Truthfulness
vs. Deception Meditation Commentary
Truthfulness is communicating by my life and word that which is genuine and accurate.
•“Lord, who shall abide in they tabernacle? who
shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh
righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.”—Psalm 15:1-2
•“The lip of truth shall be established forever: but
a lying tongue is but for a moment. Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but
they that deal truly are his delight.”—Proverbs 22:19, 22
It
can be tempting to fall into many incorrect mentalities when under
authority. One of the mentalities we
often fall into has to do with believing we can shun certain moral
responsibilities as long as we are giving the appearance of submitting to authority. Sometimes it seems easier to simply deceive
the authorities over us when we think we know what is best rather than going
through the proper channels. However, if
we understand the true principles of authority and submission, and truthfulness
vs. deception, we recognize that truthfulness involves openness with
authorities. A definition of integrity
that has stuck with me through the years is: ‘doing what is right when nobody
else is watching.’ This mean we are not
only honest on a surface level when interacting with authorities, but will be
open with them on a deeper level, demonstrating truthfulness in our lives even
when they are not watching, and refusing to stoop to deception simply because
we have an improper understanding of authority.
We think of authorities sometimes as out of touch and lofty—like a king
on a throne. We tell ourselves that they
do not really understand our situation, and that we know what is best in this
particular instance, and therefore, we deceive them because we believe they
will not understand. Authorities are
placed in our lives with their rules and guidelines for a reason, though, and
there are practical reasons for the rules, even if we do not understand them. Children do this with their parents, maybe
believing they are justified in staying out later than they are supposed to, or
hanging out with people, watching a movie, or going to the mall without
permission, but losing credibility with the authority over them because they
were not truthful. A worker may do this
with a boss by doing something like making unauthorized decisions, which may
even be good decisions, but without openness and truthfulness, doing this could
cause problems in the workplace. This concept
does not mean that one cannot disagree with his or her authorities, but that he
or she should be truthful with authorities.
If you do not agree with your authorities, rather than going behind
their backs, approach them about it.
Oftentimes, authorities are reasonable, but regardless of the situation,
it is always better to be honest and upfront, rather than hiding things, which could
cause issues when the deception is inevitably brought to light.
I have a friend who told me a story about this concept which stayed with me. He was on a missions trip and there was a rule that he could not leave the hotel without someone else accompanying him. The rule was well-established and he knew it was there, but it was very difficult to find time or a place alone to pray with everyone around, so occasionally, he would take a short walk so he could spend some time alone with God, without asking the group leaders. He justified it, because, of course, he was doing something good. But towards the end of the trip he began to be convicted about it, and decided to confess and apologize to the group leader for going off without permission. The group leader forgave and understood him, and said he wished that the young man would simply have told him, and explained the situation so that they could work something out. This highlighted what submitting to authorities vs just complying with them really means. We will not always agree with authorities, and that's okay. But rather than act like we're submitting to them, and just agreeing with whatever they say, a big part of submission is acknowledging their authority enough to come to them with problems.
In conclusion, be truthful, be honest, and
have integrity when relating to authority.