by Jacob Ninan
"And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are uncovered and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we have an account to give" (Heb.4:13). These days we are so flooded with preaching on the love and grace of God that we are made to think as if God has no other attributes. If we are influenced by this, we tend to become careless with how we actually live from day to day, thinking that the love of God will never let go of us and that all our 'mistakes and failures' will be automatically covered by His grace. This verse points out that we have to give an account of our lives to God who knows every detail and cannot be fooled.
There are standards God expects from us, whether we are serving Him in the church, dealing with our family or with our personal life. Even in the Old Testament, God called for certain qualifications for people who were to take responsibility over others. "But you shall select excellent men out of all the people, those who fear God, men of truth, those who hate greedy gain; and you shall place these men over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens" (Exo.18:21). In the context of this message, let us look at the emphasis on truth – men of truth. 'Truth' refers not only to what is factual but also to what is real. Truth is absolute – something is either true or false. Different people may have different opinions about something, but it is either true or not true. For example, as long as everyone agrees on the meaning of the colours black and white, no amount of imagination or argument can prove that black is white.
Whether we are big or small, whether we are dealing with ourselves, our family or even the church, truthfulness has to be foundational for us. God does not tolerate double-speak, guile, scheming, manipulating – with an intent to deceive. Guile is totally opposed to His nature – He is the Truth. But in this world, a man of guile is admired and considered suited for a great political career. Some of them make statements and then immediately afterwards deny that they ever said it!
What are some of the common reasons why we seek to deceive? It could be that we want to impress others with a better opinion of ourselves than is true, in order to gain something from them. It may be to avoid the truth being discovered. It could be to manipulate others with scheming to carry out our plans. Etc.
But we should not imagine that since no one caught us, we have managed to get away with it. We cannot escape from God's notice. He makes it clear that we will have to suffer the consequences of whatever we do (Gal.6:7). We may seem to get some immediate benefits, and fool everybody, but we will be losing something of eternal value. We will lose what God wanted to give us if we had overcome the temptation. We may get into problems we had not anticipated. Our ability to receive spiritual insights may get reduced because He cannot throw His pearls before swine (Prov.3:32). We may even lose a little bit of His anointing.
Integrity and faithfulness have their rewards (Psa.15:1,2). If we wish for a closer walk with God and to become a friend of God, if there is a lack, this may be the direction we should look at. When we look back and realise how careless we have been in different areas of life earlier, it would be appropriate for us to pause and set things right with God and others before we proceed.
At the personal level The choices that we make at our personal level will affect others around us too – our family, our workplace, church, society. If we cannot be true to ourselves, we cannot be true towards God and people. To walk with integrity means to follow the same set of values in everything we do. If we deviate from the truth in our life, our progress towards the God of truth, and what God has planned for us personally and for us to carry out will get hindered. It is not enough to start running the race, because how we run matters in deciding the results. If we deviate from the truth in any area of our life, in our relationships, money matters, what we speak, keeping our promises, in our workplace as we prepare our resume, self-assessment, reports, etc., we must not forget that God is watching.
How do we respond when someone finds us having done something wrong? Do we deny our wrongdoing or find an excuse? Do we put the blame on others, circumstances or God, and neglect judging ourselves? Look at two examples of how David reacted, whom God called a man after His own heart. He demonstrated how tender his conscience was when he saw the people suffering after he had done wrong in numbering them (1Chr.21:17). Yes, it was a serious crime that he had committed with adultery and murder, but when the prophet Nathan confronted him, he did not deny them or make excuses (2Sam.12:13). See how this contrasts with the way Adam and Eve reacted when God questioned them, blaming each other. The standard we have to follow is exemplified by keeping our promise even when it hurts us to keep it because integrity is more important for us than to avoid hurt (Psa.15:4).
At the family level A test of our love for the truth is when a loved one does wrong. Will we defend our siblings with lies when we know clearly that they are wrong? Will we fight with the schoolteachers who point out our children's mistakes? Will we stand with our mother when she is fighting with our wife? If we do things like these, we may imagine that we are doing them out of our love, when we are actually throwing truth out of the picture! This is the reason why Jesus pointed out that if we loved any one more than Him, we would not be qualified to be His disciple (Matt.10:37). In such situations we can get a test report about practical discipleship, so that we need not deceive ourselves by merely accepting the doctrines.
Another common thing that happens is that we are tempted to neglect our family when we want to serve in 'ministry'. We may try to justify this by saying that to do ministry is to serve God, and that even family cannot be allowed to stand in the way! But can we carry out the responsibility that God has given us in a particular ministry after neglecting the other responsibility that He has given us to take care of the family (1Tim.5:8)? Don't we see that serving our family is also a ministry from God? But we can be fooled in this area because public success in a ministry may bring us a reputation and even monetary gain, whereas becoming one with the wife or bringing up children successfully by leading them to God are not things that will make us great in the eyes of most people. These are areas where our love for integrity and truth before God is tested.
Many children go astray because their parents did not have time for them. When the children are small, some parents think that they are too small to worry about, and when they grow into teenage, the teenagers think their parents don't understand them! If parents are busy with work for 'making money for the children' or with ministry, and the children seek other things such as friendships or entertainment, the parents have got their priorities wrong. The sad results that follow bring dishonour to the parents. Parents don't realise that what they practise speaks more powerfully to their children than what they preach!
When the parents recognise their lacks and lean on God more, and learn to admit mistakes and learn from them, they present to the children a sincere heart that loves the truth, even when the children are aware of the parents' shortcomings.
At the church level Those who have responsibilities in the church have special challenges before them. "Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, overseeing not under compulsion, but willingly, according to God; and not for dishonest gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to you, but being examples to the flock" (1Pet.5:1-3). The people in the church look up to them as examples. Paul was aware of this, and he took so much care to conduct himself in an appropriate manner (Acts.20:33-35). Because of this, he was able to tell the people to follow Christ in the same way as he did (1Cor.11:1). How we spend our free time, the things we are interested in, how we spend money, how seriously we apply God's word in our life, the lifestyle we follow – these things make such an impression on the people we preach to.
The care we show the people in the church must not be because we are getting paid to show it. If we feel compelled to do things just because they are what are expected of us, we must realise that God expects something different from us. He wants us to do things with an eagerness in our heart and mind to do things for others with a sincere concern for their eternal welfare. Paul did not hold back anything from the people in the churches that they needed to hear, out of fear that someone would get offended or upset with him (Acts.20:27). In order to do this, he would have kept himself aware of what all was happening to different people in the church (Prov.27:13). But those who 'serve' the church for their own gain are scared of offending the powerful, influential and rich people in the church who have appointed them and on whose opinion their career depends. What suffers then? Truth.
What happens if we find that certain doctrines which our particular church or denomination holds are not correct? Will it be a loyalty to the church that will prevail, or will we be faithful to the truth? Whistleblowers have to take a risk that they might lose their job, position in the church or even be excommunicated. These are not easy decisions, but don't we have to loyal to the truth and avoid having to bow down to human organisations, committees, etc.?
What do we do if there is a failure in anyone who has an authority in the church? Do we need to stand for the truth, or should we cover up the failure to preserve the reputation of the church? Of course, discipline in the church is aimed for restoring an erring brother rather than to find occasions to condemn such (Matt.18:15). Witch-hunting is not what we need, but an adherence to the truth.
It is not easy for us to live as Christians at the standard that the Lord has set up for us. As the pressures of life come upon us increasingly and the world in general becomes more wicked in every way, life becomes more challenging. We are constantly tempted to compromise in different areas of our life. "Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him" (Jas.1:12). How we need to depend on the strength which only the Holy Spirit can give us, and how we need to encourage one another!