Thinking Out Loud, Volume CCCIX

Can a person be dishonest and still be considered an honest person? In other words, can an honest person still get away with telling a few little lies? Do you ever have situations in your life when lying is the best policy? Are you honest? Do you ever lie? I'm not much of a movie person, but I remember one night a few years ago when I was on a cross-country flight, I watched a movie called "Liar Liar." In this picture, there was a little boy who made a wish that his dad would not be able to tell a lie, and his wish came true. From that moment on, everything the dad said was the honest truth. That picture was a comedy that was produced solely for entertainment, but it got me to thinking about how I've been guilty of telling some "innocent little lies." It brought to my mind the time several years prior when our pastor at the time called a seven-day fast at our church, but it was not a food fast; it was a sin fast. We had to go a whole week without committing any type of sin whatsoever. I remember thinking, "What kind of fast is this? This is gonna be easy." Wrong! I've always considered myself an honest person, but by the end of that week, I came away with a whole different opinion of what kind of person I really was, and I realized that I had been guilty of not always being completely truthful when a "little white lie" might sound better.

How do think you would've done? Let's give ourselves a little test to see how we would fare: We'll pretend that God put some invisible bells above our heads that ring every time we say something that's not true. Listed below are some typical statements that most of us make on a regular basis:

"Hi, George. It's good to see you." Ding Ding Ding
"If my kid did that, I'd wear her little tail out." Ding Ding Ding
"Don't apologize for saying that. I didn't give it a second thought." Ding Ding Ding
"I'll be helping you pray about that." Ding Ding Ding
"That short haircut looks cute on you." Ding Ding Ding
"I wasn't looking at her. I don't even know what color she had on." Ding Ding Ding
"No, you didn't wake me up." Ding Ding Ding
"No, I'm not buying you that candy. I don't have any money." Ding Ding Ding

So, how did you do? Are you guilty of any of those lies? In practically all of those situations, the lie would be a lot easier to tell than the truth. Let's examine it from the other side of the equation. Do you want other people to always be perfectly honest with you? You know, we can help them be more honest with us by not putting them in a situation where they feel that they need to lie. For example, maybe we shouldn't ask questions like, "How did you like my casserole?" I remember one friend who was very generous with her criticism of others, and one day she asked me, "Don't you want to know how I feel?" Well....no I didn't, but I lied and said, "Yeah, I guess." How would you have answered that question? Good conversation with family and friends can be a pleasurable experience, especially when we keep more of our opinions to ourselves and refrain from asking questions that put someone else on the spot. As Americans, we have the right to remain silent. Maybe we should exercise that right a little more often.

Preston