uths or perhaps tell the “little white” lie. Jesus, however, encouraged us to simply let our yes be yes and our no be no (Matthew 5:37). Jesus gave this teaching in the context of a discussion about swearing oaths. I think that what he was getting at is that should we aim to be truthful people and aim for truthfulness in every word there would be no need for swearing oaths, or making special declarations to guarantee truthfulness. He was challenging us to be truthful people full of honesty and integrity. It may not be easy, but it is a worthy pursuit. Can people trust us to tell the truth? Can they trust us to tell it like it is in a loving compassionate manner? Can they trust us not to hide things in fine print? Can they trust us to have integrity?
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Easy-Bake Oven
My niece came to the hospital a few days ago to visit my son. Seeing as Christmas is approaching the conversation turned to what people were asking for for Christmas. My niece said that she wanted an Easy-Bake Oven. These toys have been around since 1963 and are apparently still popular today. I remember reading something about the name Easy-Bake and that it was originally named a Safety-Bake oven but television broadcasters were not convinced about its safety and that prompted a name change. I remember thinking that if there were safety concerns, shouldn't they have suggested changing more than just the name? Now I don’t know if this story is true or not (and there have been many new models between 1963 and 2008 so don't let this blog affect your Christmas shopping) but it did get me thinking about honesty, integrity and truthfulness. I am sure that many of us look at advertising or politics for example and think that, although technically the truth is told, that there is a least some duplicity or integrity issues at play. The “truth” being told is carefully sculpted and crafted. If, however, we were to honestly asses our own actions and words, we are often tempted to do much the same. We can massage the truth to our own benefit or to avoid trouble, tell half tr
uths or perhaps tell the “little white” lie. Jesus, however, encouraged us to simply let our yes be yes and our no be no (Matthew 5:37). Jesus gave this teaching in the context of a discussion about swearing oaths. I think that what he was getting at is that should we aim to be truthful people and aim for truthfulness in every word there would be no need for swearing oaths, or making special declarations to guarantee truthfulness. He was challenging us to be truthful people full of honesty and integrity. It may not be easy, but it is a worthy pursuit. Can people trust us to tell the truth? Can they trust us to tell it like it is in a loving compassionate manner? Can they trust us not to hide things in fine print? Can they trust us to have integrity?
uths or perhaps tell the “little white” lie. Jesus, however, encouraged us to simply let our yes be yes and our no be no (Matthew 5:37). Jesus gave this teaching in the context of a discussion about swearing oaths. I think that what he was getting at is that should we aim to be truthful people and aim for truthfulness in every word there would be no need for swearing oaths, or making special declarations to guarantee truthfulness. He was challenging us to be truthful people full of honesty and integrity. It may not be easy, but it is a worthy pursuit. Can people trust us to tell the truth? Can they trust us to tell it like it is in a loving compassionate manner? Can they trust us not to hide things in fine print? Can they trust us to have integrity?
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