Committed to Telling the Truth

God calls us to put off our former self, an identity that is steeped in sin and separated from God and seek to be faithful people who act in accordance with God's Word. Here is what James 1 says:
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;
24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

Who we really are is wrapped up in our relationship with Jesus Christ.  He has recreated us in His image, and brought us into a relationship with Himself.

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In Ephesians 4, Paul writes about putting off the old and putting on our new identity in Christ, then gives a template for how to act in a manner that is pleasing to God.  He writes...
22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore, putting away lying, "Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,"for we are members of one another.

There has been plenty of speculation swirling around NBC anchor and managing editor Brian Williams, who announced on Saturday that he would be taking a break from anchoring NBC Nightly News for "the next several days," according to the NBCNews.com website.

Williams' statement read this way:

In the midst of a career spent covering and consuming news, it has become painfully apparent to me that I am presently too much a part of the news, due to my actions.

As Managing Editor of NBC Nightly News, I have decided to take myself off of my daily broadcast for the next several days, and Lester Holt has kindly agreed to sit in for me to allow us to adequately deal with this issue. Upon my return, I will continue my career-long effort to be worthy of the trust of those who place their trust in us.

According to the website, in a piece that aired on NBC Nightly News recently, Williams told the story of how a military helicopter he was passenger in during an assignment in Iraq took on enemy fire. But on Wednesday, Williams told viewers he had made a mistake in recalling the incident. He and his team were actually in an aircraft that was following the helicopter that was hit, he said.

NBC News president Deborah Turness announced Friday there is a internal team dedicated to gathering the facts surrounding what has transpired.

There are generally two schools of thought that I have identified in response to this story:  one narrative paints a picture of a national news anchor who resorted to a half-truth or even an outright lie to embellish a story.  Another narrative tries to make Williams out as someone who was suffering from some sort of misplaced memory factor that causeD him to lose a good appraisal of the facts.  

The Newsbusters.org website, administered by the Media Research Center, reports that:

Among those calling for Brian Williams to resign or be removed from the anchor chair is Media Research Center President Brent Bozell, who said during Thursday’s Hannity on the Fox News Channel (FNC) that Williams should do “the honorable thing” and “resign” for his comments where “he clearly lied.”

On Friday’s Hannity, Bozell observed that Williams has been “lying about everything” following additional questions about more stories Williams has retold about his biography and reporting assignments, including a few from covering Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005.

But, Dr. Fred Vox of Atlanta writes on the CNN.com website to cut Williams a break.  He says that:

While no one can rule out Williams and NBC set out in a craven and intentional attempt to misappropriate valor from a dramatic wartime scenario, or even a well-intentioned white lie (Williams was trying to honor an involved soldier during his most recent retelling), it's also possible he's suffered an all-too-natural memory error.

He added,

We don't call single false memories like this a disease because they're in fact normal, right alongside your occasionally forgotten car keys, your missing wallet or even your misremembered conversation.

Dr. Vox also stated:

Williams has told his story many times before, and each time he tells it, he is retrieving it. Errors happen during memory retrieval all the time, just as errors happen in cell division; biology isn't computer science. Furthermore, he is subtly modifying his memory with his every retelling. Revisions occur as the memory is re-encoded based on what's going on at the time he tells the story.

So, is it one big lie, a series of embellished stories, or a memory error?   More information is sure to come out independent of NBC's internal investigation.   But, for the believer, we can think about certain aspects of how our minds operate and the spiritual issues that we can identify:

Make up our minds to tell the truth.  Integrity should be an issue of paramount importance for the believer in Christ, because a truthful heart keeps us right with God and lends credibility to the message we send.   Sure, because we're human, we will get details incorrect from time-to-time, but I think we have to be careful that our words are accurate and we do not possess an intention of misrepresenting facts in order to make us look or feel better.

If we are caught in a lie or a misstatement, repent quickly and restore relationships.  I do believe that we will be convicted by the Holy Spirit when we make misleading statements.  Some of those can be damaging to relationships and do harm to the cause of Christ.  When we have advanced in position or perception as the result of untruth, we must come before the Lord in contrition and repentance and allow Him - and others - to restore us.

Make every effort to remember God's Word.   The Bible speaks of being doers of the Word and not merely hearers.  James 1 has a wonderful passage that directs us to not merely read God's Word and then go away and forget what we have read or even studied.  He wants us to put what we've learned into practice.  We can be challenged to be faithful doers and not merely forgetful hearers.