Yes. I Mean It.

Matthew 5: 34-37

"But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your `Yes' be `Yes,' and your `No,' `No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one."

I recently saw a cartoon of Abe Lincoln, watching his wife try on a dress. Mrs. Lincoln says "Dear, does this dress make me look fat?" The caption of the cartoon was "testing the limits of Honest Abe's honesty."

Getting caught telling a lie is awkward and hurtful, but telling the truth can really get you in trouble. We live in an age where lying is celebrated by even the highest officials. Case in point, Senator Harry Reid recently admitted to lying about Mitt Romney not paying his taxes. Romney was able to prove he did indeed pay taxes, but Senator Reid had no regrets for lying or feeling the need to apologize for his prevarication. In fact, these days we assume we are being lied to by everyone in politics.

So when the very people who we have held up as leaders of our nation think nothing of lying, it becomes hard for society to value speaking the truth. It is even to the point where truth comes in various degrees. One would think that being truthful is a black and white affair: You either tell the truth or you don't. The term "Truthiness" comes to mind. Comedian Steven Colbert coined the word to describe the fullness of truth-in-degree.

There is a reason that our court system swears in each witness with the phrase "the whole truth and nothing but." We sometimes lie by not telling the whole story. My wife could ask me "Did you go to lunch with Dave?" and I could answer a simple yes. But if Dave brought along a couple of pretty ladies to dine with us, my affirmative answer didn't exactly tell the whole truth!

Navigating in a world like this is uncertain. How wonderful it would be if we could know for certain when someone is lying or withholding the entire truth. Full disclosure could surely make decisions easier to make. But it's just a fact of life. We move ahead cautiously, hoping the things to which we commit will prove to be true and honest.

The only part of the equation we can do anything about is with ourselves. We are urged in Matthew to let our "yes be yes" and our 'No be no." That means we need to come clean before others, and tell them the best truth possible. If disclosing any portion of the truth be pertinent to the other, we owe it to them to let them know.

It's not easy. We tend to want to please. But it is a challenge to be honest with those we encounter, because ultimately what we are aiming for here is a truthful reputation. Once you establish the habit of being fully truthful,then when it comes time for you to talk about your faith, you are better prepared.