Pastoral Letters

Be a Truthful Person

February 20, 2022 Author:Elder Liu Kerh Li
Recently, the Committee of Privileges released an investigative report regarding a certain party lying to the House in Parliament. The report included recommendations on the penalty towards the leader for lying. The course of investigation also exposed how the leader and members of its party covered up their lies. This opened up an investigation for the said party leader. No doubt, this had caused quite a stir in the Singapore political arena. The party member that had initially lied in parliament may have added in falsehood to strengthen her case, thinking that it was harmless. Yet this “little” lie not only ended her political career, but it threw the party to which she belonged into a crisis. Setting aside the various political factors attached to this case, the reason why the situation is now so grave is because lies destroy the integrity of this member of parliament and her party. Lies corrupt the moral foundation that the party needed to represent and govern the people. They broke the trust between the advocates and the public. Some may think that a small lie would not have caused such damage. Why make a mountain out of a mole hill. Afterall, foreign politicians lie with a straight face. This is precisely the heart of the problem. Due to the lies of the politicians, many countries’ government had lost the trust of her people. Ultimately, those who suffer from this are the citizens. Hence, integrity of members of parliament and taking lying seriously are necessary.

There’s an English saying, “Honesty is the best policy.” Honesty is the best strategy in protecting our own interest. This is well proven in this issue that happened in Parliament. But Christians take lying seriously due to a more important reason. “The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy” (Prov 12:22) Christians cannot tell lies because God hates lies. The reason is that simple. The ten commandments God gave to the Israelites also includes a commandment that warns us not to give false testimonies (Exod 20:16).

I believe our brothers and sisters in Christ know that lying is wrong.  But we still lie at times, intentionally or not. Sometimes lies slip out of us in moments of hurry, just so that we could avoid unnecessary troubles. Other times, we could have told a little white lie to keep us from hurting people’s feelings. And of course, there are people, including cults, who lie for the purpose of hurting others. Regardless of your reason for telling a lie, the act of lying is wrong. Jesus was once involved in a debate with a non-believing Jew, and He referred to the devil as the “father of lies” (John 8:44).  When we are accustomed to lying, or using lies to solve problems, we are no different from the devil. Moreover, lies would one day be exposed. This is especially so for Christians—God will discipline you and expose your lies. “Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbour, for we are all members of one body” (Eph 4:25). The way to overcome lies is to speak the truth. When we speak the truth, we do not need to make up stories to cover up our lies. We would not worry about facing the consequences of being exposed. But speaking the truth sometimes require courage. This is especially so when we make a mistake, we need courage to confess. This is also the case when we know that after telling the truth, the person might get angry or feel hurt.

Truly, this is not an easy thing to do.  But since telling the truth is what expects of us, God will surely help you. Ephesians 4:15 says, “speak  the truth in love.” May the Lord help us, that when we speak the truth to counsel others, we will do so with gentle words that express our love anc concern. Being honest does not mean that we speak without considering the consequences. On the contrary, the fact that we know the consequences of our words demands that we be truthful and careful in expressing them. Being truthful also does mean we say everything we know. When a third party tries to find out private matters of others from you, unless necessary, if not, you should not reveal everything you know. This involves the other person’s rights to know. Another related matter is consistency between one’s speech and actions: Do what you said, and say what you do. Do not be a hypocrite. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees precisely for their hypocrisy (Matthew 5-7). Let us be people of honest actions.