Telling the truth at all times

Sometimes it's difficult to face and tell the complete truth at all times. Think about it.

University of Nebraska head football coach Bo Pelini suggests that angry words inadvertently captured on audio tape two years ago lambasting Cornhusker fans did not represent his true feelings. That's probably a lie. I accept Pelini has sanguine thoughts now about the fans. Common sense dictates that words said in private in 2011 captured his attitude at the time. Pelini dare not own up to his long-ago invective-laden tirade directed at one of the most loyal fan bases in all of college sports. He just can't admit to the complete truth without sacrificing his job. We all get that. Time to cut Pelini a break.

Years ago, a man applied for a position at a radio station I happened to be managing. The position was full time but did not pay well. The man's resume claimed he was a graduate of Notre Dame and Harvard. His interest in being a radio newsman at near-subsistence wages didn't compute given such an educational pedigree. The registrars at the aforementioned universities never heard of him. When confronted with this lie, the man hung up the phone. Fudging the truth on resumes is rampant. A 2012 report issued by the Society of Human Resource Managers revealed 53 percent of all job applicants falsify their vitae to one degree or another. Most employers don't have time to check. I did check and found a lie. Resume-lying is akin to a peacock showing his plumage. I couldn't condone the behavior but understand why he felt the need to puff himself up. No, he wasn't hired but I've long since cut that young man a break.

Deciding to give someone a break is something we can choose to do for one another. God does us one better. God offers forgiveness when it is not earned or deserved. It's a concept known as grace. Note this tale from Genesis chapter 12. When Pharaoh asked Abram if Sara was his wife, the Old Testament patriarch lied by telling Egypt's leader that she was his sister. Abram was weak. Fearing his life might be forfeit if he disclosed Sara's true status as his wife, Abram concocted a fable. Abram's reputation recovered from that unfortunate moment. In Genesis 15:4-5, we note that Abram, later known as Abraham, would be blessed by God with descendants as numerous as the stars. Today, the three great monotheistic religions of the world, Judaism, Christianity and Islam count Abraham as a common ancestor.

A lie does not a life make. Being evasive does not a life make. Being accurate without being completely forthcoming does not a life make. All of those persons are recoverable and redeemable.

God shows grace; we can cut one another a break for mistakes made. Never forget, though, how important it is to know the truth even if we can't always tell it. A great tragedy of Pontius Pilate is that he didn't know what truth was. "What is truth?" he asked Jesus in John 18:38. Assuming that the Roman governor, the one who sentenced Jesus to death by crucifixion, was not a sociopath -- unable to distinguish between right and wrong, then he is an object of pity. Unmoored from the bow line of conscience, his philosophy guided solely by the expediency of the moment, Pilate didn't know what freedom was. Freedom, for our Lord, equals truth.

"You shall know the truth," Jesus said, "and the truth will make you free." (John 8:32) Sometimes you can't always tell the complete truth. Sometimes you lie out of fear. Sometimes you withhold to protect others. Life is complicated and we ought to be able to cut each other some slack. No, we can't always be fully disclosing truth-tellers it but we need to know what truth is -- or we become like the lost man of first-century Judea, Pilate. Unlike old Abram, Pilate's reputation will never recover.

Dr. Jeff Long is executive director of the Chateau Girardeau Foundation, is president of the Cape Girardeau Public Library board of trustees and is a retired United Methodist clergyman.