Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. Ephesians 4:15

 

When movie producer Oliver Stone was severely criticized for bending the truth in the production of his movie on the life of former US president, Richard Nixon, he responded by saying that he was simply interpreting the truth, and that every production deserved new insights.  Since when does truth have to be interpreted?  If something is historical, should not the facts be the truth, rather than how someone would like things to have been?  Can truth really be interpreted?

It is amazing, though, how individuals will distort the facts, putting a spin on the truth which makes it look substantially different from what it really is. In essence, that is what a distorted perspective does, denying complicity and responsibility, and not acknowledging that what took place was wrong (period!).

Interpreting the truth is what historians do when they omit certain events and invent others with a personal agenda.  Interpreting the truth is what a husband does when he lies to his wife, glossing over the fact that he did stop on the way home and had a drink with his secretary.  Interpreting the truth is what politicians do when they look a video camera in the eye and deny having any knowledge of a situation, when in reality they are lying and the facts eventually prove that.  While interpreting the truth isn’t new—Adam did it in the Garden of Eden—it has become fashionable.

There are several ways that the truth can be distorted—interpreted, if you will.  One is by purposely withholding facts, which makes a situation look much different from what it really is, and two is by adding information which is neither factual nor consistent with the character of an individual or situation.  Granted, Oliver Stone, the producer of the movie on the life of Richard Nixon, could take certain liberties in conversations that bridge historical events; but according to Nixon’s family, to set out to purposely defame an individual or distort the historical record is totally another matter.

A poll indicates that seven out of 10 individuals say they are dissatisfied with current standards of honesty—the largest proportion of people in many years.  It is no wonder that there is a growing cynicism among people today—a sense that everything is relative and that you cannot be sure you have the unvarnished facts of a situation, no matter who reports it.

No matter what is going on in public life, people demand more of our private lives.  Overwhelmingly, the quality which is most esteemed in personal relationships is that of honesty.  When it comes to a wife, a husband, or a close friend, above everything else, honesty is expected.

How does God view the practice of interpreting the truth?  The same way He viewed Adam’s comments in the garden—with disdain!  Either something is true or it is a lie.  Either your motive is pure or you purposely intend to make someone or something look different from what you know it to be.  The problem today is that people so commonly distort the truth that it becomes habitual.  Then we coin pleasant words such as “misinformation” to lessen the fact that there was deceit and purposeful misrepresentation.

Honesty is the fabric of trust, and when we no longer think that we can trust each other, we draw back, build walls, and live in doubt and cynicism.  A person who is straightforward and honest may at times be upsetting, but he or she is refreshing.  You know that what you see is what you get, and you never wonder where the person really stands.  And when I take my car into the garage for repairs and hear, “You need major repairs,” I’d feel somewhat better knowing he would tell his mother exactly the same thing.

Resource reading: Ephesians 4:1-16