The Holy Spirit and White Collar Crime

 One of the amazing things happening among these Spirit-filled believers is Gospel community in its purest form.  People were leveraging their wealth, possessions and real estate for God's kingdom.  

The process was quite simple.  A Christ follower had a need.  Another brother or sister sold something and gave the proceeds to the apostles.  Dr. Luke gives the example of Barnabas as one who did just that (Acts 4:32-37).

That sets the ball on the tee for what we read in Acts 5:1-11.  Meet Ananias and his wife Sapphira (v1).  They see what's going on with other believers as they sell their stuff and present it to the apostles.  

No doubt the church celebrated such sacrificial gifts.  For Pete's sake, the apostles gave Joseph of Cyprus the nickname Barnabas because of his act of encouragement.  

It would certainly seem that the possibility of an apostolic attaboy drove them much more than the approval of the Audience of One.

Jesus has warned us against such hypocrisy (Mt 6:1-4).  Why do you and I give?  Is it a way of worship to thank God for all He has done for me?  

Or is it a means to get my back slapped and ego stroked?  I must consistently check my heart for my motivation behind such giving.

The good doctor tells us that, on one hand, Ananias and Sapphira did a good thing.  They "sold a piece of property."  

But, on the other hand, they did a very bad thing (v2).  "With his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds."  

While it is not overtly stated, clearly he and his wife have made a pledge to give the FULL amount of the sale to the church.  

Here is their sin.  This couple has made a vow to do something.  They have pledged to give ALL the proceeds to God.  Did the sale bring a windfall that they didn't expect?  

Possibly.  Whatever happened, Ananias and Sapphira decided to skim a little off the top before handing the cash over to the apostles.

White collar crime is nothing new.  It's actually thousands of years old.  As a matter of fact, this isn't the first time Pete and apostles had to deal with it.  At some point, they found out that Judas had embezzled money given to Jesus.  

Whether it's a dirty billion dollar deal on Wall Street, lying on your taxes or fudging an expense report, it is a sin.  You are lying to God and stealing from Him as well (Ex 20:15-16; Dt 23:21-23; Num 30:2).

When Ananias and his wife presented their gift to the apostles, it didn't quite go down as they hoped.  

Pete doesn't congratulate but confronts him (v3).  "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?"  

The leader of the apostles goes on to say, "You have not lied to men but to God" (v4).  

This is their sin.  Lying to the Holy Spirit.  Lying to God.  In writing this account, Luke confirms the truth of the Trinity.  He equates God's Spirit to God Himself.  

This is a not-so-subtle declaration that the Holy Spirit is a Who and NOT a what. He’s not some spooky, mystical force we access like Luke Skywalker on his bombing mission of the Death Star.

When you think about it, how stupid can you be to think you can actually lie to God?  Let's face it, I can't fool an all-knowing God with a little carnival slight of hand.  

On top of that, He knows my heart.  He knows what I'm up to.  Anytime I try to pull a fast one on the Lord, I will lose.  Every.  Single.  Time.

Their punishment for lying to God?  They both dropped dead when confronted by Peter (v5, 10).  

Did God act in this way because these nascent days of the early church were crucial?  Apparently other folks died when they played fast and loose with the Lord's Supper (1Cor 11:30).  

Whatever the reason, God's death penalty for white collar crime certainly got the attention of the church (v5, 11).

While there was great joy and celebration in these early days, God warned His people through the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira that He is still holy.  

He is not be taken lightly.  He is not be lied to.  

©2011

Jay Jennings

Burn Victims

“through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared” (1Tim 4:2)

God gives us potholders and oven mitts for a reason. If only I remembered to use them more often. Too many times, I’ve grabbed something on the grill or a scalding skillet and created painful moves worthy of winning “Dancing with the Stars.” More like “Dancing with the SCARS!” A big downside of these incendiary incidents is the lack of feeling in my fingertips…at least after the searing pain subsides. Did I mention the pain? For a few hours, I can’t feel anything.  

Did you know Paul talks about burn victims in a letter to his protege Timothy? He tells the lead pastor of the Ephesian church how a team of false teachers have so much scar tissue that they’ve lost all feeling. Folks are being fooled from following Jesus “through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared” (v2). They’re phonies and liars who’ve ignored their God given warning system so long that it no longer works. Hypocritical liars with cauterized consciences. In other words, burn victims creating more and more burn victims.

Yeah, the whole scene in the church of Ephesus is indeed a nasty dumpster fire. A posse of religious hucksters weaseled their way into the congregation and distracted believers from the grace found only in the Gospel. As Paul heads off on his next assignment in Macedonia, he appoints Tim as the new lead pastor. He gives Tim a two-point to-do list. Step one, get rid of the arsonists and extinguish the blaze (1Tim 1:3-7). Step two, take steps to insure no future fires by putting godly leaders in place (1Tim 3:1-13). 

These burn victims hide behind a disguise. Paul says they do it “through the insincerity of liars” (v2). The original language here is VERY enlightening and rather frightening. The word that the folks behind the ESV translate as “insincerity” is hupokrisis. It’s where we get our word “hypocrisy.” It describes someone who’s pretending to be somebody they’re not. They’re incognito. They’re in disguise. They’re not who they say they are.

Back in the first century, it described the performance of an actor in a play. When you went to a play in the Greco-Roman world, all the actors would wear masks. Think of your favorite stars wearing heavy makeup and prosthetics to play characters in the X-Men franchise. That’s Kelsey Grammer?!? You’ve GOT to be kidding me! I don’t know about you, but I can barely recognize them.

Jesus had little time for religious bullies who hid behind masks. He could see right through the heavy makeup and then called ’em as He saw ’em. They looked good on the outside but were actually “full of hypocrisy (Gr. hupokrisis) and lawlessness” (Mt 23:28). He warned His followers to be on red alert for “the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy (Gr. hupokrisis)” (Lk 12:1).

God’s Word isn’t just calling out these Ephesian phonies. We’re ALL to take off our masks and makeup. Stop pretending to be somebody you’re not. Stop acting like you’ve got your stuff together. Stop trying to earn the Oscar for righteousness. God sees right through it. He knows EXACTLY what’s behind the heavy makeup. He knows me better than I know myself (Ps 139:1-6). He’s the only Person that ultimately matters. We perform for an Audience of One. Take off the mask.

The religious con artists don’t just look like somebody they’re not, they sound like somebody they’re not. They’re “liars” (Gr. pseudologos). The Greek word literally means “false (pseudo-) words (-logos).” It describes when you say one thing when you’re actually up to something else. You know when one of these fakes are lying when their lips are moving. Insert joke about politicians here. 

Just in case you’re new to this whole God thing, He’s been against lying for a long time. A REEEEEEALLY long time! He even included a law against it in His Top Ten (Ex 20:16; Dt 5:20). Remember, He’s a God who cannot lie (Titus 1:2; Heb 6:18). As followers of the One who is the very personification of Truth (Jn 14:3), we’re not to lie. Paul tells his buddies in Colossae that we stop fudging facts after Jesus makes us new (Col 3:9). So stop lying. Stop shading the truth. Stop the spin. Once we place our trust in our Savior, the masks must come off and the lies need to stop.

That’s clearly something the Ephesian false teachers didn’t see as a high priority. Remember, these are the snake oil salesmen who are spreading the demonic doctrine that’s doing all the damage among the believers there (1Tim 4:1). Like Dorothy pulling back the curtain on the Wizard, Paul rips off their disguise and shows the world who they really are. Mask wearing lie spewers. 

The apostle points out that the false teachers have a much deeper problem. They’re “consciences are seared” (v2). The conscience is the warning system God places in every human being. It’s that awareness we have of the cultural values and norms. Our inner sense of right and wrong. Let’s be clear. It is NOT the Holy Spirit. It is NOT the voice of God. But when alarms start buzzing in your conscience, it’s probably a good idea to slow your roll. God calls the followers of Jesus to “love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” in Jesus (1Tim 1:5).

The Ephesian phonies have ignored the warnings so long that their “consciences are seared” (v2). You may want to put on the Ove Glove before we take a closer look at the verb here. It’s kausteriazo. The term almost sizzles when you say it. It means to brand with a red hot iron, cause to be insensitive, deaden sensation, and even harden. It’s the source of our medical term “cauterize.” That’s when a doctor uses a red hot medical instrument to stop the bleeding or close a wound. The procedure creates scar tissue and destroys nerve endings. The result is a lack of sensation in the area. You can’t feel pain. As a matter of fact, you can’t feel anything.

As if things aren’t bad enough already, the mask wearing lie spewers have cauterized consciences. I love how the old King Jimmy translates this phrase. They’ve “branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron” (v2 KJV). They’ve become insensitive to the alarm system God has placed in each one of us. When we fail to obey the warnings and God’s commands, we create spiritual scar tissue. We destroy our spiritual nerve endings. When we refuse to listen to the warnings from our conscience over and over, it becomes easy to ignore what’s going on. We end up with a cauterized conscience. We’re burn victims. And the burns are actually self-inflicted.

Paul saw it happening before in Ephesus. He warned the church there to watch out for unbelievers who “have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity” (Eph 4:19). When we ignore our God given alarms, we’re headed for BIG trouble. The warning lights are flashing for a reason! We build up callouses. Spiritual scar tissue makes it impossible to realize I’m headed for trouble. Or as the Message puts it, “Those liars have lied so well for so long that they’ve lose their capacity for truth” (v2 The Message).

Remember Fire Marshal Bill? Jim Carrey’s character on “In Living Color” had third degree burns and clearly bad at his job. He continually warns folks about the dangers of fire. “Let me show you something!” But his demonstrations always, shall we say, went up in flames. Once Paul pulls off the masks of these liars, he reveals these goobers are nothing more than first century Fire Marshal Bills. Burn victims with self-inflicted wounds who are looking to burn you too!

God. Never. Lies.

“in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began” (Titus 1:2)

Who’s let you down? Who’s failed to deliver on their promise? Who’s used you to get what they want by selling you a load of fecal matter? Let’s run down the list of the usual suspects. First of all, there are politicians. You can tell when their lying because their lips are moving. Then you’ve got the used car salesman. He’ll tell you what you want to hear so he can put you behind the wheel of that car today. Ever fallen for the sleazy pitch of cable infomercial? If you’re in the market for a pill to melt away your love handles or the secret to flipping houses on somebody else’s dime, operators are standing by! 

But I have some good news. Some VERY good news! When it comes to liars, God is THE Outlier. He’s the one we can always trust to be truthful. In the beginning of his letter to his protege Titus, the Apostle Paul wants him to be absolutely sure of God’s truthfulness, especially when it comes to His promise of everlasting life. “In hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began” (v2). I don’t know about you, but if there’s one thing I don’t want anyone fudging on the truth, it’s eternal life. That would be the ultimate bait and switch. Paul tells us we can relax because our Heavenly Dad isn’t pulling our leg when it comes to our eternity. 

God. Never. Lies.

First let’s back up and get a little context for what’s going on here. God has been using Paul and Titus to tell everyone on the island of Crete about the Good News of Jesus. Through Christ, God has thrown open the doors of His kingdom to every race, culture, language, and socio-economic group. Back in the day, the only way to get an invite to the party was becoming Jewish. Not any more. As a result, the Gospel is absolutely blowing up on this Mediterranean island. God has another assignment for Paul back on the mainland in Nicopolis in what we know today as Greece (Titus 3:12). Since there is still a boatload of work left to do on Crete, he hands the ball to his boy Titus (Titus 1:5). What a great lesson of trusting in Jesus to accomplish what needs to be done through others! For all you workaholics out there, stand down. There’s only one Savior. While He’s graciously invited you and me to be part of His work, He was doing this for a couple of thousand years before we got involved. Paul is totally confident Christ will use Titus to get the ball across the goal line. 

A huge part of this incredible Good News is the mind-blowing benefits package. In Jesus, we have “hope of eternal life” (v2). It’s all part of God’s overflowing love for you and me (Jn 3:16). Everlasting life is available to anyone and everyone who places their trust in the Son of God. Christ did for us what we could never do for ourselves. He was completely obedient to every single command of God. Jesus lived the perfect life I failed to live. He died the death for my disobedience and sin I should have died. He rose to a glorious new and eternal life I don’t deserve. 

First of all, we need to know that eternal life starts NOW!! Don’t believe me? How about Jesus? Well, He said exactly that. “Whoever hears My words and believes Him who sent Me HAS eternal life” (Jn 5:24 emphasis added). Once Christ gets us in His supernatural Kung Fu grip, He won’t let us go (Jn 6:39-40). We can be absolutely sure of this because God has “sealed us with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance” until the day it is fully realized (Eph 1:13-14). So this everlasting and overflowing life isn’t a pie-in-the-sky-sweet-by-and-by sort of deal. Eternal life starts the moment we place our faith in the resurrected Rabbi/Carpenter from Galilee. Eternal life starts right here, right now. 

This “hope of eternal life” (v2) is a game changer and brings with it endurance, patience, and perseverance. I don’t know about you, but life on this side of eternity is incredibly hard a lot of the time. It’s not exactly a skip down the primrose path with my pet unicorn under a Skittle rainbow. But our relationship with Jesus allows us access to His resurrection power to handle everything our fallen world throws our way. As a result, we can share in His sufferings, die with Him and fully experience the resurrection of the dead (Phil 3:10-11). The garbage we face in this fallen world pales in comparison to our glorious eternity with Jesus (Rom 8:18, 25). God promises to guard our eternal inheritance and guarantees it to be “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1Pet 1:3-5). 

But how can we be sure God isn’t just selling us some heavenly swamp land or an eternal time share? Paul wants us to be sure that He’s our “God, who never lies” (v2). This is no supernatural switcheroo. We can take it to the bank. One of the big ideas throughout the Bible is that God is the source of truth, He can’t do anything but tell the truth. King David praised God because “Your words are true” (2Sam 7:28). Even a slimy prophet for hire named Balaam had to admit, “God is not a man that He should lie” (Num 23:19). The writer of Hebrews goes so far as to say it’s absolutely impossible for God say anything but the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth (Heb 6:18). Jesus had the audacity to say He IS the truth (Jn 14:6)! So it’s not surprising when Christ describes the Third Person of the Trinity as “the Spirit of Truth” (Jn 14:17).

God. Never. Lies.

This is going to be a big deal to Titus in wrapping up his mission. You see, Cretans are known liars (Titus 1:12)! The followers of Jesus should stand out from the crowd because we are truth tellers. Remember, He created us in His image and commands us to stop fudging the facts and shading the truth (Ex 20:16). Speak truth. Stop lying. Stop spinning things to make yourself look better. Just so you’ll know, the book of Proverbs promises that liars won’t get away with it in the end (Prov 19:9). Thought you’d like to know.

Our truth telling God wants us to count on this eternal life which was “promised before the ages began” (v2). This wasn’t some idea He cooked up for the New Testament. We’re talking so long ago that God hadn’t even invented time at the time. Over in his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul explodes in praise for all that God has done for us in an incredible run-on sentence of worship. In the original Greek, Ephesians 1:3-14 is actually one incredibly long sentence. In it, the apostle cranks up the Flux Capacitor to let us know how God “chose us in Him before the foundation of the world…In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ…In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined” (Eph 1:4, 5, 11). Without going into a mind-numbing explanation of Calvinism and election, the best picture here is that God has been loving you and me long before He got around to creating the universe. God actually saved us in an incredible expression of His descending, one way love “which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (2Tim 1:9). Think about that for just a second. God loved you and planned to come to your rescue long before Adam and Eve fell for the lies of that satanic snake. 

God’s love for you and me won’t run out. He promises to finish what He started in our lives (Phil 1:6). He promises a spectacular life in His presence for all eternity. And we can take it to the bank. He doesn't have His fingers crossed behind His back. He's not going back out on His pledge. We can trust Him BECAUSE His lips are moving!

God. Never. Lies.

Liars, Bullies & Slobs

“One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, ‘Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons’” (v12).

American author Thomas Wolfe wrote, “You can’t go home again.” Well, that certainly would’ve been true of a dude named Epimenides. He was a celebrity Greek poet from Crete who wrote about 700 years before Jesus. And, man, did he say some terrible things about his homeboys! He called these folks “are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons” (v12). Don’t you know his Cretan buddies would love to get their hands on him! But here’s the deal, the Apostle Paul said he was right on target. Deceivers. Wild animals. Fat and lazy. Paul gives this this scouting report to Titus. These are the folks he’ll be dealing with. Yeah, good luck with that. But don’t forget, the Gospel is radically transforming the people on this island.

Let’s set the scene. Titus is on the Mediterranean island of Crete in the days following a crazy move of God. The Gospel of Jesus has saved folks in just about every Cretan city. His mentor Paul has moved on to his next assignment (Titus 3:12). But he’s given the Big T three things to scratch off the list and wrap up his mission. Put leadership in place in the local churches (Titus 1:5). Shut up and shut down a crew of spiritual con artists (Titus 1:10-11). Establish a system that will tell others about walking with Jesus that will replicate itself after he leaves (Titus 2:1-10). 

In his instructions about dealing with the false teachers, Paul reminds Titus just exactly what kind of folks live there. “Liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons” (v12). Hey, don’t just take Paul’s word for it. “One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own” said this about the folks back home. By quoting Epimenides, the apostle begins by using a term (Gr. pseustes) that paints these folks as cheaters and deceivers. You can tell somebody is from Crete because their lips are moving. As if that’s not bad enough, Titus is surrounded by “evil (Gr. kakos) beasts (Gr. therion)” (v12). There are a ferocious and savage animals living on the island. And those are just the people! The word paints a picture of savage and deadly apex predators. John uses this very same word to describe savage, satanic critters in Revelation, including the capital “B” Beast who wears the 666 jersey (Rev 11:7; 13:1-18; 14:9-11; 15:2; 16:2-13; 17:3-17; 19:19-20; 20:4, 10). The apostle goes on to throw Cretans under the bus by calling them “lazy gluttons” (v12). The phrase literally means people who refuse to work who are thinking only of the next meal. Picture some slob on the couch covered in the dust of his last bag of Cheetos. 

So these are the folks Titus is dealing with. Cheaters. Ferocious animals. Lazy slobs. Quite the all-star team, don’t you think? But here’s what you need to know. These are the kind of folks Jesus is saving on the island of Crete! And that doesn’t just describe Crete, we could be talking about any place on the planet. (Insert your nationality or demographic group here) “are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons” (v12). Even the great Apostle Paul saw himself as a dirtbag. If you were to rank sinners around the world, the man from Tarsus would put himself in the pole position as top dog (1Tim 1:15). So before we go getting all high and mighty by comparing ourselves to Cretans, we need to pump the brakes. We need Jesus just as much as they do.

There’s one other thing about this verse. Notice how Paul uses pop culture as a teaching tool. This would be the same as teaching the Bible with illustrations from TV or movies. And the apostle did it more than once (Acts 17:28; 1Cor 15:33). God’s Word should be taught creatively. The Bible is NOT boring and should NEVER be taught that way! Use every available resource to reach the folks you’re talking to. What’s music is popular? What TV shows get the top ratings? What movies are number one at the box office? Take what people know and use it to tell them what they need to know.

God. Never. Lies.

“in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began” (v2)

A friend of mine likes to say that you can tell when a politician is lying because his lips are moving. Let’s be honest, politicians haven’t cornered the market on lies. It seems like our world is full of fiction, fabrication, and falsehood. Truth tellers are few and far between. There is One you and I can always count on to shoot us straight. God. He never lies. Here in his letter to Titus, Paul reminds his buddy that God always tells the truth. God never misleads. He never fibs. He never exaggerates. He’s the greatest non-fiction Author of all-time. The apostle lets us know that’s especially true when it comes to life everlasting. When it comes to eternal life, Jesus isn’t joking around. And since God always tells the truth, He always comes through.

God. Never. Lies.

What if everything you and I believe about God is a lie? What if it’s all smoke and mirrors? What if it’s just the slickest con ever pulled off? Well, we would be in a world of hurt if that’s the case. But over thousands of years, God has gone out of His way to reassure us that He can be trusted. This was obvious even to Balaam the profitable prophet who said, “God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it?” (Num 23:19). God personally told Habakkuk that when He gives someone a vision, “it will not lie…it will surely come” (Hab 2:3). Our man Paul told believers in Rome that God can be trusted even when His messengers mess things up. “Let God be true though every one were a liar” (Rom 3:4). Jesus went so far as to say if we want to know what the truth is, just take one look His way. “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (Jn 14:6).

God. Never. Lies.

Paul wants us to be sure of one thing. There’s no bait and switch with Jesus. And that includes eternal life. Since God never, ever lies, His promise of life everlasting is a stone cold, lead pipe lock. Here the apostle writes of the “hope of eternal life” (v2). This isn’t some pie-in-the-sky, sweet-bye-and-bye. The Greek word for hope is elpis. It describes a confident expectation of something awesome. We don’t just cross our fingers and hope for the best when it comes to everlasting life. We can take it to the bank, my friend. It’s going to happen. We can just as well understand this as the “certainty of eternal life.” It’s a sure thing. It’s a done deal. One Jesus rescues us, He comes to live in us. That’s why we can be sure of “Christ in you, the hope (Gr. elpis) of glory” (Col 1:27). Despite anything this fallen world throws our way, “we rejoice in hope (Gr. elpis) of the glory of God” (Rom 5:2).

God. Never. Lies.

With all this talk about our never-lying God, it might be easy to miss another huge point Paul is trying to make. He tells Titus that the Godhead has been promising eternal life “before the ages began” (v2). Chew on that for a moment. I don’t know about you, but that kinda makes my head hurt. Before God created time, He booked His calendar to spend it with us. Hit the rewind button and see for yourself. Before the cross. Before the manger. Before the Exodus. Before the fall. Before the garden. Before creation. “BEFORE THE AGES BEGAN!” (v2 emphasis mine). I can’t say that I ever even considered that God promised eternal life before time began. Watching an episode of Star Trek where the crew deals with the Time-Space Continuum makes my brain swim. But before He created time, God created His plan for my eternal life. 

Paul made this point when he wrote to his Ephesian friends. “Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will” (Eph 1:4-5). That’s right, this whole deal has been in the works before He created the world. Just before his own death, the man from Tarsus told his boy Tim that our eternal relationship with God was all part of His plan before He started the clock. God “saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (2Tim 1:9). 

Let’s live our lives with both of these facts in full view. First, God never lies. He’s the ultimate Truth Teller. If He says, it’s a done deal. Count on it. Expect it. Second, our eternal life with Him has been part of His plan since before time began. Go back to the very first words of Genesis for a moment. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen 1:1). God created something before that. His plan for for eternal life with His people. When it comes to eternal life, Jesus isn’t joking around. And since God always tells the truth, He always comes through.

God. Never. Lies.

It's Time to Get Real

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another (Eph 4:25).

"Image is everything."  We've swallowed that lie hook, line and sinker.  America is the land of image.  The land of pretend.  The land of make believe.  We continually put up a front and pretend to be something we're not.  We put on the mask of health, wealth and happiness to fool folks into thinking we've got our stuff in one little bag with a twist tie.  But the truth is, we're horribly jacked up.  Behind the image, there's pain.  Behind the image, there's loneliness.  Behind the image, there's brokenness.  If you think this is some sort of 21st century phenomenon, you've got another thing coming.  

Paul pleaded with his friends in Ephesus to stop managing their image and start being honest.  "Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another" (v25).  As followers of Jesus, it's time to take off the mask.  As followers of Jesus, it's time to tell the truth.  Or in the words of one famous TV psychologist, it's time to get real.  Stop pretending.  Stop playing a role.  Stop putting up a false front.  Lying divides.  Truth unites.

It’s time to get real.

Paul begins with the assumption that folks who follow Jesus have already "put away falsehood" (v25).  This should be a done deal.  Do we really need to go over this again?  He uses the same verb (Gr. apotithemi) as he did before when telling us to "put off our old self" (Eph 4:22).  Throw away falsehood.  Throw it as far away as  you can.  Chuck it.  Give it the old heave ho.  "Falsehood" is the Greek noun pseudos.  Look familiar?  It describes a lie, an untruth, an imitation or something fake.  The apostle's not talking about unintentionally saying something that's untrue.  This is a conscious effort to dupe someone.  Deceit.  You're selling pseudo-truth.  You're peddling half-truth.  Throw that mess in the garbage.  Get rid of it.  All of it.  Pseudo-truth has absolutely no place among God's people.

It’s time to get real.

From his Roman prison cell, Paul wrote to the people in Colossae at the same time he wrote to the Ephesians.  And, no surprise, the two notes share a lot of the same themes.  Check this out for instance.  "Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices" (Col 3:9).  Yeah, I told you these epistles are a lot alike.  But God has made it VERY clear from the beginning that lying is a sin.  Hey, it made the Top Ten that He handed to Moses (Ex 20:16).  It’s right up there with murder, idolatry and stealing.  Why did lying crack the Top Ten?  Well, consider who's the big daddy of deception.  Satan is not only just any liar but the father of lies (Jn 8:44).  And it will not end well for him or those who keep lying.  Eventually they take a nasty swim in a lake of fire (Rev 21:8).  Stop lying.  Stop pretending.

It’s time to get real.

Lying is SO much more than intentionally saying something wrong.  Stop exaggerating.  Stop cheating.  Stop making promises you can't keep.  Stop betraying each other's confidence.  Stop making excuses.  Stop pretending to be someone or something you're not.  Take off the mask.  Get naked.  Admit who you are.  Confess your sin.  When you bring that crap out into the light, it loses its power.  And I think you'll be surprised to find out that you're not alone.  

It’s time to get real.

Paul now moves from the negative to the positive.  Once we have "put away falsehood" and taken off the mask, it's time to "let each one of you speak the truth" (v25).  He's actually dropping a quote from Zech 8:16.  The Greek word for truth (Gr. aletheia) also means what's real.  Speak reality.  Once the mask comes off, it's time to get real.  Don't just stop lying, start telling the truth.  Just up the page, the apostle encourages us to "speak truth in love" (Eph 4:15).  Unvarnished truth without love can do a ton of damage.  Speaking the truth in love is like using a velvet hammer.

Speaking reality to one another includes telling each other the truth about THE Truth (Jn 14:6).  Jesus.  We live in a society that preaches "you have your truth and I have my truth and everything is just unicorns and rainbows."  There's just one problem with that so-called truth.  IT'S NOT TRUE!!!  Speaking truth means telling each other the truth about Jesus and our need for Him.  The truth is that we need the One who is "Faithful and True" (Rev 19:11).  That’s Truth with a capital "T."  That's Jesus with a capital "J."

We need to stop lying and get real because "we are members of one another" (v25).  In Christ, we now belong to each other like members of His body (Rom 12:5).  Lying cuts us off from one another.  Lying amputates.  Lying dismembers.  Lying separates.  Lying divides.  Truth heals.  Truth reconciles.  Truth unites.  Jesus is bringing everyone together into His body.  He's calling us to a supernatural unity in Him (Eph 4:3-4).  One body of Christ.  One faith in Him.  One baptism of the Spirit.  One heavenly Father.  Jesus' goal is for us to be united in our faith in Him (Eph 4:13), eventually so interdependent upon Him and each other that we move as one (Eph 4:15-16).  Lying tears all of that apart.  Truth brings us together.

It’s time to get real.

So what do we do with this truth?  How do we put the rubber to the road in real life?  The best way is by being a member of a small group in your bigger church.  Only in these smaller communities can you truly take off the mask.  Only in these small groups can you truly speak the truth in love.  Your small group needs to be a safe place where you can be the real you.  Where I can be the real me.  Where we can stop pretending.  Where we can lovingly speak the truth to each other.  Where we can stop managing our image.

It’s time to get real.