Pants on Fire!

 

But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive[d] language from your mouth. 

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices.

                              Colossians 3:8-9

"Liar Liar, Pants on Fire!" 

                     Classic Schoolyard Taunt

An impressive thunder-boomer shut down the power here for a couple of hours delaying today's blog entry. All four rain barrels replenished, buckets and watering cans filled, and the raised beds thoroughly soaked. Hurray!

The other day the former, twice-impeached president of the United States came up twice in conversation in our home.  Ruth noted this because the man who will likely go down in history as the worst president ever and perhaps even as a traitor to his country just doesn't interest us anymore.

Then I noticed that Trump's former press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, claimed during a speaking gig that she never lied in her role. This was simply untrue --  some would say a lie. As an example, she once maintained that Trump never downplayed the Coronavirus, even though he did so repeatedly and even admitted to doing so. Her behaviour was so dishonest during her time as press secretary that she received a "pants on fire" rating from the Politifact organization. 

McEnany assured her audience that she wouldn't lie because she was a person of faith, the same claim made by Sarah Huckabee Sanders who was one of her predecessors in the role. Both of them enabled a leader who lied with a breathtaking ease and regularity. After Trump's  term ended those who were keeping a tally identified a total of more than 30,000 false or misleading statements during his four years as president of the United States. This amounted to roughly 21 false statements per day.

I figure that all of us lie to varying degrees, with the proverbial white lies greasing the machinery of everyday life. I wonder how many people have slid out of Zoom calls during the past 15 months with a fib about why they were leaving.

Lies are told not to avoid hurting feelings or to protect people from painful information. Sometimes we lie to cover our heinies in awkward situations and even though we teach our children and grandchildren the importance of truth-telling it can be a matter of "do as I say, not as I do." Just because the lies seem small or expedient it doesn't make them okay, does it?

Telling the truth is a challenging discipline in our faith, and lying about not lying is not the way to go. Not all lies are equal but the little ones can lead to the big ones.

 At times it seemed as though Trump lied just for the hell of knowing he could get away with it. Power can do that to people. The whoppers told by the president led to massive loss of life and a shameful insurrection that the United States may never live down.The country seems to be in the grip of a culture of falsehood and deceit which leads to suspicion and simmering anger.

The reality is that this can happen in the church of the Body of Christ as well. I have been involved in mediations in congregations where it is clear that some people are lying and bearing false witness against one another. How did they get to this point. It's sad.

These verses in Colossians invite us to choose a better way, Christ's way. 

As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.  

Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 

Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

                          Colossians 3:12-14