Honesty as Catalyst to Change
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If your able, would you stand with me as we begin our time with scripture: John 8:31-32
Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Let’s pray slide and pray go ahead and have a seat.
Have you heard the story of The Emperors new clothes?
There once was a vain emperor, who was obsessed with his image, and above all things, loved new clothes, and was obsessed with the latest most exclusive clothing and styles which brought great compliments and admiration from his entourage.
Two con men came to the Emperor and, pretending to be great clothiers, said they could make the emperor clothes from a special fabric that was invisible to anyone who was foolish or unfit for their job.
The emperor, again obsessed with new clothes, agreed to pay them to create this special weave, and was also excited that because it’s only invisible to those who are unfit - he’d be able to know who around him is stupid!
The two con men then go to work for days weaving nothing but air, but requesting great sums of gold to complete this phantom fabric.
The emperor sends his trusted advisor to check on their progress - and the advisor is shocked - because he doesn’t see any fabric, even though the con men are hard at work. But the advisor didn’t want to come across as stupid or unfit for his job - so reported back to the emperor that progress was great and the fabric was beautiful.
Days passed, and the Emperor grew impatient, and wanted to oversee the end of the creation of the garment in person, with his entourage.
They entered where the con men were working - and the emperor couldn’t see the fabric… He was about to say something, but the advisor, his trusted advisor exclaimed: “Isn’t it lovely sire?!” Then the rest of the group, all embarrassed they couldn’t see it, lied saying that they too though it was exquisite.
Well the emperor couldn’t admit that he couldn’t see the fabric - that would mean he was unfit to rule as emperor! So he acted thrilled with the fabric.
Soon the outfit was finished, and they told the emperor they would put it on him, but that the fabric was fragile and light. There he was, completely naked, being clothed in lies, all while everyone was saying how lovely the clothes looked.
Word had gotten out amongst the city of this great garment, the most lovely clothing ever created, and a the emperor began a parade down the main street. All the people of the city, not wanting to be considered stupid and unfit for their jobs loudly cheered for the beautiful clothes, all while he was walking down the street without clothes, but all too scared to tell the truth.
Finally a child, shocked, shouts out: “The emperor has no clothes on!” The word spreads, as the kid has no position and nothing to lose, The emperor has no clothes! the crowd begins to shout. But the emperor, still too proud, continues his parade, unwilling to come to grips with his folly.
There he was. The most powerful man in the kingdom. Completely naked. Walking through the streets. And everyone around him — his advisor, his entourage, his whole city — too scared, too proud, too self-protecting to just say what was obvious.
Sound familiar?
Here's the thing, friends. So many of us are doing the exact same thing. We know something is off. We sense the gap. But we stay busy. We stay distracted. We surround ourselves with people who will tell us what we want to hear. And we just... keep walking.
We will never truly experience the deeper life of Christ if we continue to live in lies. (SLIDE)
Let that sit for a second.
This is what we've been after in this series. The deeper life — that passionate, surrendered, sanctified walk with Jesus. Holiness. Intimacy with God. Empowered service. Sharing in the heart of God for mission. We've been saying from the beginning that this kind of life isn't just for the super-Christians. It's the expected norm for every believer. And we keep bumping into this same question: so what's getting in the way?
Two weeks ago we talked about the false self — how so many of us, even in the church, fail to crucify that old self and just keep sitting in the grave, still playing in death. Well today we're going one layer deeper. Because here's the scary reality: the false self is sneaky. It's never that obvious — at least not at first. Most of us are living in lies we don't even know we're living in. Lies that come from the world, from our flesh, from the devil. And Satan is so cunning that he keeps us too distracted to even look.
We run SO MUCH of our lives on autopilot! We make decisions, have conversations and interactions, even enter into religious spaces sometimes without fully being present!
If we want to continue to pursue God deeply, we need to know Scripture, we need to pray - yes and yes - but if we want to know God, we need to know ourselves.
I am NOT saying that we are God, not at all. But if we want to follow God, we need to have self awareness so we know when we are being attacked, when we are being deceived, and when God is speaking to us. We need to know our deepest selves - not just the masks we put on for people. We’ve got to learn to be honest with God and ourselves!
Brilliant theologians throughout Church history have spoken about this. Augustine, in the late 300s early 400s ad wrote this: Slide
“Let me know myself that I may know You.”
Why would he say this - well, Augustine, recognized that since we are made in God’s image, he argued that closet thing to God in creation is humanity. Right, because we are made in his image. He would argue that to look inward at oneself with intentional honesty was a spiritual work. As there are elements within the human that reflects the divine nature - especially when we are redeemed!
This thought carries an implied warning: those who are not honestly aware of self will project false ideas onto God. We need to know the areas we are weak so that we can know our shortcomings, and reach out to God for grace!
Let me know myself so that I may know thyself. The idea is that if we are living in falsehoods, we will worship a false God. But if we live in truth, we will worship the true God.
You could say it this way: SLIDE
The things and ideas we believe reveal the gods we serve.
Throughout Christian history this has been understood, and throughout history Satan continues to lead us to live and believe lies that lead us to pain. There is ALWAYS an idol fighting for our identity - but I don’t want to just argue from theologians, but from Scripture.
From the very beginning, since the fall and sin - the great temptation of humans has been to hide.
In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve disobey God, listen to the lies of the serpent, and eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They were filled with shame - and they made coverings for themselves - hiding their nakedness. They didn’t want to be humiliated!
Then look at this: Genesis 3:8
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
They hide from God! Now God calls them - but they look to deceive, to hide, to escape. And then, in the rest of the chapter, they all try and blame shift to someone else rather then honestly owning up to what happens.
In trying to protect their pride and not be humiliated - they were then humbled by God.
This is how the enemy fights us! through lies, and fear, and shame! And so many times, we double down on our lies, because we are ashamed. This is just like the emperor who was caught out naked - he decided it was better to keep perpetuating the lie to protect his pride.
In John 8:31-32, the scripture we read at the beginning of our time, JEsus said that his disciples will know the truth and the truth will set them free. links this with the continuing of the word.
Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Freedom, living in truth, and continuing, remaining in Christ are all linked.
Later in this chapter, Jesus continues in his conversation and they’re having trouble understanding who Christ is, this is what he says:
You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.
Satan is the father of all lies.
We fight against the enemy, when we stand for truth and live in truth, this is continuing in Jesus word.
The issue is - we are deceived ourselves And we are REALLY good at protecting our own deception.
A story that is just bewildering to me, is the story of King David and Bathsheba. Maybe you know this story - But it starts in 2 Samuel 11, after David’s ascent to the throne. Like God has already shown up is so many mighty was for David! Protecting him, guiding him, and then enthroning him!
And then in 2 Samuel 11, David goes off mission - the chapter starts with this: 2 Samuel 11:1
In the spring when kings march out to war, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem.
Notice - the time when kings went out to war, where is David? At home. (slide again to highlight David Remained)
And then it’s a tragic story - he sees Bathsheba bathing, notices she’s beautiful AND that she's married, but sends his people to go get her - and he sleeps with her.
Okay - so we have the king of Israel - OFF assignment (he should be at war, but is as home) lusting after a married woman, and then sleeping with her. Those are pretty big sins! but he doubles down!
The woman tells david that she is now pregnant - and so David recalls Uriah, her husband, from the field, to try and fake like her husband got bathsheba pregnant. he refuses, for he feels obligated to go back to the battle field to do his job - and so DAvid conspires with his commanders to have Uriah KILLED!
That’s straight up evil stuff! But did David break down in guilt and shame? No! He seemed to just carry on back at home while his army was off fighting!
And there were people around him who knew what he was up to, Joab and his messengers - did any of them confront him? No!
David seemed to carry on, till after the baby was born - perhaps a year later, it wasn’t till Nathan confronted him that he repented.
David was able to deceive himself enough to justify his sin - that he knew was wrong. AND he was able to have others around him who carried on his deception and not call him out on it.
David was off mission, and prone to sin - and completely blind to it. It took God sending Nathan to confront him before anything changed.
SLIDE
Friend — is there a Nathan in your life? And more importantly, are you letting them in?
Because here's what I've come to believe: we are all capable of being David. Every single one of us. We are capable of drifting so far off mission, so deep into our own justifications, that we can't find our way back without someone willing to tell us the truth.
And that's not a criticism. That's just the human heart doing what the human heart does.
Jeremiah 17:9 puts it plainly
The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?
That's not a comfortable verse. But it's an honest one. Left to ourselves, we will deceive ourselves. Every time.
But here's the good news — and there is good news. God doesn't leave us with a broken heart and call it a day. Look at Ezekiel 36:26...
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
The Old Is gone, the new has come.
In order to Crucify our flesh, to continue to to live in the new life, is we need to live in truth, in honesty and in the light.
Remember - for those who are in Christ Colossians 1:13
He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.
So we cannot, shouldn’t follow the dark ways and Satan and the lies - but into the kingdom of the son. The way of truth. The truth shall set us free
Jesus is the way the truth and the life. One reason so many people stall out in their life of growing deeper into Christ is because we are shackled with deception. Our identity isn’t tied to Christ - it’s tied to something else - like being a vain emperor with nice clothes - even when he realizes he’s been fooled - he can’t admit it, for that would shake his whole identity.
The things and ideas we believe reveal the gods we serve.
So how do we even fight this? How do you recognize a lie you're already living inside of? (SLIDE)
That's the hard part, friend. Because if you're deceived, you don't know you're deceived. That's kind of the whole problem. It takes outside help. It takes submission to truth. And honestly — it takes some courage, because it's going to be uncomfortable.
But here's where I want to start. Most of us — when we hear the word "dishonesty" — we picture a liar, we’d call this Explicit Dishonesty (SLIDE). Someone who just straight up makes things up. The used car salesman. The kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Bold faced, obvious, caught red handed.
And look — that kind of dishonesty is real, and God takes it seriously. Proverbs 12:22 says lying lips are detestable to the Lord. So yes. Don't lie. That one's pretty clear.
Lying lips are detestable to the Lord, but faithful people are his delight.
But that's not what's tripping most of us up.
Most of us aren't bold faced liars. Our dishonesty is sneakier than that. More polished. We’d call this Implicit Dishonesty (SLIDE) It's what you might call putting on airs. It's the version of yourself you perform for other people — the carefully curated life, the fine veneer, the mask that says everything is okay when it isn't. And here's what makes this so dangerous: it starts small. A little image management here. A little spin there. SLIDE But the longer we do it, the more we start believing our own performance. The lines between what's true and what we're pretending start to blur. And before long — we don't even know the difference anymore.
Sound like anyone we know? The emperor, anyone?
The scary reality, is when we do this enough, the lines between truth and fiction become confused.
The antidote, is repentance, but namely, walking in the light. Look with me at 1 John 1, starting in verse 5
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him.
God IS light. There is no darkness in him. Beautiful image and truth - where the light is darkness cannot hide, right? And that means to be with God would be to be in the light! Look at verse 6
If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth.
Look here at what John is describing - it’s dishonesty, where we SAY we have fellowship with Jesus - and yet we continue to walk in darkness. This is lying, and we are not walking in truth. We practice the truth by living in the light, and that pours out beyond just ourselves, this is what verse 7 carries on to say
If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Look at that - we have fellowship with one another! The honest life with God will allow us to relate to others AND with God! When we walk in the light like he is in the light - JEsus cleanes us from all sin! We aren’t hiding anything, we aren’t holding it back - we just plunge ALL of ourselves into the bright redemptive presence of God.
And listen — I know that sounds good on paper. Walking in the light. Fellowship. Cleansing from all sin. It sounds like a beautiful promise. And it is.
But I want to tell you it's real. Not just doctrine — actually real.
I've shared this before — but in our first year of marriage I was confronted by my sin of pornography. I knew it was wrong. And I so desperately wanted to hide it. Not tell anyone — especially Ariana. But I finally got to a point where I just couldn't carry it anymore. I sat down with her and said it out loud. All of it. And I want to tell you, the moment it was out in the light — something shifted. It wasn't that the problem disappeared. But the shame did.
And where the shame had been, there was just... room. Room for grace to actually get in. There was room for healing, and growth, and reconciliation. It took confession to my wife for this sin to be defeated. Light cast out the darkness. And I believe with everything in me that God has blessed our marriage because we chose honesty over the lie.
That's what John is talking about. That's the fellowship. That's the cleansing.
Friend — whatever you are carrying right now, in the dark, by yourself — that is exactly where Satan wants it. Because he knows what happens the moment you bring it into the light.
Now - stepping into the light WILL reveal things we may not want revealed - but by holding things back, we will never grow. This comes down to a decision of what we desire more, and this reveals quite a bit about ourselves.
If we desire to grow we must submit ourselves to truth. And this will be hard, bring humiliation - but also great joy and cheer and relief - for we will find freedom.
Look how the rest of this section carries on, 1 John 1:8-10
If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
We need to be honest with ourselves - and then we need to confess our sins. Now, people see this, and for so many people they want to quickly hide and say: “Well do we confess to God or others?” Friend - if that’s your gut reaction, hiding, it reveals something is off. But when we look at this section as a whole, slide
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him. If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
we see fellowship with God and others (highlight both those words) the Gospel is not just about you and God. The Gospel is ultimately about God over the whole world. But this section is saying we need to live honestly inwardly, vertically, and horizontally. SLIDE
Inwardly - we can’t say one thing but practice another. Right? We need to vertically in Christ walk in the light as he is in the light,
which is evidenced by our fellowship with one another and a felt cleansing from all sin.
We fight dishonesty by confessing sin, and weakness, and all our gunk to another godly believer who will point us to Jesus.
When was the last time you actually confessed your sin and weakness to another believer, and not so that they can try and make you feel good - but so that you can put the sin to death, to crucify the flesh?
Friend - the resistance to this is pride. And that pride that tries to claw us back and hold us back from being honest with others also keeps you from the felt reality of the gospel in your life.
If you are still trying to protect and justify your identity with anything other than Christ - you are hindering your relationship with God and others.
Dane Ortlund has this striking quote: It’s longer, but it’s brilliant:
“Evading honesty before another Christian is more fundamentally a rejection of the gospel itself. Refusing to be honest with another is works righteousness in disguise; we are believing that we need to save face, to retain uprightness of appearance. But in conversion to Christianity we have already acknowledged that we are hopelessly sinful, with nothing to contribute but our need. . . At conversion, the old man died once and for all. When we refuse to be honest in the presence of a fellow believer, we are bringing that old man back to life.”
Friend, we need to fight to light and truth in our inner being, so we can see the truth of God in our vertical relationship, and all of that is evidenced in honest relationships with others horizontally.
The emperor had a choice. And so do we.
Let’s pause here for now, and ask the question:
So What?
Dear friends, We will never truly experience the deeper life of Christ if we continue to live in lies.
Satan is the father of lies, and he wants you living distracted, disingenuous, and dishonestly. He wants you miserable and not assured of the love of the father - because if you aren’t sure of the hope of the gospel, you’re not going to talk about it with others.
Satan tells us the lie that if people really knew how messed up you were, no one would like you, they wouldn’t respect you, they would abandon you.
Friend - that’s not the truth. not the ultimate truth.
Remember the Gospel
While we were still sinners Christ died for us.
He became sin, who knew no sin, so that we may become his righteousness.
Because of his great love for us!
You didn’t earn it, you didn’t deserve it, But God offers this:
whoever calls on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved.
Friend - stop trying to justify yourself in anything other than in JEsus Christ.
You aren’t saved by your dignified life. You aren’t saved by your righteousness. You aren’t saved by your respectability.
You are saved by grace through faith! He made us alive with Christ!
You are saved by grace, and it’s not from yourself - it’s god’s gife - so that no one can boast.
So what are you trying to protect??
If we are in Christ - then we need to remember this: Your life is hidden in Christ!
For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
And because of that - we can do war against the false self - look how paul carries on
Therefore, put to death what belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, God’s wrath is coming upon the disobedient, and you once walked in these things when you were living in them. But now, put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator.
Friend - do you want to grow in Christ? Do you want to feel the lived reality of life with God? Repent and believe the Gospel.
Slay your sin. Step into the light - even if it blinds you - God is there, and where he is there is freedom.
Fight your sin by being honest. Slow down - ask God to reveal the lies you are living in. (SLIDE)
And here is your big challenge for the week - ready for one big practical challenge?
Find a brother or sister in Christ - and confess. (SLIDE)Confess sin, confess your hopes and dreams and failures. Humble yourself in the death of your false self - and watch as Christ brings new life. (slide)
I’m here for you, Brandon is. The Elders, but we also have wonderful women who can sit with you.
But friend - you can’t follow Christ well alone. We need to be honest.
If we are trying to clothe ourselves in ANYTHING but the love and righteousness of Christ - we are going to be found to be like the emperor - walking through the streets with nothing on.
But the good news is that grace is a gift.
(SLIDE) What if instead of hiding, we just called out to Christ to save us? (SLIDE) What if we confess our sin? (SLIDE) What if we called out to him and confessed our desperation?
SLIDE Then perhaps, we will rejoice rather than be ashamed - clothed in his righteousness rather than our deception.
Stand with me, as I read scripture and pray, Worship team you can come on up.
I rejoice greatly in the Lord, I exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a groom wears a turban and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Let’s pray.
