Honesty? Honestly!
There is an old joke about a husband and wife who were visiting a cemetery. As they placed flowers on the grave of a loved one, they noticed a marker a few feet away. Under the name of the deceased the inscription read, “A lawyer and an honest man.” The husband spoke up, “Look, Dear! Two men buried in the same grave!”
It is a sad fact that the noble practice of law has fallen into such ill repute that negative characterizations about it are now commonplace. It is sad because such characterizations or generalizations often rest in truth.
A college classmate transferred from a state university where he had enrolled to study law. In a class about legal ethics, a professor taught his students that lawyers should use all available means to protect a client. My friend asked, “What if you know your client to be guilty? Can you refuse the case? Should you encourage your client to confess and take responsibility?” The professor responded sternly, “In the practice of law, guilt and innocence are irrelevant!” Such a philosophy was incompatible with my friend’s Christian conscience regarding honesty. He withdrew from that school and changed his career choice.
Abraham Lincoln said, “If in your judgment, you cannot be an honest lawyer, resolve to be honest without being a lawyer. Choose some other occupation rather than one in the choosing of which you do, in advance, consent to be a knave.”
This is not to suggest that it is impossible to be an honest attorney. Thankfully, there are many lawyers, like “Honest Abe” himself, who are guardians, not only of the law, but also of the truth.
My friend chose instead to enter the gospel ministry. However, here too he found strong temptation to dishonesty.
Although the Bible repeatedly stresses the importance of pleasing God more than people, the pressure to please the crowd abides. Truth from the pulpit is not always welcome. The teaching of Scripture on eternal retribution, divorce and remarriage, and numerous other matters are hot topics. The preacher may soften them or even effectively deny through avoidance. Who is the wiser?
There is the constant necessity to be interesting in the pulpit. Being creative and original one hundred times a year, year after year is not easy. Many times preachers embellish events or claim the experiences of others as their own. Boldfaced liars are rare in the pulpit. Yet, a subtle disregard for the truth is, unfortunately, not uncommon.
There is always a temptation to pride which begets dishonesty. For instance, the dangerous admiration of numbers may entice a pastor to overstate attendance figures. It also lures many to employ means to increase attendance at the expense of principle and the spiritual vitality of the congregation. Honesty demands that we evaluate a church not by shear mass but by spirit.
Few outside the pastorate appreciate the multitudinous social expectations placed on the minister. “Do you remember me?” a visitor asks the pastor, who has no recollection of a prior meeting. “Do you like the baby’s name?” “Did you pray for me like I asked?”
Of course, dishonesty is not limited to the practice of law or the gospel ministry. We can find it in every occupation, from the merchant altering measurements and accounts, to the hourly worker falsifying his time card or not giving full effort, to the schoolboy cheating on a test.
One preacher appealed (without exaggeration) “Brethren be honest! Though the heavens fall, be honest!”
The Decalogue forbids bearing false witness. The Law of Moses later reinforces this prohibition, “Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.” (Lev. 19:11) The New Testament commands, “Speak every man truth with his neighbor.” (Eph. 4:25) There is no such thing as “a little white lie.” As followers of Christ Who said of Himself, “I am the truth,” of all people, Christians, in every occupation, in every situation, ought to be honest.
David A. Oliver (B.A., M.A., D.Pas.Th) has been the pastor of Ashley Baptist Church in Belding, MI since 1994. He currently serves as president of the Independent Fundamental Baptist Fellowship of Michigan, and is also president of Proclaiming the Truth, Inc. (Neighborhood Bible Time). He also serves as chaplain for two west Michigan fire departments. He and his wife Penny have been married since 1987, and have three children and two grandchildren.