By: Pastor Jack Schneider
“Little children,
let us not only love in words or in talk, but let us put our love in action and
in truth. This is how we will know that we are living in the truth and how we
will reassure our hearts before Him: whenever our conscience condemns us, God is
greater than our conscience, and He knows everything.” [1
Jn.3:18-20, GWN]
Experts claim they can
tell when people are lying, based on body language, voice inflection and other
subtle clues. A recent TV drama series had modest success using the same premise,
making me wonder if watchers were captivated each week by the story line or the
possibility they could learn something new -- a way, perhaps, to “beat the
system”?
Well, it now appears
that, for a significant time, cycling legend Lance Armstrong did exactly that:
beat the system, both by cheating the rules and then by lying about it -- and
quite effectively, in fact. His
deceptions went undetected for years, but not unsuspected. Now, at long last,
he has admitted he was not living in truth.
Nor, apparently, was
Monti Te’o, the young man who finished second in this year’s football Heisman
Trophy Award voting. His hard-luck story
of a dying girlfriend resonated with all of us, but there was a problem. We’ve learned she never existed. While it remains to be seen how he could be
drawn unaware into this hoax, the facts are not all in. In the meantime, his character has already
been tarnished for not living in the truth.
It’s all too easy to
stretch the truth, to tell a fib, slip into a little white lie, or even to flat
out, deliberately state what we know is false. Sadly, it can become gossip,
slander against another, and even libelous; these are sins of the tongue with
legal ramifications as well as spiritual. They deserve to be confronted, and
must be. But John speaks here of another
level of untruth -- our lives and our love. Don’t just say we love Christ --
prove it! Put it into action! Be consistent, John writes; whoever loves Christ
must also love his/her brother and neighbor, especially those in need.
Make no mistake, we are
indeed called to address the temporal needs of our brothers and sisters; that
is the gist of John’s call, along with his warning to treat one another with
humility. Yet we must never forget there is no greater need than for those who
do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and there is no greater untruth
than for those of us who know Christ to do nothing to share Him with them.
“You
are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. In the same way,
let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise
your Father in heaven.” [Mt.5:14,16]
- Jack
