Being Honest

Scripture: Ephesians 4:25-32

²⁵ So then, putting away falsehood, let each of you speak the truth with your neighbor, for we are members of one another. ²⁶ Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷ and do not make room for the devil. ²⁸ Those who steal must give up stealing; rather, let them labor, doing good work with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. ²⁹ Let no evil talk come out of your mouths but only what is good for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. ³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. ³¹ Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice. ³² Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

Questions

1. What does verse 25 by “all falsehood” and is that different from bearing false witness in Exodus 20:16?
2. What does it mean that we are “members of one another” is this passage limited to the Church?
3. What does it mean to speak truth; how does this apply when the truth causes harm?
4. Why is truth connected to anger, how do the ideas of anger and sin relate to being honest?

Background

Related Scriptures: Exodus 20:1-7; Isaiah 63:10;  Zechariah 8:16; John 8:31-51

Exodus 20:16 is about a person providing false evidence in a legal case.

In John 8 Jesus establishes himself as the embodiment of God’s truth in this world and wants the Pharisees to recognize that if they were truly committed to God’s truth they would engage with him about what God is doing and listen to his message.

“Since we have been “created in truth and righteousness” and reborn in baptism, in order to remain in it we are instructed to put away lying altogether. Hold fast to the truth. Do not cheat your brother in any way. Being members of one body, support one another’s causes in turn.” Ambrosiaster^[1]

St. Augustine on  verse 25 “Let no one mistake this. The apostle is not giving us room to tell a lie to those who are not yet members of Christ with us. The point of the saying is that each of us should consider everyone as we wish him to become, even if he has not become so.… We ought to deal with a person in such a way that he will cease to be an outsider. Regard him as your neighbor already, rather than as an outsider. It may be that, because of the fact that he is not yet a partaker of our faith and sacraments, certain truths must be concealed from him. But that is no reason for telling him falsehoods.^[2]”

Verse 25 contains a quote of Zechariah 8:16 which talks about the New Jerusalem being a place of truth and honesty where people will not speak falsely to their neighbors.

Reflection

“Honesty is the best policy.” This cliched advice has been popular since Benjamin Franklin penned these words over two hundred years ago. But for the Christian honesty is not simply the best policy it is the only policy. John 8:31-51 provides an essential element for Christian belief, that Jesus himself is the embodiment of God’s truth. Truth is not simply important to his message, Jesus identifies himself as truth. This means that when we call ourselves believers and attach ourselves to Jesus we are uniting ourselves to the truth. Such statements about Jesus being the truth are comforting when we are considering our own beliefs. We tend to approach our ideas from the perspective, “of course they are true, the Bible tells me so”, and this is uplifting. But the idea of Jesus being the truth does not stop at what we believe about him, it also impacts who we are as his followers. If we are going to reflect him into the world then we must also reflect his truth, not simply the beliefs about him that we say are true but his honesty. Jesus being the truth means that we are committed to a lifestyle of honesty.

This is the message of Ephesians 4:25-32, that we are meant to be honest people because Jesus is the truth. We are called to be truthful and vulnerable with others even when it is inconvenient for us. We are challenged in Ephesians to give such place to the Holy Spirit that our lives reflect honesty in all situations. When Jesus responds to the Pharisees in John 8 he talks about deception originating in Satan and how deception is participation with Satan. We we are dishonest or deceitful we give place to Satan and work against God in the world. In Ephesians we see that participation with God’s Spirit leads to honesty. Honesty then is a two-way street, showing that we live in the Spirit and allowing the Spirit more opportunity to work in us. But honesty is a choice, it is a choice to be open and vulnerable with information even when that might be easy or in our own best interests. A commitment to honesty is also about a commitment to listening to others and continually learning and growing, filling in the gaps in our own understanding and trying to gain a more accurate picture of the world.

Being honest is different and harden than not lying. Lying is deliberately telling someone something I know is untrue. However, being an honest person goes beyond this, being honest is about being so forthright that people understand you have their interests in mind as well as your own. Exodus condemns giving a false testimony in court, we all understand it is wrong to lie to manipulate justice this is something ingrained in us from an early age. We all want to live in a world where people do not lie or attempt to manipulate us, but the difficulty comes when we recognize that we cannot be false with others. It is one thing to say I will not lie in court, it is another to say I am going to be honest about my life with my friends. How many times do we defend dishonesty when it benefits our goals, how many people will remain silent when the error is in their favor. But a life committed to truth does not simply lay truth aside when it is convenient or when honesty is difficult. An honest person understands that truth matters not simply for the individual situation but for my growth with Jesus. An honest person recognizes that when we give into deceit of any kind we give a foothold to Satan. This does not matter if we are outright lying or allowing a misunderstanding or limited information to deceive another person. Honesty is about understanding we do not want to take advantage of another person instead we want what is best for them in all situations. This is the way of Jesus because Jesus is the truth and the truth cannot deceive and cannot be anything less than honest with someone. If we say that we are growing in the holy Spirit then we are committed to demonstrating honesty in the world. This begins with the comfort of being honest with our family in the church and looking out for one another. But our goal is never to leave this within the Church rather we are called to live like this with everyone we meet. We are called to demonstrate the truth of Jesus not simply in what we believe about Jesus but in how we live in the world around us.

---

^[1] Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture 175.

^[2] Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture 175–176.