Three significant scandals have been at the forefront of the national news in recent weeks on the heels of verdicts in the murder trials of Jodi Arias and Dr. Kermit Gosnell. The scandals center around the death of four Americans in Benghazi, the admissions by the IRS that they targeted specific people, and the government’s unauthorized investigation of The Associated Press. Arias killed her boyfriend. Gosnell murdered at least three helpless children with reports of hundreds of similar heinous incidents.
These are likely the proverbial tips of icebergs. Countless other crimes did not make the national limelight, but were just as tragic. It is time to face some serious issues with a sincere cry for the mercy of God on a nation overwhelmed with deception. The fatal element of the crisis is the failure of many to recognize deception when it stares them in the face.
Unacceptable incompetence and deception in several departments of the federal government have been exposed. Deceit is the heart of each of these news items – scandals and murders.
In our nation’s capital, inside the U.S. Department of Commerce, is The National Institute of Standards and Technology. They serve as a national bureau of standards. Somewhere within this agency you can find the official definition of an inch, a foot, a mile, an ounce, a pound and a ton.
They manage calibrations, measurement standards and everything related to standards of commerce. There are standards for buildings, chemistry, math, physics, information technology, transportation and more.
But no moral standards are defined by this government agency. Interestingly, one moral standard is assumed: truth.
Truth is the foundational premise of any bureau of standards. The word “standard” establishes the premise that a measurement of truth must exist. A standard is the acknowledgment of absolutes. Without it, the door is wide open for untruth and deception.
How would I know that a pound of potatoes is indeed a full pound without an enforceable standard? If the store that sold the potatoes to me violates the standard, they are guilty of fraud, because there is a defined standard.
If a can of beans on the grocery store shelf says it weighs 8 ounces, it is illegal for it to actually weigh 7.5 ounces. Anything more or less than 8 ounces is deceit. It is fraud. It is lying, because there is a standard.
The United States does not have an official government agency for moral standards. It would be a violation of the constitution to do so, since that would constitute a state church. Instead we have an accepted Judeo-Christian moral structure. One would have to be living the ultimate deception to assume otherwise.
The church, armed with scripture, must be the moral “bureau of standards” for the nation and the world. No other can claim that mantle.
In the scriptures, the central figure, Jesus the Christ, called Satan a liar and the father of lies. He defined the root of all deception in a conversation with some religious leaders.
He said, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44).
Reading the Bible one reaches the conclusion that God’s core “commodity” is truth. All that He says is true. He cannot lie. Truth is His nature, character and modus operandi – the Latin phrase for “method of operation.”
On the other hand, Satan’s core “commodity” is lies. All that he says and does is a lie. He is consumed with deceit, and all that he directs is deceitful. He deceives people with drugs, gambling, abortion, adultery, homosexuality, thievery, lying and endless deceptions from his bag of tricks. He is a liar and the originator of all lies.
Given the nature of truth and the nature of lies, we can draw this sobering conclusion from the recent headlines of scandals and murders.
The bias of secular media will not give coverage to truth unless it benefits their cause. In other words, their cause supersedes truth. Truth is sacrificed if it undermines their bias. Can they be trusted?
Most of those in the media define themselves as liberal and admit their bias is liberal. This explains why ABC News ignored the Gosnell abortion/murder trial for 54 weeks. Those concerned with truth will be watching to see how they handle the current scandals.
Scripture warns us to beware of false prophets and liars of all stripes. We must not be found in the camp of liars. Our message, our life, our words, all that we are must speak truth.
Furthermore, we must aggressively uphold the standard of truth in every sphere of our influence.
