“But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth
or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,”
lest you fall into judgment.”
let
your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’
Isn’t it funny that the phrases,
“I’m not gonna lie”, and “to tell you the truth…” are so popular? In my head I invariably, (sarcastically), respond, “Oh really? Are you stating
that because you usually lie?” Here is
the most “liked” urban dictionary definition of the statement: a phrase used to add to any sentence which
you never need to lie in.[1] Terrible grammar aside, I think the
definition reveals something about our culture.
The implied meaning in the definition is that sometimes you need to lie. How did we get here? Have Christians bought into this mindset?
In the Old Testament, the third
of the Ten Commandments is, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God
in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name is vain.”(Ex.20:7) In its cultural context this refers to
perjury, also known as foreswearing.
That is, a willful act of swearing a false oath to tell the truth. Over the years, some people recognized the
seriousness of swearing to/by God, so they changed the phrasing to ‘by heaven’,
and even later, ‘scouts honor’. (J)
But Jesus, radical as He is,
recommended an even higher standard in saying, “…let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’, and
your ’No’, ‘No’”. (Matt.5:37) It seems that His intention is that
His followers would be known to be people of their word, in no way deceiving
others. Is it often that people ask you
if you are really telling the truth? If so, it says something about their
perception of your truth index.
F.F.Bruce continues with the
last part of the Matthew 5:37 verse:
‘Anything more than this’, said Jesus, ‘comes of evil’; that
is to say, the idea that a man or woman can be trusted to speak the truth only
when under oath (if even then) springs from dishonesty and suspicion, tends to
weaken mutual confidence in the exchanges of everyday life. No one demands an oath from those whose word
is known to be their bond; even a solemn oath on the lips of others tends to be
taken with a grain of salt.[2]
What
is your mindset? Are you a person of
your word? If this has not been the
case, it may take time to establish credibility. Humility and repentance pave the way for
honesty and integrity, so do not lose heart if you have failed in the past. Today is a new day—go with God.
Read
and Pray: Eccl. 5:1-5, Zech.8:16-17, Matthew 5:33-37, Ephesians
4:25
No comments:
Post a Comment