Better to Die than to Tell a Lie

My Dad has, as far as I know, never told a lie. He is so honest that if we can get him to say that we will do a thing, we know we will do it . . . I think even if he died, then Zombie Dad would make sure it got done. Dad is a man of his word. He also is a merciful man and seldom gave the punishment we deserved as children (not even for saying a naughty word in gym!), but Mom help us if we ever told a lie.

He raised us on Uncle Arthur’s Bedtime Stories. These little morality tales were drawn from real life and made a big impression on me. If I had to list the five writers that had the deepest impact on my childhood, Uncle Arthur Maxell would be on the list.

Dad heartily approved of the story of a man who raised his charges (Maxwell loved terms like “charges” for the children) who were under his care to never tell a lie. He would chuck (another Uncle Arthur word!) his charges under the chin and tell them: “Better to die than to tell a lie.” Evidently, even years later as grown men, former lads could repeat the phrase and so be recognized as one of the charges of this man.

What a great heritage!

I do my best to live up to Dad’s example and Uncle Arthur’s story and I hope my own adult children think of me as a gentleman, a man of his word.  Where I have failed, I repent. Better to die than to tell a lie.

This political season reminded me of the importance of truth as candidates tell whoppers, inflate their credentials, and redefine reality to fit their needs. We are even amused by the graft and come to admire the lovable rouge who tells us what we wish to hear boldly.

Business leaders lie when they sell us a product using twisted words and exaggerations. Educators lie when we tell our bosses, parents, or constituents self-serving half-truths. In fact, if we get away with our slanted accounts, Americans will include them as humorous moments in their memoirs. Sometimes a lie just sits quietly, unknown except to God, awaiting the day of Doom. A lie can fester until it breaks out in eternity to witness for the truth.

We even see it in the church when all of us are tempted to “speak evangelistically.” Our crowd of 51 can be rounded up to one hundred and then by a diabolical twist of the loaves and the fishes become “hundreds” in our fund raising letter. Jesus never engaged in spin and despite total transparency became the Savior of the world. Jesus saw that we were broken and refused to tell us that we were ok, even if it offended us so much that we crucified Him.

Better to die than to tell a lie.