{"id":866,"date":"2021-07-15T09:49:22","date_gmt":"2021-07-15T13:49:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=866"},"modified":"2021-07-15T09:49:22","modified_gmt":"2021-07-15T13:49:22","slug":"to-tell-the-truth-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2021\/07\/15\/to-tell-the-truth-2\/","title":{"rendered":"To Tell the Truth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Throughout July we\u2019re taking an in-depth look at Proverbs, the Bible\u2019s one-of-a-kind book about our never-ending need for wisdom.<\/em>

George Washington and the Cherry Tree is one of the signature stories from America\u2019s earliest days.

Its most familiar rendering is found in a book by Mason Locke Weems that has this imposing title:  Life of George Washington: With Curious Anecdotes, Equally Honourable to Himself and Exemplary to His Young Countrymen.<\/em>

Six-year-old George is caught red-handed, which is to say axe-in-hand, by his father Augustine, who has noticed that a mortal slice has been taken out of one of his favorite cherry trees.  Does George happen to know anything about this?

Weems writes: \u201cLooking at his father, with the sweet face of youth brightened with the inexpressible charm of all-conquering truth\u201d [warning: saccharine overload approaching<\/em>] he bravely called out:  \u2018I can\u2019t tell a lie, Pa; you know I can\u2019t tell a lie.  I did cut it with my hatchet.\u2019 \u2018Run to my arms, you dearest boy,\u2019 cried his father in transports, \u2018run to my arms; glad am I, George, that you killed my tree; for you have paid me for a thousand fold.  Such an act of heroism in my son, is more worth than a thousand trees\u2026\u2019\u201d

Weems\u2019 book, which was published in 1806, became a national bestseller, going through 20 editions.  It is one of the chief reasons that cherry concoctions became associated with February 22, Washington\u2019s birthday. 

Likewise, the story became a powerful mandate for generations of children: Tell the truth.  Always tell the truth.  <\/em>If the Father of Our Country did not tell a lie, then I should not tell a lie.  Case closed.

The only problem is that the story almost certainly didn\u2019t happen.  Weems appears to have made it up.

Social historian Bill Bryson comments that Weems, who called himself Parson Weems, was \u201cnot just a fictionalizer of rare gifts but a consummate liar.\u201d  Virtually everything in his biography of Washington was either invented or extravagantly embellished.  That includes his memorable descriptions of Washington\u2019s impassioned prayers during the colonial army\u2019s difficult days at Valley Forge.

Even the title page was misleading.  Weems identified himself as the \u201cRector of Mount-Vernon Parish.\u201d  But no such parish has ever existed.  I mean, dude, <\/em>are you really pretending to have been George Washington\u2019s pastor?

Weems apparently felt it would be a good idea to make up stories to teach children that it is fundamentally wrong to make up stories. 

The human race has a lying problem.  A very serious lying problem.  According to a study overseen by University of Massachusetts professor Robert Feldman, people tell 3.3 lies during an average 10-minute conversation.  Other studies have revealed that we are lied to<\/em> approximately 200 times a day.  Author Ralph Keyes declares that \u201csome form of deception occurs in nearly two-thirds of all conversations.\u201d  Some 59% of American parents admit to lying to their children on a regular basis (\u201cMcDonalds is closed today\u201d) even though those same parents tell their children that bending the truth is wrong and have no tolerance when their kids lie to them.

According to author James Bryan Smith, HR experts estimate that approximately 25% of the information that appears on resumes is not just \u201cpadding\u201d but \u201cgross misinformation.\u201d  Investigators estimate that lies told by auto mechanics compel American consumers to cough up some $40 billion annually for unnecessary repairs.

There is no question that way too many of us believe that we have to lie in order to get by.

Why do we do it? 

No one can claim it\u2019s OK to shade the truth because the Bible\u2019s ethical standards are ambiguous.  Proverbs is uncompromising in its call for truth-telling.  \u201cLying lips are an abomination to the Lord.\u201d (12:22)  \u201cA truthful witness saves lives, but one who breathes out lies is deceitful.\u201d (14:25)  \u201cLike a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, \u2018I am only joking!\u2019\u201d (28:18-19)

Almost all lying comes down to impression management<\/em>.  We don\u2019t like the way things are.  So, whether through impulse or intention, we propose alternate realities. 

How are you today?  I\u2019m fine<\/em>.  (Actually, I don\u2019t want to tell you how I really feel).  Why were you late?  The traffic was murder<\/em>.  (In truth, I didn\u2019t plan very well).  How\u2019s your drinking these days?  I\u2019m cutting<\/em>back.<\/em>  (There\u2019s no way anybody\u2019s going to find out how much I\u2019m struggling).  Is the project on target?  We\u2019re doing great<\/em>.  (I\u2019m scared to death we\u2019re in the middle of a disaster).  What are you thinking about right now?  Nothing<\/em>.  (I\u2019m so ashamed I wouldn\u2019t tell you in a million years). 

Then there are the ways we try to do impression management on behalf of Jesus.   

So, you believe in God?  I do.  And ever since I surrendered my heart to Christ I\u2019ve known this supernatural peace that just won\u2019t quit.<\/em>

To tell the truth, however, I don\u2019t know a single Christian who has experienced never-ending peace.  And that includes me. 

Church people are tempted to do for Jesus what Parson Weems tried to do for George Washington.  But the reputation of America\u2019s first president didn\u2019t need to be enhanced by made-up stories.  And the cause of the One who called himself the Way, the Truth<\/em>, and the Life won\u2019t be advanced by our dressing up our own spiritual experiences.

The apostle Paul says in Ephesians 4:15 that we are to \u201cspeak the truth in love.\u201d  We must abandon lies.  With God\u2019s help we must become truth-telling, reality-reporting people. 

But love <\/em>is what should lead us, with wisdom and discernment, to speak with caution.  With humility.  With grace. 

And frankly \u2013 if we\u2019re really wise \u2013 to stop speaking altogether when silence would clearly be an improvement.
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Throughout July we\u2019re taking an in-depth look at Proverbs, the Bible\u2019s one-of-a-kind book about our never-ending need for wisdom. George Washington and the Cherry Tree is one of the signature stories from America\u2019s earliest days. Its most familiar rendering is found in a book by Mason Locke Weems that has this imposing title:  Life of George Washington: With Curious Anecdotes,… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":867,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[276,275,123],"class_list":["post-866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-impression-management","tag-lying","tag-proverbs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=866"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":868,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866\/revisions\/868"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}