Christianity is all about Truth: believing truth, speaking truth, living truth. We Christians claim to be in relationship with the God of truth, the God who cannot lie. 

The sum of God’s word is truth. (Psalm 119:160) The same Jesus who is The Way to God the Father, also says He is “The Truth.” Starting in Exodus, repeated in Deuteronomy and echoed in the gospels: “You shall not bear false witness…. “ (Exodus 20:16, Deu 5:20) or as the Message Bible puts it: “No lies…”

A lifestyle of consistent, unrelenting and unrepentant lies reveals our true allegiance is not to God the Father but to the devil, the father of lies.

“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)

And so I am baffled by church people who steadfastly support the current U.S. president who lies like breathing. I am inundated with talk of “prophecies,” of the president’s “faith” and Christian magazine articles proclaiming Trump as “God’s choice for this time in American history.” 

My response: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45)

It saddens me, maddens me, that the lies at the heart of today’s political turmoil are oft repeated by my church-going friends and neighbors:

1. Abortion and same-sex marriage are the most important voting issues 
2. Undocumented immigrants aren’t supposed to have equal protection under the law
3. Godly character is less important than having the right politics

God’s people are to be sanctified – set apart – by truth. What is truth?

Individual Accountability – God does not want me, as a believer, to have an abortion or engage in same-sex marriage. God is not asking people who don’t know Him to behave like people who do. Obedience without relationship is not salvation. Individual believers, not nations, will stand at the judgment seat of Christ and be held accountable for our personal choices. “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:12)

One law – God’s people are to treat foreigners living among them as countrymen, not to molest or mistreat them.

• “One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.” (Exodus 12:49)
• But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 19:34)

Truth inside – Character is what we are on the inside. God “desires truth in the inward parts.” (Psalm 51:6) Men look on the outward appearance. God looks on the heart. Since we can’t see hearts or trust words, God instructs His children to be guided by His Spirit. And where does His Spirit lead us?

“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” (John 16:13) 

Truth is foundational. “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Psalm 11:3