Participants:
Series Code: AU
Program Code: AU000129S
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00:01 - Today we're gonna be looking at the ninth commandment.
00:03 You know, the one that talks about lying. 00:05 And today I'm gonna show you what that commandment 00:07 might actually be saying about you. 00:11 [upbeat music] 00:32 Over the last few weeks, we've made our way 00:34 through most of the decalogue of the 10 Commandments, 00:36 and we've arrived at the penultimate commandment, 00:39 the one that appears to prohibit lying, 00:42 or at least that's the way 00:43 that most modern readers think about it. 00:46 But I'm gonna challenge that thinking just a little bit 00:48 because it's not really talking 00:50 about simple falsehood per se. 00:52 It's talking about a specific class of falsehoods, 00:55 namely the lies we tell in order to devalue other people. 00:59 You know, how you take somebody down a notch. 01:01 The commandment itself simply states, 01:03 you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 01:07 Now if you read the rest of the Bible, 01:09 you'll discover that it places 01:11 a really high premium on basic honesty. 01:15 But the ninth commandment is specifically 01:17 talking about guarding your neighbor's reputation. 01:20 And I can't help but smile when I happen 01:22 to read the commandment again 01:24 during the last election cycle. 01:26 Now, I'm gonna be really careful about how I say this 01:29 because my personal politics really don't matter. 01:34 Let's just say I'm neither a registered Democrat 01:37 nor a Republican. 01:39 And to be honest, I wish more preachers 01:41 would just keep their political preferences to themselves. 01:44 After all, you're supposed to be preaching the gospel. 01:48 And when you weave current events 01:50 and politics into your preaching that way, 01:52 you're essentially alienating 01:53 half of your potential audience. 01:55 I mean, if they don't like your politics, 01:57 they're just gonna tune you out when you talk about Jesus. 02:01 Now, that doesn't mean a preacher can't weigh in 02:03 on moral issues, and it doesn't mean 02:05 that they shouldn't promote a cause like say, 02:07 religious liberty because after all, 02:10 the freedom that I have to sit here 02:11 and talk about my faith 02:13 ultimately depends on how free the nation happens to be. 02:19 But when it comes to general political preferences 02:21 for preachers, silence really is golden. 02:25 Now all that being said, the latest round 02:28 of political campaigns here in the United States 02:30 had me thinking quite a bit about the Ninth Commandment 02:34 because it forbids telling lies about other people. 02:37 And unfortunately, the trend in recent decades 02:41 has been to completely ignore that principle 02:43 when you're out stumping for votes. 02:46 Candidates on both sides 02:48 appear to love taking any brief statement 02:51 and playing a game of gotcha with it. 02:53 Any video clip that potentially makes the opponent look bad 02:57 and they run with that, which is something 02:59 you'd kind of expect a politician to do, 03:02 but far too often they're sharing an edited version, 03:05 carefully designed to make it look far worse 03:08 than it really was. 03:10 And these people know full well 03:11 that they're twisting the facts, 03:13 but that doesn't seem to matter 03:15 when the only objective appears to be winning. 03:18 And honestly, you'd have a hard time convincing me 03:21 that a lot of political candidates 03:23 don't know that they're twisting the facts. 03:26 They're just too twisted. 03:27 After all, anybody with access 03:29 to Google can check their claims in less than 30 seconds. 03:33 And I guess what really worries me about all this 03:36 is that far too many people seem to be getting comfortable 03:39 with the idea that the end always justifies the means. 03:42 No matter what you say, lying is fine as long as you win. 03:49 And I guess I can partly understand it. 03:51 I mean, if you're gonna run for office 03:53 and spend all that money, you really do need 03:55 to highlight the ways your opponent 03:57 wouldn't be an ideal choice. 03:59 You know, pointing that kind of stuff out 04:01 does seem like fair game, but lying about it, 04:04 taking your opponent's statements outta context 04:07 or knowingly spreading falsehood that's wrong. 04:11 And to quote a notable psychologist I was listening to 04:14 a couple of years ago, morally speaking, 04:17 nobody ever really gets away with anything. 04:19 Evil deeds are always guaranteed to catch up with you 04:26 at some point to quote the book of Numbers. 04:27 Your sin will find you out. 04:30 I mean, you might not actually get caught, 04:32 and you might even get to the very end 04:34 of your career without anybody knowing what you did, 04:37 or at least they can't prove it. 04:39 But your own heart, it will never forget. 04:42 Cheating your way through life 04:44 with manufactured falsehood is going to take a toll on you. 04:47 I can pretty much guarantee that, 04:49 it might be years down the road, but it will catch you. 04:53 It might even lead to things like anxiety or guilt 04:56 or some other mental health challenge. 04:58 After all, lying can be downright exhausting. 05:02 You have to remember the last lie you told 05:04 and the one before that, 05:06 and the one before that, and the one before that 05:08 so that you can seem consistent 05:10 to the people who listen to you. 05:12 It's a lot of mental stress that honest people don't have 05:15 to deal with, and it's gonna demand a price from you 05:18 because it's simply not the right way to live. 05:21 You're always going to know that you wronged somebody 05:24 or that you didn't really earn your own station in life 05:27 or you got there dishonestly. 05:30 It's just really, really hard 05:32 to live an authentic human life when you're in the habit 05:34 of living, well, let's say inauthentically, 05:39 but now let's drop the politicians 05:41 because it's just too easy of a target. 05:43 I mean, we all love to pick on them 05:45 because they're kind of the low hanging fruit. 05:47 Their lies are easy to spot 05:48 because they live in the public spotlight. 05:51 So instead, maybe let's talk about you, 05:54 just how careful do you think you are 05:56 when it comes to guarding the reputation of others? 05:58 It's a pretty big question 06:00 because if you think about it, 06:02 a person's reputation 06:03 is really their most valuable possession. 06:07 Money and property come and go pretty easily, 06:09 and so do things like power or fame. 06:12 But the one thing that follows you all the way through life, 06:16 that'd be your character. 06:17 And the sad thing about character 06:20 is that so many people love to believe nasty rumors. 06:23 It gives them a sense of schadenfreude. 06:26 It lets them say, okay, my life isn't perfect, 06:29 but at least I'm not like that individual. 06:32 It's kinda like that story 06:33 that Jesus told about the Pharisee 06:34 and the tax collector praying in the temple. 06:37 You probably remember it, 06:39 the Pharisee looks over at the tax collector, 06:41 a man that everybody hates 06:44 because he works for the Roman government. 06:46 And the Pharisee says, "God, I thank you 06:48 that I am not like other men." 06:51 It's a way of reassuring yourself 06:53 that you might be a little bit rotten, 06:55 but it's not all that serious 06:56 because you can find worse people 06:58 who clearly deserve public condemnation. 07:01 But for just a moment, think about all the little crumbs 07:05 of information you leave behind every time you go out 07:08 and do something, absolutely anything. 07:11 And ask yourself if a dedicated gossip 07:13 would be able to collect that information 07:15 and make something of it if they wanted to. 07:18 Believe me, it happens 07:20 and it happens a lot, in fact, I've had it happen to me. 07:24 So then ask yourself, how often have you distorted 07:27 what someone else is doing or saying? 07:29 You might not actually write articles 07:31 or appear on a TV show, 07:32 but you know, you talk about people, sometimes you wait 07:36 until you're in the car going home 07:38 so that you and your spouse 07:39 or your friends can verbally assassinate 07:41 the people you just finished visiting. 07:44 And how often do you kind of bend the truth 07:46 or highlight things that people said in a way 07:48 that makes them look bad 07:50 or distorts what they actually said? 07:54 I've had people walk out on the platform 07:56 after I finished speaking, who used closing statements 07:59 to try and rework what I just said, 08:02 to make it fit their agenda, to make me agree with them. 08:05 They'll latch onto just three 08:06 or four words I use somewhere in the talk 08:09 and build a thesis out of it saying something like, well, 08:11 as Sean just said, when I said no such thing. 08:16 So how often do all of us do that, even inadvertently? 08:20 Honestly, I think we all do it 08:21 because we're all self-interested 08:23 and we're constantly trying to appropriate 08:24 everything around us to suit our agenda. 08:28 We want other people to endorse what we do 08:30 or what we believe because somehow we think 08:32 that gives our ideas more credibility 08:35 and we'll co-opt other people's words 08:37 and actions to make it look like they support us 08:40 when they don't. 08:42 It's another case of bearing false witness, 08:45 and I'll be right back after this. 08:48 [upbeat music] 08:52 - [Narrator] Here at The Voice of Prophecy, we're committed 08:53 to creating top quality programming, the whole family, 08:56 like our audio adventure series, Discovery Mountain. 08:59 Discovery Mountain is a bible-based program 09:02 for kids of all ages and backgrounds. 09:04 Your family will enjoy the faith building stories 09:07 from this small mountain summer camp pent down. 09:10 With 24 seasonal episodes every year 09:12 and fresh content every week, 09:14 there's always a new adventure just on the horizon. 09:18 [gentle music] 09:20 - You know, there's a sense in which the ninth commandment 09:23 is kind of tied to the sixth one. 09:25 You know, the one that deals with murder. 09:28 The Apostle John in those three little letters 09:30 over by the book of Revelation reminds us 09:32 that hating people is actually a form of murder. 09:36 I mean, just listen to this. 09:37 This is from one John 3:15. 09:39 It says, "Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. 09:44 And you know that no murderer 09:45 has eternal life abiding in him." 09:48 So how in the world does hating somebody 09:50 make you guilty of murder? 09:52 Well, for starters, living in a world of hate 09:55 and anger is likely gonna shorten your own life 09:57 because when you can't forgive people, 10:00 it can really do a number on your mental health. 10:03 Listen to this statement I found from the folks 10:04 at Psychology Today, 10:06 and I think what they're saying is really pretty accurate. 10:09 It was a website and it said, "Anger, too easily 10:12 or frequently mobilized can undermine relationships 10:15 or damage physical health in the long term. 10:18 Prolonged release of the stress hormones 10:20 that accompany anger can destroy neurons 10:23 in areas of the brain associated with judgment 10:26 and short term memory and weaken the immune system." 10:30 And then it continues a little bit later by saying this. 10:34 "Heart rate and blood flow increase in the muscles tense. 10:38 This can compromise the immune system 10:40 and cardiovascular system, 10:42 which can even shorten the lifespan when sustained." 10:46 So for starters, living in a state of anger 10:50 or resentment can do a real number on your health 10:52 to the point where it actually shortens your life 10:55 kind of like smoking would, 10:57 which means that in some ways, 10:59 hatred becomes a really slow form of suicide. 11:03 But of course, hating someone else also takes a big toll 11:06 on that person, which is how the business 11:09 of bearing false witness is linked to the sin of murder. 11:13 If you're hating someone to the point where they know 11:16 that you hate them and they feel it, 11:17 well that's obviously 11:19 gonna put a dent in their quality of life. 11:21 And then when you start projecting your hatred 11:23 in front of other people, well now you're attacking 11:26 that person's public value, 11:28 you're diminishing them in the eyes of others 11:30 and that can have a tremendous impact on their wellbeing. 11:34 I mean, let's just do a little bit of a self check 11:36 and I'll warn you, this isn't gonna be easy. 11:39 It's gonna step on all of our toes. 11:41 Have you ever talked down a candidate for a job 11:44 just because you didn't personally like them 11:46 and you'd rather not have them around as a coworker? 11:49 Have you ever heard that somebody is up for promotion 11:51 but you think you deserve promotion? 11:53 So instead of just selling yourself to management, 11:56 instead of promoting your own skills 11:58 or qualities, you criticize the other candidate, 12:01 hoping that HR will see them in a negative light. 12:05 Or let's be really brutally honest. 12:08 Have you ever felt threatened 12:09 by someone else's obvious talent 12:11 or their ability to make friends or their looks 12:14 or their money or just about anything 12:16 and you felt the need to take them down a little bit? 12:20 Have you ever managed to convince someone 12:22 to just turn against the person you hate, 12:24 maybe even cut them off entirely? 12:27 Or have you ever said something about somebody 12:29 that wasn't really a direct attack, 12:31 but it was still clearly designed 12:33 to raise questions about that person? 12:35 Hey, you know, Mike really knocked it outta the park 12:38 with that sales report yesterday. 12:39 What an amazing forecast, was it really? 12:43 You thought that was a good report? 12:45 You know, the kind of thing I'm talking about, 12:48 I mean, I think we're all guilty of it at some level 12:51 because as we've already mentioned, 12:53 we're all a little bit egocentric 12:54 and I'm not even convinced that we do this consciously 12:58 most of the time. 13:00 What the Bible is telling us to do 13:01 is deliberately guard other people's reputations, 13:05 which falls in with the golden rule, 13:07 the one that Jesus taught us. 13:09 So whatever you wish that others would do to you, 13:12 do also to them for this is the law and the prophets. 13:17 Now I know, and it's not easy sometimes 13:19 because some people really are profoundly unlikable, 13:23 they're abrasive, they're dishonest, 13:25 they use people, whatever the issue is 13:28 and it's precisely that terrible person 13:31 who's going to give you an opportunity to learn 13:34 what the ninth commandment is really all about. 13:37 I mean it's easy to keep the commandments 13:39 when everything's going well 13:41 and it's easy to avoid becoming what the Bible calls 13:43 a tail bearer when you're dealing 13:45 with the people you like. 13:47 But if the commandments are just a set 13:49 of fair weather social guidelines 13:51 for when everything's going well, 13:53 well then they really don't mean much 13:55 if you think about it, 13:56 it's when you find yourself swimming 13:58 against the current of life 13:59 and things are really, really hard, 14:02 well that's when keeping the commandments 14:03 can become a bit of a challenge. 14:05 But it's also at that point 14:07 that they start to make the most sense. 14:10 I mean, it's easy to keep from murdering 14:12 or plundering the people you like. 14:15 It's easy to avoid adultery when you're getting along 14:17 with your spouse, but when you don't like somebody, 14:21 the rules can suddenly seem a little more challenging. 14:24 I mean, of course you're not gonna spread rumors 14:26 about your wife or kids 14:27 because you like them at least hopefully. 14:29 But what about those people 14:31 who rub your fur the wrong way all the time, 14:33 the ones who irritate the daylights out of you? 14:35 What about those people? 14:38 Here's the problem that emerges 14:40 when you start spreading lies about others, 14:43 it's almost impossible to clean up the damage you do. 14:46 The way human nature works 14:47 is that once you've convinced someone 14:49 not to like someone else, 14:51 well if that impression can be really hard to undo. 14:54 I remember this guy I met about 30 years ago 14:56 who became the victim of some really brutal gossip. 15:00 Somebody very close to him started telling a story 15:03 that wasn't true. 15:04 And because a lot of people love a bit of juicy gossip, 15:08 the story spread very quickly 15:10 and it sparked a little bit of a social feeding frenzy. 15:13 And at one point, this poor guy came to my office 15:16 and sat in a chair crying. 15:18 He said, "It's like cutting open a pillow in the wind. 15:20 There's no chance I'll ever find all the feathers back." 15:24 And he was right. 15:26 I happened to know for a fact that the story wasn't true 15:29 and eventually everybody else came to the same conclusion, 15:32 but the damage had already been done. 15:34 And so there was this perpetual question mark 15:37 over this guy's reputation. 15:39 I mean, intellectually everybody knew he was innocent, 15:42 but they'd already trained themselves 15:43 to see him in a negative light. 15:45 And so they still had a visceral sense of distrust 15:48 whenever they saw him. 15:49 And remember he was innocent, 15:51 but the damage was already done 15:53 and it put a massive dent in his quality of life. 15:57 But now let's go a little bit deeper 16:00 because I'm convinced that the biggest victim 16:02 of bearing false witness would be God himself. 16:05 And it's on this point 16:06 that the ninth commandment is also related to the third one, 16:09 which tells us not to take God's name in vain. 16:12 There are people who love to get online 16:14 and talk badly about God, 16:16 but what they're really doing 16:18 is repeating stories they heard from somebody else. 16:20 It turns out, when I actually sit down 16:21 and talk to some of these people, 16:23 they've never actually read the Bible, go figure. 16:26 They're just repeating what they heard somebody else say. 16:29 They're trying to pass themselves off as smart, 16:31 someone in the know and they're not. 16:34 And what they're really doing is bearing false witness. 16:37 But worse than that, when Christians behave badly, 16:42 they're actually bearing false witness 16:43 about the character of God. 16:45 When somebody sees them behaving badly, 16:48 you already know what the world is gonna say. 16:50 If that's what Christianity is, I want no part of it. 16:53 People blame God for that person's behavior, 16:56 which means that the Christian 16:57 is now bearing false witness, not through words, 17:00 but through actions 17:02 because you don't actually have to say something 17:03 to spread falsehood. 17:06 All right, I've gotta take another quick break, 17:08 but I'll be right back after this. 17:10 [gentle music] 17:14 - [Speaker] Life can throw a lot at us. 17:16 Sometimes we don't have all the answers, 17:18 but that's where the Bible comes in. 17:22 It's our guide to a more fulfilling life. 17:24 Here at The Voice of Prophecy, 17:26 we've created the Discover Bible Guides 17:28 to be your guide to the Bible. 17:30 They're designed to be simple, easy to use 17:33 and provide answers to many of life's toughest questions, 17:36 and they're absolutely free. 17:38 So jump online now or give us a call 17:40 and start your journey of discovery. 17:43 - There's a famous passage over in the book of James 17:45 that gives us a pretty good understanding 17:47 of the kind of damage we can do 17:49 when we're not intentionally trying 17:51 to guard the reputations of other people. 17:54 Here's what it says, this is from James chapter three, 17:57 and it begins in verse two, 18:01 "For we all stumble in many ways", 18:03 that's a pretty honest assessment. 18:06 "For we all stumble in many ways, 18:08 and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, 18:11 he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body." 18:16 You know, I only wish I answered 18:17 to that description we just read, 18:19 but I'll, I'll say this, I'm still working on it. 18:22 It continues. 18:23 "If we put bits into the mouths of horses 18:25 so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 18:29 Look at the ships also, though they are so large 18:32 and are driven by strong winds, they are guided 18:34 by a very small rudder 18:36 wherever the will of the pilot directs. 18:39 So also the tongue is a small member 18:41 yet it boasts of great things, 18:43 how great a forest is set ablaze 18:46 by such a small fire." 18:49 Now for somebody who lives in Colorado, 18:50 that's about the perfect metaphor. 18:53 Last summer, somebody built this tiny little campfire 18:55 up in the hills and they left it unintended. 18:58 At least that's what we think happened. 19:00 And by the end of the day, 19:01 more than 8,000 acres were on fire, 8,000 acres. 19:06 It was snowing ashes in my backyard 19:08 and we had to keep the windows closed 19:09 because of all the smoke. 19:11 And over the next 24 hours, 19:12 I watched the evacuation zone 19:14 creep closer and closer and closer to my house 19:18 until it finally stopped just a few blocks away. 19:21 Forest fires are really hard to control, 19:25 especially when it's dry and windy, 19:27 and if the wind suddenly blows the wrong way, 19:29 the fire's gonna spread faster than you can imagine. 19:32 You're just not in control of what happens. 19:35 And what James is telling us is that the same thing happens 19:38 with the stories we tell. 19:40 It's easier to spread those stories than to contain them. 19:43 And when it's over, the damage can be unthinkable. 19:46 Lost homes, dead victims, an ugly scar in the forest 19:50 or in the case of gossip, 19:51 permanent scars on somebody's reputation. 19:56 So where you and I are tempted to think 19:58 that rumors are a minor offense, 20:01 James takes the opposite position. 20:02 They're really a form of murder. 20:05 If I steal your car, I can always replace it, 20:07 but if I steal your reputation, 20:09 if I damage your social value, 20:12 you might never fully recover. 20:13 I've actually diminished your quality of life, 20:16 which is a little like killing you very slowly. 20:20 James continues, he says, 20:22 "And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. 20:26 The tongue is set among our members 20:27 staining the whole body, setting on fire 20:30 the entire course of life 20:31 and set on fire by hell. 20:34 For every kind of beast and bird, 20:36 of reptile and sea creature can be tamed 20:38 and has been tamed by mankind, 20:40 but no human being can tame the tongue." 20:44 In other words, you and I have a much bigger problem 20:46 in our mouths than we do with the wild animals 20:49 who wander into our yards from time to time. 20:52 I've had closeup run-ins with bears and moose, 20:54 and I can assure you that your adrenaline 20:56 really starts pumping when it happens. 20:58 But ultimately, those kinds of encounters 21:01 are much less damaging 21:03 than the damage we can wreak with our own speech. 21:07 He continues, and he's still talking about the human tongue. 21:09 He says "It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 21:14 With that we bless our Lord and Father, 21:16 and with it we curse people 21:18 who are made in the likeness of God. 21:20 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing, 21:23 my brothers these things ought not to be so. 21:27 So now James really carries this all the way 21:29 into the moral end zone. 21:31 You cannot, cannot call yourself a good Christian 21:35 if you use the power of speech 21:36 to worship God on the weekend, 21:38 but then you use it to rip people apart during the week. 21:42 Those people you're attacking, 21:43 they were also made in the image of God just like you were. 21:47 They have incredibly high value to God just like you do. 21:51 And no matter how much you don't like those people, 21:53 that doesn't change God's mind. 21:55 He still loves them and he loves them unconditionally. 21:58 So either you align yourself 22:00 with the way God treats that person 22:02 or you become guilty of breaking the ninth commandment. 22:06 I mean, let's just think about this. 22:09 If anybody has the absolute right 22:11 to point out somebody's faults, that would be God. 22:15 And from time to time, you'll notice he actually does that. 22:17 Whenever his people were in danger of losing their way 22:20 or violating the covenant, God sent prophets 22:23 to set them straight. 22:25 But here's what I want you to notice. 22:26 While God has that right, he still tends to favor us 22:30 in ways that we do not deserve. 22:33 One of my favorite passages in the whole Bible 22:35 comes from Paul's letter to the Romans 22:36 because it says something really, really profound. 22:39 This is Romans chapter five, beginning in verse six, 22:42 where the Bible says, "For while we were still weak 22:46 at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. 22:51 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, 22:53 though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die, 22:58 but God shows his love for us, 23:00 and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." 23:04 Now, there's a lot of material in that statement from Paul, 23:07 and I'm almost out of time, so I'll encourage you 23:09 to just read that whole chapter sometime, 23:11 read the whole thing. 23:13 Personally, I find that particular chapter 23:15 of the Bible completely life changing. 23:17 Here's what I want you to notice for today though, 23:20 God did not wait for you to get things right 23:23 before he decided he wanted to save you. 23:25 Christ did not die for perfect people. 23:27 He died for sinners. 23:29 While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 23:33 I'll be right back after this. 23:35 [upbeat music] 23:38 - [Narrator 2] Dragons, beasts, cryptic statues, 23:42 Bible prophecy can be incredibly and confusing. 23:48 If you've ever read "Daniel a Revelation" 23:50 and come away scratching your head, you're not alone. 23:52 Our free focus on prophecy guides are designed 23:56 to help you unlock the mysteries of the Bible 23:58 and deepen your understanding of God's plan 24:00 for you and our world. 24:02 Study online or request them by mail 24:04 and start bringing prophecy into focus today. 24:08 - I think maybe some of the most incredible material 24:10 found anywhere in the Bible might be those places 24:13 where God speaks about his own people 24:15 in really glowing terms. 24:17 And it's remarkable because you and I 24:19 both know we don't deserve that. 24:21 And what God is asking from us in return for all that love 24:25 and attention is that we model that same kind of love 24:28 when it comes to our fellow human beings. 24:31 Those other people are also made in the image of God 24:34 just like you, and God wants them in his kingdom. 24:38 You and I have no right to badmouth anybody, 24:41 not even if what you're saying happens to be true. 24:46 I mean, imagine having God list all your negative qualities. 24:49 You know, he just gives you a list with bullet points. 24:51 How long do you think 24:53 that list would be if God was making it? 24:56 You know, you've gotta wonder what kind of a world 24:58 we'd be living in if everybody actually made an effort 25:01 to boost each other instead of always attacking. 25:05 Imagine how much nicer social media might be 25:09 or how civilized government could become. 25:12 And I'm not really talking about honest debate. 25:15 I mean, there should always be room 25:16 for honest disagreements. 25:18 We have to make room for that or nothing ever happens. 25:22 What I'm really talking about is character assassination. 25:26 The practice of going after a person 25:28 instead of that person's position. 25:31 Philosophers would call that an ad hominem attack, 25:34 and it's widely recognized as a logical fallacy. 25:37 If you resort to that, you've already lost. 25:40 You're hoping people will think poorly of a person, 25:43 and because of that, go and dismiss their arguments. 25:47 And it's a dishonest way of conducting business. 25:50 I mean, just try to imagine the kind of election cycle 25:53 we might have if people really just stuck 25:56 to the issues and always, always told the truth. 26:01 Imagine the kinds of good and honest people 26:03 that might actually be willing 26:04 to serve the public if that's the environment we lived in. 26:08 I'm actually convinced that a lot of good people 26:10 are shying away from public service 26:13 because of the way they know 26:14 they and their family are gonna be dragged through the mud 26:17 should they seek public office. 26:20 And sadly, I'm not convinced that we're gonna be able 26:23 to change a whole lot. 26:24 The Bible doesn't indicate that society gets better 26:27 as time moves along. 26:29 In fact, it indicates exactly the opposite. 26:32 It gets worse, but even if it is getting worse, 26:36 that doesn't let you off the hook, 26:39 even if everybody else is doing it, 26:41 even if everybody else is breaking 26:43 all of the commandments, you're not supposed to. 26:46 You're supposed to reveal the love of God in this world. 26:49 They're supposed to be able to see the character 26:51 of God in your life. 26:54 And I get it, I know it's not easy. 26:57 I mean, I've got the same flaws as you and some worse ones. 27:00 And I'd be lying if I told you I've never broken 27:03 this commandment or the others. 27:05 But I also know that in the long run, 27:08 it is well worth representing God 27:10 in your everyday transactions. 27:13 Go back and read some of the stories you find in the Bible. 27:16 Someone like Daniel, a lowly captive 27:18 because he was always honest 27:20 and he even spoke highly 27:22 of the Babylonian king when he addressed him. 27:25 Well, in the end, he was trusted 27:26 when real trouble started to emerge. 27:29 Be that person, be the person whose character 27:33 is trustworthy, the one people turn to 27:36 when there are real problems in life. 27:38 Thanks for joining me today. 27:40 I'm Shawn Boonstra, and this has been another episode 27:42 of "Authentic". 27:44 [upbeat music] |
Revised 2025-05-15