Bible Study: The Truth, The Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth

From our first Bible study of the 2009 legislative session:

The truth may seem hard to find at times in the world of politics. In a 2006 Harris poll, politicians were pretty far down the list of trusted professions. Only 35% of people said politicians were people they would generally trust to tell the truth. I would also be quick to point out the number of pastors and Christian leaders who have been caught publicly in situations where they have been less than truthful. In politics and other realms the term “spin” is used to describe the “creative presentation” of facts usually involving disingenuous tactics (i.e. lying). A lack of veracity is not confined to the world of politics.

We all struggle with it each and every day. John MacArthur described our situation this way: “The truth is scarce, and everyone is suspect: business people, salesmen, clerks, lawyers, doctors, advertisers, teachers, reporters, writers, politicians, and even preachers, with a few exceptions. In fact, the whole of our society is a network of fabrication. We shade the truth, we cheat, we exaggerate, we tax-dodge, we fail to keep our promises, we flatter for gain, we betray confidence, we make excuses, we tell half-truths, white lies, etcetera.”

It is in this context we come to our next section in our study of The Sermon on the Mount and we find Jesus has some strong words regarding the importance of telling the truth.

You can read the complete study here.