment to a program- lied about pledging support to an individual or a concept- lied about big and small things.  If the boss has a lame-brained idea and all of the "yes men" mindlessly shout, "Great idea, JP!", then guess who sticks out like a sore thumb?  You guessed it, the guy who tells the boss the truth.  

I once worked for a man that apparently liked "yes men".  He used to get very frustrated when I'd tell him the truth.  I remember him once telling me that he didn't like some of the comments I made.  My advise to him was simple and direct: "Boss, if you're man enough to ask the question, I'm man enough to give you the answer.  If you get to the point where the answer is too much for you to handle, quit asking the question."  Several months later he called me into his office and fired me.  After he told me that he was firing me, I let it sink it for a moment while considering how to react.  I figured that since I was fired, I had nothing to lose, so I laid into him.  I told him what I thought about all of his yes men, I told him that I mistakenly thought he was my friend, and the list went on and on.  When I finished, he said, "John, I'm really sorry about this, will you stay on?"  I still believe today that if I had cowered or cried or went to pieces I would have remained fired.  What brought the boss back around was a solid dose of the truth.  It is to his credit that truth reawakened him from his slumber.

The biggest lie going these days is coming from the "God bless you brother" crowd that will take advantage of others in a heartbeat.  I recall one fellow whose voicemail message ended with a "and have a blessed day", along with other religious messages on his computer screensaver.  As it turned out, the guy was on the take with various vendors doing business with his company, even to the point of being "fixed up" with women and hotel rooms.  If a non-Christian worked with him, what do you think that person thought of Christianity?  If all Christians took on a "If I say it, I live it" mentality, the world would be a much better place.  

If a lie gets repeated enough times, it becomes "truth" simply due to the repetition.  If the message continually coming from the pulpit is "give 10% of your money to the church and God will return it 10 times over", then that lie becomes fact.  Men like Ken Copeland and Creflo Dollar, among others, can't preach a sermon without promising "stuff" to the congregation and TV audience if they will "dig deep and give all they can".  Is God blessing Copeland and Dollar?  If you get a look at their lifestyles you will see that they are indeed living high on the hog, but is that money coming from God, or people who are gullible to give all they have?  Please don't misunderstand- God promises blessings to his people, but God will never allow himself to be put in a position in which you give a hundred dollars and then get back a thousand in a week, or a month or a year.  Think about it for a second- if God promised in the Bible that you could get back your investment 10 times over in a predetermined period of time, there would be no need for Wall Street.  I'm serious- since we're a "Christian Nation", the bulk of our country could simply put a chunk of money in the collection plate and wait for the return.  For those of you who already believe that happens, check to see if your pastor has a 401K or other retirement fund.  If he does, then obviously he doesn't believe it.  I don't want to get too far off track here, but the messages I hear on tithing are nearly always biased and skewed.  If you want a completely fresh view on tithing with the scriptural references to back it up, email me.

So if you're a Christian, what can you do to help turn around this epidemic?  It's really very simple, just be very conscious of what you say and do as a follower of Christ.  I fail at this every day, but I continue to reexamine my life and get back in the game better and stronger.  It's important to know that getting better and stronger can't be accomplished with our own abilities.  When we go to God in prayer, and I do mean real prayer, not some sort of phony stuff, God will send the Holy Spirit into our lives as his agent to help rid us of the negative habits that weaken our witness.  Don't expect to have a perfect life in a week, month or year.  This process takes time, and you must understand that once you declare to yourself and God that you're ready to have your life cleansed you will very quickly have a visitor in your life.  Satan will work very hard to discourage you and try to make you fail.  Satan is the embodiment of a lie, since his name means "deceiver".  Many of you think you don't have to worry about Satan.  For those of you who believe this, may I pose a question?  Have you lied today?  If so, Satan might be more entrenched in your life than you think.