Honesty

It seems to me that many politicians do not always have a close association with the truth. Our current Speaker of the House is calling the CIA and the Bush administration liars about "enhanced interrogation techniques" when she has told four different stories about what she knew and when she knew it within the last two months. Republicans have told us for years that they are the party of limited government and fiscal restraint, and yet when they were in power they showed no evidence of adhering to either principle.

We should pay attention to the honesty or lack thereof in our political leaders. God has permitted us in this country to speak out when we disagree with what our leaders are doing. We can do this using our voices, letters, emails, etc. and our votes. We should do it respectfully and without anger or vitriol seeking to correct improper behavior in all humility. However, as disciples of Christ we must first "take the log out of [our] own eye" (Matthew 7:5).

Do we as believers sometimes "spin" the truth of the Gospel to make it a little more palatable for potential converts? Do we fail to discuss the whole truth of the Gospel leaving out some of the more uncomfortable parts such as "the lake of fire" so that we won't be accused of being right wing fundamentalist nut jobs? Do we soften what God says about certain activities (sins) so that we can be a little more politically correct and less likely to be accused of bigotry and "hate crimes"? We most definitely must proclaim the truth in love and humility, but we must proclaim the truth and not a "watered down" version that would be unrecognizable to Jesus.