A few weeks ago at Bethany, we had an all-church luncheon following our morning worship service.  Our quarterly luncheons are one of my favorite activities at the church.  It’s not just the food, which is always delicious, but the connection.  It’s so encouraging to see people who have been here 2 weeks mingling with people who have been here 20+ years.  One of our church values is to be “community embedded.” We define that as, “God desires intimate relationship with us and has designed us for fellowship with Him and each other in the context of a local church community.”  And a worship service followed by a delicious luncheon embodies this value perfectly.

Recently we’ve been pairing these luncheons with a theme- missions with an international dinner, Thanksgiving with a full turkey dinner, etc.  It’s been wildly successful.  And this past luncheon’s theme, which paired with Compassion Sunday, was “It’s all about kids.”  We had kid friendly food- chicken tenders, mac & cheese, fresh hot fries, and a big fresh salad.  There were crafts, and decorations; it was quite festive. Our mission and hospitality team also rented a cotton candy machine. Fun!

After the meal, our hostess, Rona’ announced that the cotton candy machine was now open, and each child could receive ONE serving.  The line quickly formed and each child (and eventually big kids like me) received a freshly spun cone of blue raspberry cotton candy.

Now, there’s one thing about blue raspberry cotton candy, it’s loaded with food coloring and leaves a mark on everything it touches.  So, as Rona’ laughingly recounted, as time progressed children with blue lips and tongues started showing up in the line to receive their “one” serving of cotton candy.  Rona’ would innocently ask, “Is this your first time in line?” and the child would solemnly nod, wide-eyed.   To which Rona’ would good-naturedly wave them off, “You’d better go look in the mirror!”  These kids were busted and didn’t even know it! Like Pinocchio’s nose, the blue dye was a clear give-away that they weren’t being honest.

Of course, that young children would do this doesn’t catch anyone by surprise.  It’s human nature to lie.  It’s the one thing you never have to teach your kids.  But it got me to thinking about the larger issue of lying in our society. This plagues adults too. The world views truthfulness as a matter of convenience… if no one catches you and no one gets hurt, what’s the problem?  What’s wrong with a little lie? Make life easier for yourself! And in the world of politics and business, lying is par for the course, if it helps you get ahead.

Last week Justin got his first car, a garage kept, impeccably maintained 2007 Toyota Corolla with only 123,000 miles.  It was a private sale that he found on Facebook marketplace from a guy up in Reading. We went up, test drove the car, kicked the tires, and settled on a price.  We were very excited. It was a great deal. We went to Wells Fargo to draw up a cashier check and then met at a local auto tag and notary place to transfer the title and get new plates.  As we stood in the parking lot, the owner said, “Hey, if you want, I can put down $500 bucks as the purchase price.”  He gave me a knowing look.

“No, that’s ok”, I said.

“What?”, he said.

“I appreciate what you’re saying, but I’ll just do this straight up.”  I replied.

“Suit yourself.”  He said in an ever-so-slight touch of distain. His shrug said, “if this fool has money to burn and wants to pay taxes on the full amount, I’ll leave him to his folly.”

I don’t have money to burn.  And frankly saving hundreds dollars would be welcome.  But my integrity isn’t for sale and besides all of that, what message would I be giving to my son?

Every day the enemy sets up all kinds of opportunities for us to make life easier if we just… lie.  We may call it different things- stretching, hiding, exaggerating, omitting, a fib, a tall tale, or a white lie; but whatever the name, it’s not the truth.  I may have passed the test this time, but I assure you, I fail plenty of times, maybe not so much in a straight up lie, but I often catch myself shading things to my advantage or to make me look good. Other times it’s unintentional- I’ll carelessly say that I’ll do something within a certain timeframe and then let it slip. No malice is intended, but the result is the same.

“The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.” Proverbs 12:22

“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” Exodus 20:16

“Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.” Ephesians 4:25

“Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices.” Colossians 3:9

“Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies.” Psalm 34:13

As Christians, let’s be known for our truthfulness, even if it’s costly.  In so doing, we honor the Lord and show respect to our fellow man who is created in God’s image.  And since God never lies, truthfulness is the best and only policy for those who bear his name. We shouldn’t need the threat of blue lips and tongue to motivate us to tell the truth.  Let’s not be a cotton candy liar!