 "Thou shalt not bear false witness" I can't think of a period in my life when people have been so sarcastic and suspicious. What happened? How did we get this cynical? The rock group The Who sang a song titled, "Won't Get Fooled Again." In this song a whole generation seemed to find words to express the rage that was building because of the phenomenon that came to be known as the "credibility gap." In short, the term means that there exists a gap between what people say and what is true. We use all sorts of euphemisms, "fibbed," "inflated the data," "So and so prevaricated." "It all depends on what your definition of the term 'is' is." In an election year it seems to be heightened. We are fast becoming a society in which the very concept of truth is meaningless. Beyond the obvious ones, there are many consequences to this unfortunate climate of mistrust. Our financial life in tenuous, our children are taught very early on to lie and hide their lies. And our leaders have no credibility, here or abroad. The big problem comes when we must know if someone's word is reliable. Recently, I saw a documentary about the Cuban Missile Crisis. Some of you will remember that we came within hours of a nuclear war. At the height of the crisis, President Kennedy had a special phone line installed that connected directly with the Kremlin. He knew that there had to be the clearest communications possible if we were to survive that crisis. As we get into the Word, let us approach this subject with the attention it deserves. We, of all people, must have a love for truth. We, above all people, must be known to be people whose word means something. Pastor Jim |
