17 For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.
18 Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him."
I think that applies in matters of integrity. If we are devoted to living in accordance with God's principles and committed to telling the truth, then that will have positive benefits. But, if we attempt to hide our sins and "cover our tracks" by lying, then the calculus changes, and we run the risk of being exposed for our duplicity. We are called to be trustworthy, preserving a good reputation, and in so doing, bringing honor to the name of the Lord.
There is a passage in Numbers chapter 32 that reminds us that there are consequences for the sin of lying - we are called and empowered to tell the truth. The passage says:
20 Then Moses said to them: "If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves before the Lord for the war,
21 and all your armed men cross over the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven out His enemies from before Him,
22 and the land is subdued before the Lord, then afterward you may return and be blameless before the Lord and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the Lord.
23 But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out.
What a mess! A New York Congressional district has elected a man to serve it in Washington, but the man they elected is not exactly who they thought he was.
His name is George Santos, and it turns out that he did not tell the truth about many aspects of his life story. The New York Post website stated this: "The gusher of lies told by George Santos has him in hot water that could end his career as a congressman soon after it begins — and maybe even put him behind bars." It states that Santos "faces a probable probe by the House Ethics Committee," the man who will be chair of that committee, Rep. James Comer, has "told Fox News he’s 'pretty confident' it will open an investigation because 'what Santos has done is a disgrace.'"
The 34-year-old newly elected member of Congress "is also reportedly under scrutiny by federal, state and local authorities who are looking into potential criminal wrongdoing, including where he got the $700,000 he loaned his winning campaign..."
Santos has lied about his education, stating on a website that he attended Baruch University and New York University. The Post article said:
But after The New York Times — which first exposed many of Santos’ lies last month — reported that neither school could find his name in their records, Santos came clean to The Post.The article points out that while Santos claimed to have worked at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, "Both financial firms told the Times they couldn’t confirm his employment claims..."
“I didn’t graduate from any institution of higher learning. I’m embarrassed and sorry for having embellished my resume,” he said.
This guy even lied about his religion; the Post said:
Santos — who said on his campaign website that his mother was Jewish — also called himself a “proud American Jew” who’d “been to Israel numerous times” in a two-page position paper obtained by The Forward, which said it found no documentation to back up those trips.
The Forward also revealed that Santos’ maternal grandparents were both born in Brazil before the Nazis took over Germany and that his late mom routinely posted Catholic images on social media and followed several accounts about Catholicism.
In his interview with The Post, Santos said his ties to Judaism were based on stories his grandmother told about being Jewish before converting to Catholicism.
“I never claimed to be Jewish,” Santos said. “I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was ‘Jew-ish.’”
Yeah, right - and furthermore, his sexuality even seems to be a cloudy issue. The Post related that he said: “I am openly gay, have never had an issue with my sexual identity in the past decade, and I can tell you and assure you, I will always be an advocate for LGBTQ folks.” But, the article notes "the Daily Beast unearthed court records that show he was previously married to a woman before their relationship ended in a September 2019 divorce less than two weeks before he filed paperwork to run for Congress." Santos' response: "people change." He even claimed to have employed four victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, even though the article says none of the victims show they were employed at "any of the companies identified in Santos’ largely fabricated resume..."
That's not all, but it's enough to show this individual cannot be trusted.
And, it should be a reminder for each of us that Christians should be devoted to telling the truth.
The Daily Briefing from Dallas Baptist University offered some insight on truth-telling - for instance, it states in one of its regular e-mails: "A recent survey found that 78 percent of candidates who applied for or received a job offer in the last 6 months admit they did or would consider misrepresenting themselves on their application."
It also notes: "There are two conflicting motivations that drive dishonesty, according to Dan Ariely in his great book entitled The (Honest) Truth about Dishonesty: our desire to view ourselves as honorable and the desire to obtain the benefits of cheating. We exercise a significant amount of cognitive flexibility, rationalizing our actions in order to preserve our character
Ariely is quoted as saying: “Put simply, the link between creativity and dishonesty seems related to the ability to tell ourselves stories about how we are doing the right thing, even when we are not. The more creative we are, the more we are able to come up with good stories that help us justify our selfish interests.”
But, as the Daily Briefing author states: "Stretching the truth may flex your creative muscles, but it also reveals your lack of self-control. As Ananias and Sapphira learned, a lack of self-control is like a city without walls. Your creative muscles may be incredibly strong, but the truth has a resurrection resolve which cannot be defeated – especially without walls." It references Proverbs 25:28, which says, "Whoever has no rule over his own spirit Is like a city broken down, without walls."
If we are to be people of integrity, we have to be committed to not shading the truth, not mispresenting situations and proving ourselves to be trustworthy.
When lying becomes habitual, for whatever reason, then a person becomes vulnerable to living a double life. We have to be truthful with ourselves and devote ourselves to transparency. God knows who we really are, and when we refuse to live according to His directive on telling the truth and developing a reputation for being trustworthy, we damage our witness for Christ. We are not really getting away with something, because ultimately, as the Bible promises, our sin will find us out.
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