From the Pastor’s Pen: We live in a culture in which the “Truth” is often the first casualty of interaction between us. We have an incredibly elaborate system of lawyers and contracts and notaries and binding signatures to ensure that we do what we say we will do, at least when it’s perceived to be important enough. And none of it makes people any more truthful. In fact, most people don’t even believe “Truth” is an objective reality!
Matthew 5:33-37 encourages us to say what we mean and mean what we say. “And don’t say anything you don’t mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions. You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, I’ll pray for you, and never doing it, or saying, ‘God be with you, and not meaning it. You don’t make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true. Just say yes and no. When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong” ( Matt. 5:37 MSG)