Oaths

Honesty mattered then & it matters now

Why? You are God's representative.

The truth is not measured in data but life lived in honesty

The kingdom of God starts with who we are, following christ's example, inside change - moving toward outside change.

Matthew 5:33–37 ESV

33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

Professor & Dean of Vanderbilt University

Today I am going to give you two examinations, one in trigonometry and one in honesty. I hope you will pass them both, but if you must fail one, let it be trigonometry, for there are many good [people] in this world today who cannot pass an examination in trigonometry, but there are no good [people] in the world who cannot pass an examination in honesty.

Preschool

Patterns of Dishonesty

You shall not Swear Falsely

1) to say something is true, when in reality you know it is false - Lying

Watergate, Deflategate

5 common lies at work

Being agreeable when you really disagree

Lying about credentials

Taking time off that you don’t technically need (60% of employees have lied about not feeling well)

Blaming the other person

Saying that you are working on it when really you forgot

2) to swear/promise that one will do something and then not fulfill the promise — to swear and fail to keep it

Relational dynamics - Patterns of dishonesty

Why do people promise and not fulfill?

Please others/approval

Pause before you make the promise.  Take some time to visualize all of the steps between start and finish.   Make a list of those steps and put them on a schedule so you will not forget when other things begin to distract you

Revenge

In the study, Dr. Elshout and her team quizzed nearly 2,000 people aged 16 to 89 about their experience of revenge. Results show

14 % took revenge immediately, within a minute.

36 % took up to a week

23 % striking one to four weeks later.

21 % hit back between one month and a year later

5 % took more than a year to get their own back.

Revenge is typically delayed.

One Researcher said, “Our results show that revenge takes place after some time. Real-life revenge is not so much focused on deterrence, but on restoring self-esteem or a sense of power. The act of revenge does not need to be instantaneous nor proportional.”

Revenge acts admitted by participants in the study include infidelity, damaging a car, disclosing secrets, making false accusations, and trying to get someone fired. Other ways of taking revenge included humiliating someone, gossiping, lying, and breaking a promise.

We want deep relationships but we don’t want to be vulnerable.

Let’s get lunch

What's God’s perspective?

Patterns of dishonesty

Oaths

Court & “Cross my heart and hope to die”

to affirm the truth of a statement by calling on a divine being to execute sanctions against a person if the statement in question is not true

Breaking an oath was dangerous, for in all societies oaths contained curses that deities would avenge if the person who swore by them broke the oath

Jesus says don’t take an oath at all

God sees everything

In Jesus’ day, people used objects to sware by

Heaven - God’s throne

Earth - His footstool

Jerusalem - God’s city

Even your head

Each of these belongs to God

Today we use data to prove the truth

Jesus wants your life to prove the truth. You are God’s representative

Honest about what you can do and what you can’t

Pride

Honest about your transformation

Vulnerability

The truth is not measured in data but life lived in honesty

Let you Yes be Yes and No be No

You Represent Christ