Food For Thought is a public theology & Bible advocacy blog for Eternity from Sophia Think Tank’s David Wilson, who gathers top Christian thinkers to take a closer look at how the Christian faith addresses matters in society at large every week.

Alan Austin wrote in On Line Opinion last week that the new divide in politics is between truthfulness and falsehood.  He said that the divide of right and left is almost gone as the two so often merge into one, but the real distinction is between those who are seen as telling the truth and those who are not.

This struck a chord with me.  As someone who is deeply committed to the value of truthfulness in my own life it was difficult for me when, as a Councillor with the City of Melbourne, it dawned on me that people’s default position in listening to what I had to say was that I would not be telling the truth.  And there was very little I could do about that.  Building trust relationships with the constituency was usually not an option and any amount of protestation that I was not being deceptive and that I don’t lie was met with conclusions that I was a very good spin artist. So what do you do with that?  It was frustrating to say the least.

One example to illustrate:  The issues related to homelessness in Melbourne came under my portfolio.  I wanted to understand those issues from the inside out as well as read the latest reports and be well versed in the statistics, theories, and hypothesised answers.  So I decided to meet with some people experiencing homelessness on a regular basis to get to know them and their stories.  I had met a man who was embedded in the scene and although he was quite suspicious at first he spent the time to get to know me and he came to a position of trust in me and my motivations enough to talk to a diverse group of his colleagues and convince them to come to lunch with me, to give it a go.  They trusted him and so that first lunch we had was a full table.

However, as the conversation evolved it was very hard to convince some of them of my truthfulness.  I was a politician so their default position was that I was not to be trusted.  They had been the recipient of promises before and had been let down every time.  Why should they trust me to be any different?  I had an angle as far as they were concerned… they just hadn’t worked it out yet.

There were some at that first lunch who risked a second meeting and a third and a fourth and I managed to come to a deeper understanding of homelessness issues from the inside.   But the starting point of distrust was a concern to me.  Understandable, but frustrating.  And it wasn’t only the city’s most marginalized who expressed this.  I found the same from child care mothers, artists, and Indigenous elders, just to mention a few.  Politicians are seen as a deceptive bunch of people.

The Bible talks a lot about the importance of truth.  Jesus said it will set you free (John 8:32).  Paul said we need to be committed to it in our speech (Ephesians 4:25) and in our thinking (Philippians 4:8).  It is a value that is found right across the Judeo-Christian Scriptures and its opposite of falsehood and deception is frequently denounced.   Alan Austin’s call for us to take note of those who tell the truth and those who tell lies is certainly in keeping with Biblical wisdom.

But the problem of falsehood is not limited to just politicians.  It’s a problem across all types of leaders today including pastors and other religious leaders, business leaders, and sports administrators.   What do we do about it?  A few ideas…..

1. Give people a chance:  What would we lose if we had a default position of accepting that people are telling the truth?  We would at times be deceived but perhaps such a position just might bring the best out in others.  Many would tell me I’m just being naïve.  Perhaps I am but I have met other leaders (yes, even politicians) who are as committed to truth as I am.

2. Refuse to put up with lies and deception:  On the other hand, we need to send a clear message to leaders that we have had enough of falsehood. No!  It’s not acceptable that leaders lie.  No!  It’s not an acceptable expectation.  We need to cry out loud with this message at the ballot box, at the shareholder’s meeting, and at the Board table, to mention only a few of the places where our protest needs to be heard loud and clear.

3. Be committed to these values ourselves:  Ultimately of course we need to be deeply committed to the value of truth within ourselves and refuse to allow other priorities to undermine such a commitment.

Food for Thought.

Header image: flickr_Im Kelsi