TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES

TEXT:  "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." - John 8:44

When I was growing up, the worst whippings that I ever received from my parents were given when I lied.  My parents were intolerant with lies.  In hindsight, I am appreciative of their stand against dishonesty.  As an adult, nothing angers me like a person telling me a lie.

As a Bible-believing Christian, I am troubled about America's eroding moral and spiritual foundation.  To put it bluntly, our society has been duped into believing lies.  To make things worse, our culture has not only embraced lies, it is now forcefully promoting these lies. 

When I was growing up, there was an old TV show called, "Truth or Consequences."  Bob Barker was the host of the show.  A contestant was randomly called from the audience.  After a little chit-chat, Bob Barker would give the person a riddle and ask them to solve in just two or three seconds.  If they failed to give a correct response, they had to face "the consequences," which was usually some funny game. 

The fact is, there is truth.  If we fail to believe and practice truth, there will be consequences --- and those consequences will be severe.

To counter this, our culture has embraced and proclaimed the concept of relative truth.  Basically, they believe that there is no absolute truth.  According to their belief, something may be true for me but the same thing may not be true for someone else.  The concept of relative truth is designed to relieve a person of responsibility.  The idea is that a person's conscience can be kept from guilt or remorse if relative truth is embraced.

Here's the problem with relative truth:  It is a lie.  For the most part, people are being deceived.  They believe lies.  Here are some of the lies that are embraced and promoted by our society:

• Abortion is a "woman's right," and thus it is a medical decision, not a moral or spiritual issue.
• It is acceptable to expand the terms of marriage to include gay marriage.  After all, if two people love each other, it is nobody's business to interfere.
• There's no such thing as sexual sin.  Sexual freedom is fine as long as it is consensual.  Co-habitation is fine.  Even adultery may be good in some cases. 
• It is expected for everyone to observe "political correctness."  It is always wrong to say or do something that may be deemed "offensive," to someone, even if the person is just hypersensitive. 
• "Tolerance," is defined as treating all lifestyles as acceptable.  If you disagree with a lifestyle choice, you are "intolerant."
• It is always wrong to judge.  Judging someone's deeds or lifestyle is a sign of ignorance, hypocrisy and bigotry.
• The theory of evolution should be taught as fact.  The story of creation should not be taught at all because it violates, "the separation of church and state."  
• All roads lead to God.
• If a person is a Christian, his or her faith is a private matter and should never be expressed publicly.  Faith should never be spoken of or affect a person's job or decisions.   

It could be that some reader of this blog will take exception that one or more of these statements are "lies."  In coming weeks, I'll be addressing each of these matters individually.  For now, I think it safe to say that a Spirit-filled, Bible-believing Christian should recognize the deceit in each of the above statements. Believing, practicing or defending these lies will ultimately bring great consequences.     

For the Christian, we realize that lies emanate from the father of lies, the devil.  Our text teaches us that the devil is a liar.  The spiritual darkness that now covers our land is part of the devil's strategic design to remove the Christian influence from our nation.  Sadly, the devil has even infiltrated churches with lies.  It is tragic to see churches compromise the truth.  When truth is compromised, you give place to the devil.  Truth that is compromised is no longer truth --- it is a lie.

Our thoughts, actions and lifestyle should be anchored in the foundation of truth.  These days, people don't hunger for truth.  Instead, they simply want to be entertained. 

Either you will embrace truth or you'll be forced to face the consequences.