To tell the truth

 

In John’s Gospel, Jesus responds to Pilate who was questioning Him about whether or not He was the King of the Jews (John 18:33-37).  Jesus is clear that He is a King, but that His Kingdom does not belong to this world.  So where is His Kingdom?

We can look at Jesus’ statement from two points of view.  First of all, if Jesus would have claimed that He were an earthly king, one with civil authority, then Pilate would have judged Him to be guilty of trying to overthrow the Roman authority.  This would be unlawful and would be punishable by death.  In that case, Jesus could have been found legally guilty of violating civil law.

But Jesus was purely innocent.  He was morally perfect in every way, and that included His obedience to all legitimate civil law.  But Jesus is a King.  He is The King of all Kings!  Therefore, so as to exercise His Kingship, He declared that His Kingdom is not of this world.  In other words, it isn’t a Kingdom that was in competition with the Roman authorities or any other civil authority.  To that truth, Pilate didn’t know how to respond.

I read somewhere that, according to studies, the average American lies 11 times a week.  Of course, this assumes the people they polled were telling the truth during the survey.

I think many of us lie because telling the truth can put us in awkward, uncomfortable situations, the type we as humans are wired to try and avoid.  And then there’s the group of us who lie to look good.  What’s wrong with telling a few white lies?  In the study I read, researchers claimed “social lying” is often about appearances, looking good not only to our friends, but also to ourselves. By being untruthful, we’re all too often willing to hide our failures and shortcomings or nod in agreement with opinions to which we don’t subscribe.

So, why did Jesus respond to Pilate’s inquiry the way He did and emphasize the importance of honesty?  If we think about it, being truthful goes hand in hand with Jesus’ message of love; first, to love your God above all others, and then, to love your neighbor (Luke 10:27-28).  Truth is the very cornerstone upon which love is built, and without truth, no relationship, here on earth or in heaven, can survive.

God knows all and sees all, so our untruthfulness is only for our own presumed benefit. 

So today, in our conversations with God, let’s focus on being truthful in assessing how we’re trying to live our faith-filled lives.  Let’s not exaggerate our good deeds, omit our failings, or worry about being liked by others, but rather, learn to “testify to the truth” and in so doing, be more open and accepting of God’s unconditional love.

Over time, the added benefit of being truthful with God in all our daily conversations and prayers may be our increased comfort to “testify to the truth” with those we love and with whom we share our lives; to openly share with them our candid thoughts and feelings; and to welcome theirs as well.  By practicing truthfulness and honesty in our prayer life and then with our loved ones, we may gain the confidence to rewrite our own personal mission statement and vow to “testify to the truth” to all we meet.