Matthew 5:36-37 No Fakes

Matthew 5:36-37  "Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.  "But let your statement be, 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no'; anything beyond these is of evil”. (NASB)

My boys this weekend each in their own soft spoken way (sarcasm intended) reminded me how they “Hate” fake people.

Now I had to correct them on a few points along the way no doubt.  The essence of what they were perturbed about was people that were not genuine.

Jesus in His teaching addressed this.  The gospel of Matthew records the instruction with regard to making an oath.  You’ve heard them from people and maybe you’ve said them yourselves – unaware of the problem.  Examples might be as simple as, “I swear thus and such is true” or extend to swearing on a dead relative’s grave or bringing the Lord’s name into it; even a bigger no no.

The teaching here is not that swearing an oath is necessarily bad rather the oath calling on some point or person of validation is bad.  Instead Jesus simply says, “But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’”.  In other words just say it; say the truth and nothing else.  Jesus goes on to teach that going beyond a simple yes or a simple no, “Is of evil”.  So saying, “I swear to XXX this is a true story” as a preamble to what you’re about to share is wrong. 

Why?

Well, do you go through all that swearing something is true every time you say anything?  If not are we to assume you’re lying the rest of the time?  Why is it that on this particular occasion you feel like you must swear that what you are saying is true?

Well, what has this got to do with my boys and their distaste for disingenuous people?  Well I think while the swearing of oaths is one form of violating this teaching, I think there are other ways as well.  When you behave toward other people in a way that is counterfeit to the truth, you’re lying.  Just as if you spoke a un-truth, your behavior is a lie unto itself.  “Fake” people they said were the ones that irritate them so much.  I agree that I am much more comfortable with people that shoot straight with me with their words as well as their behavior.  So why wouldn’t they?

I think there are at least a couple of reasons for that.  First, they may be actually deceitful.  These people may actually want you to believe something other than the truth and they have calculated this method to bring you to that false belief.  Second, they could be too timid, shy or insecure to let out the actual truth.  It is to this second group of folks that we need to offer some encouragement and some grace.  Especially in the Church we need to provide a safe place for folks that have a hard time just saying it like it is to do so.  Practicing saying, “Yes, yes or no, no” in that environment may make it easier OUT THERE!