Proverbs 24:23-26

These sayings also are from the wise:
To show partiality in judgment is terrible:
The one who says to the guilty, “You are innocent,”
peoples will curse him, and nations will denounce him.
But there will be delight for those who convict the guilty,
and a pleasing blessing will come on them.
Like a kiss on the lips
is the one who gives an honest answer.

Careful what you say…you might be giving someone a kiss. I suppose that might be motivation to not tell the truth for some of you. Especially if you’re talking to someone with Halitosis…”nah, I don’t want a kiss from you Mr. ‘I think it’s okay to eat onions and fish at the same time’ guy.”

Okay, now that that’s out of the way…

Doesn’t it drive you nuts to see someone get out of something they deserve? I mean seriously! Like those Enron guys. Do you remember how that whole thing went down? Or how about the banks who needed a bail out from the government to keep their doors open, but then used a bunch of the bail out money to give their highest ranking officials bonuses and vacations. Seriously?!?! Come on! You tanked the economy and you got rewarded for it. Don’t get me started on where the reward came from. You borrow money from China to pay bonuses to rich bankers? What!? I guess if you push banks to give loans to people who shouldn’t have loans, then you’ve got to reward them for taking the fall that you should’ve been hit with.

But, that’s neither here nor there. Except that it’s not. It’s right here. It’s right now. It’s a way of life for this day. The innocent are condemned and paying the price for the guilty and free.

Don’t take what I’m saying the wrong way. I’m not taking a political stance on one side of the aisle or the other. I’m not saying one party is right and the other is wrong. I’m not saying corporations are evil, nor am I saying that corporations are people too. None of that applies to what I’m talking about.

What I’m talking about is the principle of truth and consequences. It used to be that there were consequences for making mistakes. There were certainly consequences for lying and breaking the law. But, that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. Sure there is a great deal of that going on. There are still a lot of people who have to face the consequences of their bad decisions. And that’s a good thing. But, there are also a lot of people who never have to face the  consequences of their bad decisions and the reasons they don’t have to face them are totally unjust.

So, here’s what we do. We all tell the truth. We all accept the consequences of our own decisions and don’t leave it up to courts and politics. Don’t tell an guilty person their innocent. Don’t try to get away with something when you’re guilty. Be honest. Tell the truth. Make decisions based on the truth and not politics or what is culturally acceptable at the moment.

Culture changes, truth stays the same.