Honesty - The Truth Teller

About one year ago, we began our youth group at our church, and came up with an acronym that helped describe what we wanted our teenagers to become not only in our church, but also in society as a whole. The acronym?

HI-FHY

Hi-Fhy? You might ask. Yes. "Honesty, Integrity, and Fidelity".
Last week during our Thursday night youth group time we talked about Honesty.

So often even as adults our lives are filled with lies. Maybe not lies that are involved in the corporate world, but still lies.

For example, "Does pizza sound good for supper?" My wife might ask. Not really, but at the same time I know she's worked a long day, put up with rude people, and watched our daughter all day long too. Do I say that pizza sounds good to make her life easier, or do I tell her that what I'm really hungry for is something that will take several hours to make.
"Sure sweetheart. Pizza sounds fine." is often the answer. Then the rest of the evening under my breath I mutter. "Pizza. Seriously? Pizza?"

The perfecter of lies, Satan himself is the best liar, and he's also the best teacher of how to lie. Unfortunately though at many times our lies come out. Trying to cover one lie with another, with the results eventually most often exploding in our face.

One of the best examples of lying I could find in the Bible is found in Acts 5 the account of Ananias and Sapphira. Ananias and Sapphira a married couple in the early church wanted to be noticed for being sacrificial like other people in the early church. What was happening such as the example of Barnabas was that certain people were selling their possessions to aid in the provision of some of the Christians who were being fired from their jobs and disowned by their families all because of their new beliefs.

When Ananias and Sapphira heard and saw how others were giving and being recognized for their donations they wanted the same pride and recognition. Unfortunately the desire to have this recognition led them to do something that God would not have wanted them to do, and thus resulted in a lie, which then ended in dire consequences.

With a plan in tow, the two sold some possessions and chose to give the church some of the money from the sale. The plan though was not to give all of the money, but to keep some of it, but to sound pious to the church they were going to say that they had given all the money from the sale.

Ananias was the first to enter the church and give Peter the money. Maybe at first Peter looked at the money and was humbled at the thought that once again someone else from the church was giving all that they had, but the Bible tells us in verse 3 that Peter knew that the sum was not all that had been gained from the sale, and Peter blames Ananias for not only lying to him, but also to the Holy Spirit. There in the church he drops dead as a consequence for his sin.

A little later in walks his wife. I wonder if she came in with her head held high, or if this was part of the plan to make the pride and recognition last a little longer in the church. In she strutted with her head held high and a big smile on her face. But then Peter asks her a question. "Tell me Sapphira, is this all the money from the sale of the possession that you sold?" "Oh yes, Peter!"
"Why Sapphira, why is it you agreed together to lie to the Holy Spirit? Don't you know that the men that carried out your husband and buried him are waiting at the door to take you out as well?" And then down the ground she fell also dead.

Why would God cause two people to die just for lying? Because God wanted the early church to recognize that lying was a sin, and in God's eyes, a lie was just as bad as a murder or adultery. A lie is a lie, and a sin is a sin. Thus causing the lie to be a sin that can separate us from the presence of God for all eternity. Praise the Lord for the gift of Salvation.

Acts 5:1-10