Radical truthfulness! You may think what is radical truth? It is being honest in all areas, especially in our speech. In Matthew 5:33-37, we find Jesus speaking against making an oath, or swearing falsely. Even though God allowed His people to make oaths, He never commanded them to do so. In Deuteronomy 23:23, God commanded them to keep any oaths or vows they had made. In the Old Testament, the Jews understood God had forbidden them to swear falsely. There was no need to swear an oath, but if they did, He expected them to keep it. In Ephesians 4:25, Paul instructed all Christians to “put away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, because we are members one of another.”
Matthew 5:33-37 “Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.”
We are to be people of integrity and our word should always be truthful. God expects us to tell the truth no matter what the outcome may be for us. This has been so abused in our society that everything we do requires lawyers and contracts. We have binding signatures stamped by a notary to ensure we keep our word. No longer is a man’s word or a handshake binding. Yet, if a person doesn’t want to tell the truth or keep his word it is swept under the rug because it is too expensive to go to court. In a survey by Barna research group in 2016 “Three-quarters of Millennials (74%) agree strongly or somewhat with the statement “Whatever is right for your life or works best for you is the only truth you can know.” In other words, there is no absolute truth! Lying is not considered lying because to you it is truth. It is no wonder we live in a world where everyone is skeptical of everyone else. This ought not to be true with Christians, but research found that people who claim to be born-again Christians were just as guilty of believing there is no absolute truth.
We are not to embellish a story to gain attention, or to make ourselves look good. We are not to withhold the truth when asked for an answer. In verse 37, Jesus says to let your no be no and your yes be yes. We are to represent the one who is Truth! In John 14:6 Jesus declared himself as the Truth! In Psalms 119:160, David is comforting himself with the knowledge that God’s word is truth, and it can be depended on when everything else falls apart.
John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
Psalms 119:160 “Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever.”.
Be a radical Christian and do things the way Jesus would do them. Our title “Christians” means “little Christ” it is time we start living that way with our speech and how we relate to others. Jesus always told the truth, He never tried to deceive others with the tone He used when speaking. Have you ever spoken to someone and when they answered your question there was an attitude that there was more to the story than was told? They made you think differently about a person or situation because of the facial expressions or the tone they used to answer. This is just another form of lying and deception. It is wrong and those who do it are guilty. It hurts the body of Christ, and God will hold them accountable not only for what they said but the way they said it. Be radical and tell the truth, and nothing but the truth!
