Honesty in Christian preaching emphasizes truthfulness and integrity as reflections of God's character, promoting trust and righteousness in relationships (Ephesians 4:25). Illustrations often depict honesty as a valuable treasure or a clear mirror, highlighting its advantages like a good reputation and divine favor (Proverbs 12:22).
Honesty can bring unexpected rewards and a good reputation.
A beggar asking Dr. Smollet for alms, he gave him, through mistake, a guinea. The poor fellow, on perceiving it, hobbled after him to return it; upon which, Smollet returned it to him, with another guinea as a reward for his honesty, exclaiming at the same time, "What a lodging has honesty taken up with!"
Falsehood is exposed when a woman lies to gain money from Spurgeon.
One day, in the year 1887, a woman met Mr. Spurgeon, as he was entering the Tabernacle, hoping to get money from him. She was one of the canting tribe. "I remember hearing your dear voice more than forty years ago," she said. "Heard my voice forty years ago! Where was that?" "You were preaching at the bottom of Pentonville Hill, near where Mr. Sawday's chapel is." "Well," said Mr. Spurgeon, "was it not more than forty years ago?" "Yes," she said, "it might be fifty." "Oh," said he, "I suppose I was quite young then." "Oh, yes! you were such a dear young man." That, of course, was a needless assurance, but he ventured to think that she was not quite so sure of his dearness when he told her that he had never preached at the bottom of Pentonville Hill, and that fifty years ago he was only three years old, adding that it was a shameful thing for her to suppose that he would give her money for telling falsehoods. She was very soon missing.
True honesty involves confessing sin and seeking forgiveness through Christ.
The Chinese trader who put over his shops, "No cheatee here," turned out to be the biggest rogue in the street. If you are honest you will confess you have sinned, and then you will come to Jesus for that remission of sins, which comes through His sacrifice.
An alibi can be a false excuse that hides the truth, illustrating integrity's importance.
A distinguished jurist once sat down to a course dinner. He had been waited on by one servant during two courses. He had had the soup. Another servant came to him and said, “Sir, shall I take your order? Will you have some of the chicken soup?” “No, sir; I have been served with chicken soup, but the chicken proved an alibi.”
— GEORGE M. PALMER
Dishonest business practices harm others and are morally equivalent to cheating in sports.
Your prize-fighter has some honor in him yet; and so have the men in the ring round him: they will judge him to lose the match by foul hitting. But your prize-merchant gains his match by foul selling, and no one cries out against that. You drive a gambler out of the gambling-room who loads dice, but you leave a tradesman in flourishing business who loads scales! For observe, all dishonest dealing is loading scales. What difference does it make whether I get short weight, adulterate substance, or dishonest fabric?--unless that flaw in the substance or fabric is the worse evil of the two. Give me short measure of food, and I only lose by you; but give me adulterate food and I die by you.
— JOHN RUSKIN
Dishonesty can be the barrier preventing a person from embracing a Christian life.
Once D. L. Moody was talking to a man who sold soap which he claimed would do all kinds of remarkable things, including the removing of spots caused by grease. The man was, nevertheless, very perturbed, and at last he told Mr. Moody what his trouble was. “The soap accomplishes all that I assert; but the truth is that it also rots all the clothes which it washes. If I become a Christian, I shall have to give up my business, and I can not bring myself to do that.” The evangelist used to say that it was only soap which stood between this man and a Christian life. (Text.)
Honesty in business leads to lasting success and wealth.
See BARGAIN DISCOUNTENANCED; CHRISTIAN HONESTY.
HONESTY IN BUSINESS
The story is told of a young merchant who, beginning business some fifty years ago, overheard one day a clerk’s misrepresenting the quality of some merchandise. He was instantly reprimanded and the article was unsold. The clerk resigned his position at once, and told his employer that the man who did business that way could not last long. But the merchant did last, and but lately died the possessor of the largest wealth ever gathered in a single lifetime.
— NOAH HUNT SCHENCK
Surface honesty can fail when opportunity for wrongdoing arises.
In his “Among the Wild Tribes of the Afghan Frontier,” Dr. T. L. Tennell tells of an escort of two villainous-looking Afghans who had him in charge in turning back to Bannee from a journey across the frontier. They had paid him the greatest attention and brought him safely home. When he offered to reward them for their good conduct in guarding him and his belongings, they repelled the offer with a show of indignation, adding that to accept money from a guest would be to break their best traditions. But next morning, after he had entertained them generously overnight, and sent them off with many expressions of appreciation of their faithfulness, he found that they had decamped with all his best clothes. Their honesty did not survive the night.
Choosing honesty over gain leads to long-term success and trustworthiness.
A merchant required an additional clerk and advertised for a boy. The first boy that answered was ushered into a vacant room, and told to sit in a particular chair and wait. Looking around, he saw upon the floor, just by the chair, a one-dollar bill, folded closely, as tho it had been inadvertently dropt. He picked up the bill, and satisfying his conscience that “finding is having,” even tho on another’s premises, he put it into his pocket. Almost immediately the merchant came in, and after a few questions, dismissed the boy as not satisfactory. The next boy was seated in the same chair, and he also saw a one-dollar bill lying in the same manner beside him; but he picked it up and laid it on the table. The merchant entered, and after some questions, pointed to the bill and asked where it came from. The boy said he saw it on the floor and put it where it would be safe. The merchant said, “As it did not appear to belong to any one, why did you not keep it?” The boy replied, “Because it did not belong to me.” “My boy,” said the merchant, “you have chosen the road that inevitably leads to business success. The boy before you chose the wrong one. But how did you learn that this was the right path?” The boy answered, “My mother made me promise never, under any circumstances, to take what did not belong to me; and I promised.” Later in life this boy became Secretary of the Treasury.--JAMES T. WHITE, “Character Lessons.”
People sometimes speak confidently without truly knowing their own position.
The Rochester _Democrat and Chronicle_ is responsible for the following story from Washington:
“Jadam,” said Major McDowell, the clerk of the House of Representatives, to J. Adam Bede, of Minnesota, yesterday, “that was a fine speech you made to-day, a fine speech.” “Yes, I thought it was a pretty good speech,” Mr. Bede assented modestly. “It was an extremely fine speech. It was logical and had wit in it, and was delivered with great declamatory effect. I listened to it with much pleasure.” “I am glad you liked it,” chirruped Mr. Bede. “Indeed I did,” the Major continued, “and now, if it is betraying no confidence, I’d like to ask you a question.” “Why, my dear Major,” exclaimed Bede, “of course I shall be glad to do anything I can for you. Go ahead.” “Well, Jadam,” and the Major put a fatherly hand on Bede’s shoulder. “I wish you would tell me which side of the question you are really on.”
Kindness must not override truth or loyalty to law and righteousness.
I am convinced that many glaring crimes and endless cankers of the soul are due to lack of the trained will to face the full light of truth, and even more to perplexed thinking. An Irishman in my city, to help a stupid friend, very kindly passed the civil service examination for him, swearing falsely, of course, and forging his friend’s name. He was found out and sentenced, but the body of public opinion among his set excused and even commended him because his motives were kindly, and on being released from jail he was banqueted and re-elected to the Legislature. I think there was real confusion of thought in this case, and that this confusion will continue to disgrace our political life until we can bring the growing generation to see that kindness to an individual is not to be put ahead of truth or of loyalty to the laws of the nation.--ELLA LYMAN CABOT, “Proceedings of the National Education Association,” 1909.
Outward labels can be misleading; true character and wisdom come from within.
See DAUGHTER’S ESTIMATED.
L
LABELS, MISLEADING
Not long ago this country woke up to the fact that with a good deal of our canned food we were not getting just what the colored label on the outside of the can led us to suppose. It was a shocking disillusionment to find that the label showed luscious peach jelly, when the inside of the can contained only some nicely prepared and flavored gelatine, quite innocent of any relation to peaches. The country at once had indigestion, and passed laws to keep the peaches and the labels in the neighborhood of the same can.
The labels on persons are also misleading, because one can see the label but not always the real person. The titles and degrees are supposed to be descriptive of the owner’s brains, and sometimes they are; but they are not always accurate, and they never make brains. A university might confer a B.A. or an LL.D. on a lineal descendant of Balaam’s beast of burden, and yet it would not make him wise.--JAMES M. STIFLER, “The Fighting Saint.”
A dishonest man was exposed by a test proving his false claim of injury.
In a large factory in which were employed several hundred persons, one of the workmen, in wielding his hammer, carelessly allowed it to slip from his hand. It flew half way across the room, and struck a fellow workman in the left eye. The man averred that his eye was blinded by the blow, altho a careful examination failed to reveal any injury, there being not a scratch visible. He brought a suit in the courts for compensation for the loss of half of his eyesight, and refused all offers of compromise. Under the law, the owner of the factory was responsible for an injury resulting from an accident of this kind, and altho he believed that the man was shamming, and that the whole case was an attempt at swindling, he had about made up his mind that he would be compelled to pay the claim. The day of the trial arrived, and in open court an eminent occulist retained by the defense examined the alleged injured member, and gave it as his opinion that it was as good as the right eye. Upon the plaintiff’s loud protest of his inability to see with his left eye, the occulist proved him a perjurer, and satisfied the court and jury of the falsity of his claim. And how do you suppose he did it? Why, simply by knowing that the colors green and red combined made black. He prepared a black card on which a few words were written with green ink. Then the plaintiff was ordered to put on a pair of spectacles with two different glasses, the one for the right eye being red and the one for the left eye consisting of ordinary glass. Then the card was handed him and he was ordered to read the writing on it. This he did without hesitation, and the cheat was at once exposed. The sound right eye, fitted with the red glass, was unable to distinguish the green writing on the black surface of the card, while the left eye, which he pretended was sightless, was the one with which the reading had to be done.--_Pottery Gazette._
Lies in business weaken the whole fabric, causing inevitable failure over time.
You, merchants, must not twine lies and sagacity with your threads in weaving, for every lie that is told in business is a rotten thread in the fabric, and tho it may look well when it first comes out of the loom, there will always be a hole there, first or last, when you come to wear it.
— HENRY WARD BEECHER
Truthfulness is essential; lying leads to loss of trust and punishment.
Admiral Dewey was a great stickler for truth. He has stated of himself, “There is nothing that I detest so much in a man as lying. I don’t think a man ever gained anything by telling a lie.” A blue-jacket says of him, “We had not been at sea long with him before we got next to how he despised a liar.” One of the men was brought before Dewey, and told of being “sunstruck.” “You are lying, my man,” said Dewey. “You were very drunk last night. I don’t expect to find total abstinence, but I do expect to be told the truth. Had you told me candidly that you had taken a drop too much on your liberty, you would have gone free. For lying, you get ten days in irons.”--JAMES T. WHITE, “Character Lessons.”
True honesty is shown when one admits to difficulties despite outward appearances.
In a suit lately tried in a Maryland court, the plaintiff testified that his financial position had always been a good one. The opposing counsel took him in hand for cross-examination and undertook to break down his testimony upon this point.
“Have you ever been bankrupt?” asked the counsel. “I have not.” “Now, be careful,” admonished the lawyer, with raised finger. “Did you ever stop payment?” “Yes.” “Ah, I thought we should get at the truth,” observed counsel, with an unpleasant smile. “When did this suspension of payment occur?” “When I had paid all I owed,” was the naive reply of the plaintiff.--_Success Magazine._
Dishonesty is revealed by natural consequences despite verbal denials.
* * * * *
Dr. Ogden, professor of geology at Cambridge, had taken a fancy to a lad, who had been in his service for some years, and used to manage the garden with great cleverness and skill, much to the admiration of his employer. The doctor, however, came, after a few years, to notice that his favorite cherry-tree never seemed to yield any presentable fruit in due season. At last, one year, some twelve cherries seemed to be approaching the long coveted fruition; but as the doctor was returning from a ride one day, what should he behold but these pet cherries gone! He accused the boy rather abruptly and warmly, but the latter with equal warmth replied, “I have not touched them, as true as God’s in heaven.” The doctor at once went to his closet, told the boy to wait, and gave him a strong dose of antimonial wine as a sort of treat. The boy, who was kept in some conversation, soon began to be uneasy, and wanted to go, saying he felt unwell. “No, no, my lad,” said the doctor; “sit thee still, I’ll soon make thee better of that,” and gave him a glass of warm water from a basin also at his elbow. Very soon nature was irresistible. The boy hiccuped, looked pale, and up came all the cherries.--CROAKE JAMES, “Curiosities of Law and Lawyers.”
Addressing problems directly is better than avoiding them for fear of offense.
A story of Henry Ward Beecher is told in _Christian Work_.
Mr. Beecher had been addressing an association of Congregational ministers somewhere in New York State, and when he had finished his address he said he would be glad to answer any questions if any of the younger brethren had anything that perplexed them. Immediately, a young clergyman arose and said, “Mr. Beecher, we have in our little church at ---- a very estimable man, but the moment I begin preaching he falls asleep and snores, so he disturbs the whole congregation and absolutely spoils the effect of the sermon. But he is the only rich man we have, and he is the main support of the church, and we dare not say anything to him for fear we might offend him. Now, what would you do in such a case as that?” Mr. Beecher admitted it was a puzzling situation, and then he said: “We get around it in Plymouth Church in this way: I give my sexton orders to keep close watch of the congregation, and the moment he sees any man asleep to go right up and slap me on the back.”
Trustworthiness is shown by honestly recommending only what is truly good.
“Are they fine berries?” asked a lady of the fruit-peddler, who had just rattled off the usual formula, “Blueb’ries, blackb’ries, huckleb’ries, strawb’ries.”
“Well, pretty good,” he answered. “Not so to say the best.”
“I don’t want them, then,” she answered shortly. “If you can’t recommend them yourself, they won’t suit me.” A moment later she opened the window to speak to him on the sidewalk. “You may come to-morrow, tho, or the next time that you do have nice ones. It’s something to be able to trust you to tell the truth about them.”--_Selected._
Honesty can protect and provide even in dangerous and difficult circumstances.
I remember once hearing of a boy who was very, very poor. He lived in a foreign country, and his mother said to him one day that he must go into the great city and start in business, and she took his coat and cut it open and sewed between the lining and the coat forty golden dinars, which she had saved up for many years to start him in life. She told him to take care of robbers as he went across the desert; and as he was going out of the door she said: “My boy, I have only two words for you, ‘Fear God, and never tell a lie.’” The boy started off, and toward evening he saw glittering in the distance the minarets of the great city, but between the city and himself he saw a cloud of dust; it came nearer; presently he saw that it was a band of robbers. One of the robbers left the rest and rode toward him, and said: “Boy, what have you got?” And the boy looked him in the face and said: “I have forty golden dinars sewed up in my coat.” And the robber laughed and wheeled round his horse and went away back. He would not believe the boy. Presently another robber came, and he said: “Boy, what have you got?” “Forty golden dinars sewed up in my coat.” The robber said: “The boy is a fool,” and wheeled his horse and rode away back. By and by the robber captain came, and he said: “Boy, what have you got?” “I have forty golden dinars sewed up in my coat.” And the robber dismounted and put his hand over the boy’s breast, felt something round, counted one, two, three, four, five, till he counted out the forty golden coins. He looked the boy in the face and said: “Why did you tell me that?” The boy said: “Because of God and my mother.” And the robber leaned on his spear and thought, and said: “Wait a moment.” He mounted his horse, rode back to the rest of the robbers, and came back in about five minutes with his dress changed. This time he looked not like a robber, but like a merchant. He took the boy up on his horse and said: “My boy, I have long wanted to do something for my God and for my mother, and I have this moment renounced my robber’s life. I am also a merchant. I have a large business house in the city. I want you to come and live with me, to teach me about your God; and you will be rich, and your mother some day will come and live with us.” And it all happened. (Text.)
— HENRY DRUMMOND
A guilty conscience from lying causes deep shame and lifelong abhorrence of deceit.
Dr. Edward Everett Hale said that once he dreamed of playing ball with a companion, and of throwing the ball through a large glass window, and that the owner of the house came out and asked him if he threw the ball, and he said, “No.” Then the man pounced upon his companion, saying, “Then it must have been you,” and dragged him into the house and gave him a tremendous whipping. Dr. Hale said he experienced a feeling of meanness and degradation that was inexpressible; he felt himself to be the most cowardly wretch on the face of the earth, and had not a single word to say in his own defense. He stood ashamed of himself before his own conscience. He said the impression was so vivid that he never got over the remembrance, and through life was given a loathing and abhorrence of all forms of deceit.--JAMES T. WHITE, “Character Lessons.”
It was 416 years before Christ was born. The philosopher Diogenes was making himself very unwelcome in Athens. He trudged around the city carrying a lantern while it was still daylight. His reason? He would thrust the lantern in the face of people and say, "I am looking for an honest man." He never found him.
Honesty is in short supply - especially during income tax time.
A few years ago the IRS became suspicious about a deduction claim on a pastor's income tax form. He had put down $450 for a “clerical collar.” - That's the little white band some ministers wear so they won't get speeding tickets. Even though the cost of living goes up all the time, the IRS agents thought this was a little out of line. When they brought him in to explain it, the minister said he had made an innocent mistake: the $450 should have been $4.50. Sympathetic IRS men let him pay the extra tax, plus 6 percent interest. Proof that ministers may make mistakes, but they're not bums.
Or are they? One shrewd auditor had second thoughts. He looked at the minister's past income tax returns and found that he had consistently misplaced decimals. For 3 years in a row things like $4.50 came out $450 in the deduction column. The red-faced pastor paid the added taxes, 6 percent interest - and a 50% penalty for fraud.
Many leaders feel the government has a right to lie. One of them has made an interesting argument. His name is Arthur Sylvester and he was the assistant Secretary of Defense. He writes:
"If I had been living in the early 19th century in what was then our country's West, and had been a religious man, ... I am sure I would have taken my stand with the Lying Baptists instead of the Truthful Baptists."
He is referring to an incident in 1804 in Kentucky. Some Baptists were disputing whether they should tell the truth and possibly sacrifice the life of a child as a result. The Lying Baptists thought they should lie to the Indians and possibly save the child.
A commitment to honesty makes real Christians stand out.
Emmanuel Kant was one of the greatest thinkers of all time (he lived in 1700's). His father was a very godly man. At an old age his father went on a dangerous journey through the forests of Poland to his native country of Silesia. On the way he ran into a band of robbers who demanded all his valuables. Finally they asked him, "Have you given us everything?" He answered, "Everything." They had his money, his horse and even his prayer book. So they let him go.
When he was safely out of their sight his hand touched something hard in the hem of his robe. It was his gold. He had sewn it there for safety and had completely forgotten about it because he was so afraid and confused. At once he hurried back to find the robbers. He said to them, "I have told you something that was not true. I didn't mean to. I was too terrified to think." "Here is the gold that was hidden in my clothes."
To his astonishment, no one offered to take his gold. After a long silence, one went and brought back his money bag. Another got his horse and helped him on it. Then they gave him back his prayer book. They then begged him to say a blessing on them before they would let him go.
God expects honesty of us.
Dramatic story of Ananias and Sapphira. Early church was very committed. Ananias and Sapphira among those selling property, giving proceeds. Difference: they lied about the amount. They didn't have to give a thing. But since they chose to, and lied, God struck them dead.
If God did this today, where would I be? Right here, preaching to an empty church!
________
[Original in Tan is somewhat different.]
University of Alaska psychologist, Dr. Chris Kleinke, says best opening line is "Hi!" Poll of 650 men and 831 women rated 200 opening lines. Other good ones: "I feel a little embarrassed about this, but I'd like to meet you" and "I don't have anybody to introduce me, but I'd really like to get to know you." Some of the best are the simplest: "That's a very pretty [...]" and "You have really nice hair." Ten worst:
Men: "Is that really your hair?"
"You remind me of a woman I used to date."
"Your place or mine?"
"I'm easy, are you?"
"Isn't it cold, let's make some body heat."
Women: "Didn't we meet in a previous life?"
"It's been a long time since I've had a boyfriend."
"Hey, baby, you've got a gorgeous chassis. Mind if
I look under the hood?"
"I'm easy, are you?"
"What's your sign?"
Truly pathetic: "What time is it?" Kleinke sees three types: cute-flippant, innocuous and direct. Men like direct approach ("You seem different from everyone here.") Women prefer innocuous or mildly direct opener ("This is awkward, but I'd like to meet you.") Neither liked cute-flippant, women more than men, but some men prefer it because it affords a way to deal with rejection. They can pretend they're just fooling around.
George Bush, on being shot down by the Japanese while piloting a bomber during World War II:
“What sustains you in times like that? Well, you go back to fundamental values. I thought about mother and dad and the strength I got from them – and God and faith and the separation of church and state.”
Examples of companies which risked losses to stay honest. Medallion Construction Co. turned down a bid from a subcontractor which was too low, but got the overall contract anyway. A year later, the subcontractor gave him another bid, with a discount because of the way they were treated.
Empire Southwest, a Caterpillar distributor, refused to give bribes in Mexico. They were shut out of market, but gained a reputation for honesty. People now seek them out.
Hilby Wilson, Inc., bought a hotel in El Paso. Found it would not be profitable, and told investors before they lost money. The owners lost money, but have had many offers for new deals.
Honest pays.
In the July 15, 1993 'BOARDROOM REPORTS, Peter LeVine writes: "When the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey ran a help-wanted ad for electricians with expertise at using Sontag connectors, it got 170 responses -- even though there is no such thing as a Sontag connector. The Authority ran the ad to find out how many applicants falsify resumes."
Sermon in Ten Commandments series. False Witness. Exodus 20:16
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TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES
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I. Speaking the truth. Prov 6:16-19
II. From law court to everyday life.
A. Ninth Commandment focuses on law court.
B. Broader application to truth and falsehood in life. Isaiah 59:3-4
III. Our slide into deceit has a long history.
A. Are lies for a good purpose morally acceptable?
B. The Biblical tradition is absolutely against lying. John 8:44
C. Pro-truth statements by Christians.
IV. How people lie.
A. We lie to other people.
B. We lie to ourselves.
C. We lie to God.
V. The cure for lying. Ephesians 4:29,31
A. Learn the truth.
B. Love the truth.
C. Live the truth.
VI. An honest assessment.
#3244
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High School basketball coach disqualifies his team after discovering an ineligible player was on the court for 45 seconds, though he made no significant plays. He was unaware of it at the time. "But you've got to do what's honest and right and what the rules say. I told my team that people forget the scores of basketball games; they don't ever forget what you're made of."
#342
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Spiritual authenticity is more important than vibrancy. People need to see that their pastor is real. In one sermon, Hybels said he was tired of apologizing for his sins. But the Bible says a day is coming when he won't have to apologize anymore (Rev 21:4).
Roy Howard Beck wrote a series of articles in a Methodist newspaper that exposed scandal at the National Council of Churches headquarters at 475 Riverside Drive in New York City. He charges that most leaders are decent but they have allowed themselves to be compromised by denominational officials.
"One couldn't fully understand the complete measure of critics' dissatisfaction with national church leadership without knowing a lot about the sexual conduct of the people in whom they had lost trust. The issue of personal sexual morality just hadn't seemed a high priority. ... Without fundamental ingredients of discipleship, such as fidelity in thought, deed, and relationship, how could Christians hope to challenge the frailties of the world's principalities?"
Beck says many of the right-wing attacks on the NCC are overblown and unfair, but the NCC operates the same way. Preference for ideology and casualness with facts were frequent attributes of both the Reagan White House and the NCC.
In 1987 a friend told Beck of a crime wave in Ghana - the criminals were mostly Christians. "What a warning for the United States, where fundamental character traits are treated carelessly! There is an absolute need for intellectual integrity in Christian living.... Without it, dishonesty creeps in under many guises." If Christian leaders cut moral corners in one aspect of their lives, they undercut everything else they do. And their moral influence dissolves.
Rev. Jeb Stuart Magruder, jailed 7 months for Watergate and now a Presbyterian minister, is heading a campaign to promote honesty in Columbus, Ohio. Campaign was initiated when some 200 people converged on Interstate 71 moments after the rear door of a Metropolitan Armored Car Inc. truck swung open Oct. 28, 1987, dumping bags of cash onto the freeway. While Metropolitan officials and police have refused to say how much money was lost or how much has been returned, the Columbus Dispatch quoted sources as saying more than $1 million was lost. A Columbus man turned in nearly $57,000 the night of the spill that he said he found inside a bag on the freeway. [A bystander with a video camera took pictures of many of the participants.]
[see #823]
Possible version for sermon:
On October 28, 1987, the rear door of a Metropolitan, Inc Armored Car swung open on Interstate 71 in Columbus, Ohio. Bags of cash were dumped on the highway. Moments later, 200 people converged on the site. One person had a video camera and taped the free-for-all.
Company officials and police refused to say how much money was lost but sources indicated it was more than $1 million. One man turned in nearly $57,000 that he said he found in a single bag. He was about the only one who turned in cash.
The mayor was so upset he put together a campaign to promote honesty in Columbus. He really raised eyebrows with the person he chose to head the campaign: Rev. Jeb Stuart Magruder, a Presbyterian minister. Magruder had also spent 7 months in jail for crimes he committed during Watergate.
The campaign highlights citizens who act honestly. It has also borne some fruit. Two motel housekeepers returned a box containing $65,000; a man returned a wallet with $1,200.
When Oprah Winfrey was 13 she decided new, octagon-shaped glasses would make her beautiful and popular. Her mother refused, telling Oprah they couldn't afford such an extravagance. The next day, after her mother had gone to work, Oprah smashed her old glasses on the floor. She pulled down the curtains, knocked over a table and threw things around the room. Then she called the police.
"I decided to be unconscious when they came in and to have amnesia." At the hospital, the doctor brought her mother to her bed, but Oprah pretended not to recognize her. "All we know is that someone broke into the apartment, hit her over the head and broke her glasses," explained the doctor. "Broke her glasses?" asked Vernita Lee. "Do you mind if I'm alone with the child for a few minutes?"
The mother glared at her daughter and counted to three. As Oprah tells it: "She got to two, and I knew she was going to kill me. And so I said, 'It's coming back to me now ... you're my mother!' She dragged me from the bed and we went home. Yes, I got the octagons."
She went to live with her father, Vernon Winfrey, who had married and grown into a respectable member of the community, a barber and pillar of the Baptist church. He taught her honesty. "I never told another lie. I wouldn't dream of making up a story to my Dad. Let me tell you, there is something about people who believe in discipline - they exude a kind of assurance and realism."
At a beauty pageant when asked about her life's ambition, she replied, "I believe in truth, and I want to perpetuate truth. So I want to be a journalist."
Her most valuable lesson: "Just tell the truth. It will save you every time."
In Oct 87 more than $1 million fell out of an armored car in Columbus, Ohio. Mayor Rinehart set up a commission to promote honesty, chose Magruder to head it. Citizens who have acted honestly are highlighted. Two motel housekeepers returned a box containing $65,000; a man returned a wallet with $1,200.
[see #613 for more details]
#823
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Your Ministry of Encouragement.
A. Building others up.
B. Encouragement--Not to be Taken for Granted.
1. Encouragement includes exhortation.
2. Encouragement is honest.
3. Encouragement is verbal.
4. Encouragement is exemplary.
5. Encouragement sees progress.
6. Encouragement is reciprocal.
7. Encouragement fosters growth.
C. Encouragers Needed.
Researchers James Patterson and Peter Kim investigated the truthfulness of Americans in "The Day America Told the Truth." An extensive questionnaire found that 91% lie occasionally, 14% have been sexually abused as kids, 70% have no heroes, 90% believe in God, New Englanders rank first in adultery.
#1474
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Swindoll illustration on honesty:
I love the story of the well-respected British pastor who, many years ago, took the trolley early Monday morning from his home in the suburbs to his church in the downtown section of London. He paid the driver as he got on, preoccupied with his busy schedule and the needs of his large congregation. It wasn't until he was seated that he realized the driver has given him too much change. Fingering the coins, his first thought was an alien one, "My, how wonderfully God provides!" But the longer he sat there, the less comfortable he became. His conscience telegraphed a strong signal of conviction within him. As he walked to the door to get off near his parish, he looked at the driver and quietly said, "When I got on, you accidentally gave me too much change."
The driver, with a wry smile, replied, "It was no accident at all. You see, I was in your congregation yesterday and heard your sermon on honesty. I just thought I'd put you to the test, Reverend."
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Another version that is circulating on the internet:
Several years ago, a preacher from out-of-state accepted a call to an occasion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area. When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him a quarter too much change. As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, “You’d better give the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it.” Then he thought, “Oh, forget it, it’s only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount? Anyway, the bus company gets too much fare; they will never miss it. Accept it as a ‘gift from God’ and keep quiet.” When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, and then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, “Here, you gave me too much change.”
The driver, with a smile, replied, “Aren’t you the new preacher in town?”
“Yes” he replied.
“Well, I have been thinking a lot lately about going somewhere to worship. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change. Ill see you at church on Sunday.”
When the preacher stepped off of the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole, held on, and said, “Oh God, I almost sold your Son for a quarter.”
Our lives are the only Bible some people will ever read. This is a really scary example of how much people watch us as Christians, and will put us to the test! Always be on guard -- and remember -- You carry the name of Christ on your shoulders when you call yourself “Christian.”
Biblical truths can work in the business world and we can do our job without ethical compromise, but it is not easy.
1. Working for the right Boss.
a. Trusting the True Provider.
b. Serving as salt.
c. Avoiding spiritual shipwreck.
2. Establish boundaries.
3. Seek an alternative.
4. Stand firm!
People who are accountable usually have four qualities:
1. Vulnerability -- capable of being wounded, shown to be wrong, even admitting it before being confronted.
2. Teachability -- a willingness to learn, being quick to hear and respond to reproof, being open to counsel.
3. Availability -- Accessible, touchable, able to be interrupted.
4. Honesty -- Committed to the truth regardless of how much it hurts, a willingness to admit the truth no matter how difficult or humiliating the admission may be. Hating all that is phony or false.
An 8-year-old boy found an envelope containing more than $600 and returned it to the bank whose name appeared on the envelope. The bank traced the money to its rightful owner and returned it to him. God's in his heaven and all's right with the world. Right? Wrong. As a reward, the man who lost the money gave the boy $3. Not a lot, but a token of his appreciation nonetheless and not mandatory. After all, returning money should not be considered extraordinary. A simple "thank you" is adequate. But some of the teachers at the boy's school felt a reward was not only appropriate, but required. Outraged at the apparent stinginess of the person who lost the cash, these teachers took up a collection for the boy. About a week or so later, they presented the good Samaritan with a $150 savings bond, explaining they felt his honesty should be recognized.
Evidently the virtues of honesty and kindness have become commodities that, like everything else, have succumbed to inflation. What dollar amount would be a sufficient reward? A reward is a gift; any gift would at least be met with the presumption of genuine gratitude on the part of the giver. What does this episode say about our society? It seems our role models are more confused and misguided about values than their young charges. The young boy did the right thing. Yet doing the right thing seems to be insufficient motivation for action in our materialistic world. The legacy of the '80s has left us with the ubiquitous question: what's in it for me? The promise of the golden rule - that someone might do a good turn for you - has become worthless.
Kids want money for a good report card. Arguelles argues that "doing well is its own reward." When pregnant she read this advice in child-care books: don't bribe your child with ice cream to get him to eat spinach; it makes the spinach look bad. Our moral taste buds have been dulled by an endless onslaught of artificial sweeteners. A steady diet of candy bars and banana splits makes an ordinary apple or orange seem sour. So too does an endless parade of incentives make us incapable of feeling a genuine sense of inner peace (or inner turmoil).
The simple virtues of honesty, kindness and integrity suffer from an image problem and are in desperate need of a makeover. One way to do this is by example. I fear that in our so-called upwardly mobile world we are on a downward spiral toward moral bankruptcy. Like pre-World War II Germany, where the basket holding the money was more valuable than the money itself, we too may render ourselves internally worthless while desperately clinging to a shell of appearances.
Booker T. Washington describes meeting an ex-slave from Virginia in his book "Up from Slavery":
"I found that this man had made a contract with his master, two or three years previous to the Emancipation Proclamation, to the effect that the slave was to be permitted to buy himself, by paying so much per year for his body; and while he was paying for himself, he was to be permitted to labour where and for whom he pleased.
"Finding that he could secure better wages in Ohio, he went there. When freedom came, he was still in debt to his master some three hundred dollars. Not withstanding that the Emancipation Proclamation freed him from any obligation to his master, this black man walked the greater portion of the distance back to where his old master lived in Virginia, and placed the last dollar, with interest, in his hands.
In talking to me about this, the man told me that he knew that he did not have to pay his debt, but that he had given his word to his master, and his word he had never broken. He felt that he could not enjoy his freedom till he had fulfilled his promise."
A grown man awaiting surgery in the hospital was talking with his father. "Dad" he said, "I sure hope I can be home for Father's Day. I felt awful years ago when I was 10, because I never gave you a gift that year."
The father replied, "Mark, I remember that Saturday before Father's Day. I saw you in the store. I watched you pick up the cigars and stuffed them in your pocket. I knew you had no money, and I was sad because I thought you were going to run out of the store without paying. But as soon as you hid the cigars, you pulled them out and put them back.
"When you stayed out playing all the next day because you had no present, you probably thought I was hurt. You're wrong. When you put the cigars back and decided not to break the law, Mark, you gave me the best present I ever received."
Lloyd H. Steffen wrote in The Christian Century how when King Frederick II (the Great), an eighteenth century king of Prussia, was visiting a prison in Berlin, the inmates tried to prove to him how they had been unjustly imprisoned. All except one. That one sat quietly in a corner, while all the rest protested their innocence.
Seeing him sitting there oblivious to the commotion, the king asked him what he was there for. "Armed robbery, Your Honor."
The king asked, "Were you guilty?"
"Yes Sir, " he answered. "I entirely deserve my punishment."
Then king then gave an order to the guard: "Release this guilty man. I don't want him corrupting all these innocent people."
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Another version:
The story is told that one day Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, visited a prison and talked with each of the inmates. There were endless tales of innocence, of misunderstood motives, and of exploitation. Finally the king stopped at the cell of a convict who remained silent. “Well,” remarked Frederick, “I suppose you are an innocent victim too?” “No, sir, I’m not,” replied the man. “I’m guilty and deserve my punishment.” Turning to the warden, the king said, “Here, release this rascal before he corrupts all these fine innocent people in here!”
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Another version, with a different king:
In the early part of the reign of Louis XVI, a German prince traveling through France visited the arsenal at Toulon where the galleys were kept. The commandant, as a compliment to the prince's rank, said that he was welcome to set free any one galley slave whom he should choose to select. The prince, willing to make the best use of the privilege, spoke to many of them in succession, inquiring why they were condemned to the galleys. Injustice, oppression, false accusations were assigned by one after another as the causes of their being there. In fact, they were all injured and ill-treated persons.
At last he came to one who, when asked the same question, answered to this effect: "Your Highness, I have no reason to complain. I have been a very wicked, desperate wretch. I have deserved to be broken alive on the wheel. I account it a great mercy that I am here."
The prince fixed his eyes upon him and said: "You wicked wretch! It is a pity you should be placed among so many honest men. By your own confession, you are bad enough to corrupt them all; but you shall not stay with them another day." Then, turning to the officer he said, "This is the man, sir, whom I wish to be released."
Charles Swindoll in "Growing Deep in the Christian Life," writes about a man who bought fried chicken dinners for himself and his date late one afternoon. The attendant at the fast food outlet, however, inadvertently gave him the proceeds from the day's business - a bag of money (much of it cash) instead of fried chicken.
"After driving to their picnic site," Swindoll writes, "the two of them sat down to enjoy some chicken. They discovered a whole lot more than chicken - over $800! But he was unusual. He quickly put the money back into the car and drove all the way back. Mr. Clean got out, walked in, and became an instant hero.
"By then, the manager was frantic. The guy with the bag of money looked the manager in the eye and said, 'I want you to know I came by to get a couple of chicken dinners and wound up with all this money here.'
"Well, the manager was thrilled to death. He said, 'Let me call the newspaper. I'm gonna have your picture put in the local newspaper. You're one of the most honest men I've ever heard of.'
"To which the man quickly responded, 'Oh, no. No, no don't do that!' Then he leaned closer and whispered, 'You see, the woman I'm with is not my wife. She's, uh, somebody else's wife.'"
Harder to find than lost cash is a perfect heart.
In his book "INTEGRITY," Ted Engstrom told this story:
"For Coach Cleveland Stroud and the Bulldogs of Rockdale County High School (Conyers, Georgia), 1991 was their championship season: 21 wins and 5 losses on the way to the Georgia boys' basketball tournament last March, then a dramatic come-from-behind victory in the state finals.
"But now the new glass trophy case outside the high school gymnasium is bare. Earlier this month the Georgia High School Association deprived Rockdale County of the championship after school officials said that a player who was scholastically ineligible had played 45 seconds in the first of the school's five post-season games.
"We didn't know he was ineligible at the time; we didn't know it until a few weeks ago," Mr. Stroud said. "Some people have said we should have just kept quiet about it, that it was just 45 seconds and the player wasn't an impact player. But you've got to do what's honest and right and what the rules say. I told my team that people forget the scores of basketball games; they don't ever forget what you're made of."
Communion sermon on Naaman's healing.
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A QUEST FOR CLEANNESS
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I. People and appearances.
II. Story of Naaman is about a proud person who wanted to be healed.
A. What Naaman had going for him.
B. One thing stood against him - leprosy.
C. It's those little things we lack that torment us.
III. The man' plan.
A. Naaman finds out about a new possibility of solving his problem.
B. He pulls strings. 5:4-5
C. He goes straight to the king of Israel.
IV. God's plan.
A. The royal snub. 5:9
B. Nothing risked, nothing gained. 5:15
C. Naaman's change was inward more than outward. 5:21
V. Like Naaman, we expect the solutions to our problems to be grand.
A. Our pride demands huge solutions because our problems must be
B. All that God demands of us is humble honesty.
VI. God still cleans people today.
A. Have you been cleaned by Jesus Christ?
B. Is there anything you need to "take off" to be truly humble?
#2521
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Sermon in Acts series. Ananias & Sapphira. Acts 5:1-11
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YOU CAN'T FOOL GOD
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I. A necessary warning.
A. Ananias' and Sapphira's offer of property was voluntary. Acts 5:4
B. Parallels with Achan. Joshua 7:25
II. Dishonesty is serious stuff.
A. Does God judge people like this today?
B. The whole church was filled with fear. Acts 5:5,11
C. Dishonesty causes serious problems among Christians.
D. Dishonesty ruins our witness with outsiders.
III. The need for integrity.
A. What face do we present to the world?
B. We must be honest throughout, not just sometimes.
C. We must be honest in motivations as well as actions.
IV. How to gain integrity.
A. Be committed to honesty within yourself.
B. Be committed to honesty with God.
C. Honesty before others.
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