What Liars Eat

   This month, I was pondering pretense on my Facebook. In particular when it comes to being a Christian. Which is not the same as being part of some "club." Or a "religion" for that matter.

   The one who is dominated by how he feels will embrace lies because they can find love and acceptance in a peer group of their choice. I’m reminded of a quote from the film, The Dark Knight in which the Joker references schemers as being, “… only as good as the world allows them to be.” Truth no longer is the motivation for people in our society. We celebrate a college degree, but we make fun of people who treat others fairly. We celebrate cursing our parents, but label ourselves good. We’ve relegated truth to whatever your truth is. And this is the adopted view of most any group whether it's the conservative Fox News crowd or the ultra-liberal community. I'm reminded of another quote from a guest speaker in church. He said, “Personality is what we want people to think we are. But character is who we are.”

   The bible says that liars love destructive tongues (Proverbs 17:4). What does that mean? It means people who love to listen to superficial, mean-spirited gossip are liars. Their very hearts are inclined to devour this conversation. They flock to this because it's who they are. If you weren’t a liar, then how could you enjoy feeding off every disparaging word, even if it is funny?

   Jesus spoke of the act of believing like eating (John 6). Isn't it true that what we believe, we consume in our hearts? And from that, don't we sort of take on the traits-- or bear the fruit-- of that belief in how we live? In Proverbs 23:1-9, the writer is warning the diner to be careful at dinner in the company of a ruler. He called what was placed before the diner, "deceptive food." Sometimes greed will make you someone you don't want to become. In relation to this, I think of Daniel and the three Hebrew teenagers. They were given special treatment with education and luxurious meals. Daniel and them decided they would subsist on greens and water. It wasn't a pride thing as the world would interpret it. They were being faithful to God. They were in relationship with God. Babylon was trying to cheapen it. Daniel and the teenagers were shown to be much healthier and stronger than the other adolescents (Daniel 1:15). Daniel wasn't the type to nod, mock and laugh at what was right so he could be down with the crew. Not anyone reading my words wants someone they love to treat their relationship lightly.

   I am not condemning what isn't deserving of it. I do believe in grace. But humility recognizes wrong and seeks to repent. Humility is cool with personal maturity. God honors humility. There are many who manipulate to get the honor they want, but it’s never from God. 

"Truth is the way things really are, not the way we think they are, or the way we would like them to be, or the way that we wish that they were. Truth, I think we might say, is reality from God's point of view."

Joyce Meyer