Where Has All The Honesty Gone? … Hello Hump Day readers. Today I want to share some ideas about honesty and also trying to find out where the heck it’s gone to?! Here’s a few things from these last few weeks that kept my mind stuck in the loss of honesty. Here goes…

I was in Walmart and I noticed a group of 3 young men and one older woman that seemed to be trying to do something underhanded. So I walked around listening and then the older woman said “OK, we got it, you know how to hide it.” I wasn’t the only one who heard her because right behind me was a cop—in disguise! I just nodded and he walked past me. It was about 8 minutes or so until the red lights and noise started banging and the group was arrested. I was still in the same place and I heard one of the younger boys say to the cop that “my mom told us we had to do it.” I almost fell over, really? I didn’t know the outcome until I checked out and when of the gals that I know said “we finally got them.” I asked if they were having hard times—not that it makes stealing OK, but she said “nope, and she does it all over town.” I had to gulp and try not to cry. First we have a mom with deep problems and three young boys who now will have a criminal record for their lives, a broken family indeed.

My next story is from a friend who works at Home Depot. He had a cousin that came from Chicago to Arizona and was staying with him until the home he bought was ready. It was in a rural area where folks have horses, agriculture, etc. He went to HD and asked his cousin how to rent a roto-tiller and some other gadgets. He showed him how it worked and reminded him that the price was based on how long he used it. He said to his cousin “Really? How will you know how long I’ve used it—I don’t see a meter on it.” The cousin stopped and got right in his face saying “you are not the cousin I knew for many years because that guy was very honest. You either tell me how long you used it or you will find another cousin and you won’t find another person in this store who would let you do such a crappy thing.”

 

Like both of these stories, it’s an unfortunate reality that our society has gotten so far away from being able to operate with honesty. I’m sure many would say “in my day dishonesty was the exception and you could almost always expect the truth to be told.” But if we’re truthful, it just isn’t the case anymore. The Pew Research Center has explored dishonesty in the USA through various studies: 1) A majority of Americans see lying as morally wrong 2) Starting in 2021, most people view it as situationally justified-a little white lie isn’t a big deal. 3) Worse than that, the uptick of criminal cases were mostly folks who had sufficient means—their category was the worst when it came to honesty! Wow—what do you think about that?

Here’s just a few Scriptures about honesty-these are from Proverbs:
A truthful witness speaks honestly, but a lying witness speaks deceitfully. [Proverbs 12:17 GNT]
Lips that lie are disgusting to the Lord, but honest people are his delight. [Proverbs 12:22 GNT]
The word of truth lasts forever, but lies last only a moment. [Proverbs 12:19 GNT]

As people who believe in God, we must remember that we are held to a higher standard. We must need to be honest—even when it causes us hardship. In our society today, it’s not easy to be honest, we often can be ridiculed and taunted. But, God has called us his children and God will always empower us to do the right thing. Like the stories above, it’s easy to get sucked into using dishonesty to get ahead; but in the end we don’t go forward, we wind up backwards! Sometimes the obedience God demands of us can be difficult, but if we keep our hearts and minds filled with God’s goodness, honesty will rise and it will give us joy as well as sharing with others—like that family in Walmart or the lying cousin, people need to hear the truth from God and the grace of God’s forgiveness. AMEN.