Ina de Bus

Prov. 12: 22 Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.

It happened a coupla years ago, but I still remember it clearly. When I approached the minibus downtown, the ‘ductor was shouting “Mandeville, Mandeville, highway-Mandeville”. “You going straight to Mandeville, “Ductor”, I asked. “Yeh man, straight to Mandeville”. “You not going to stop in May Pen?” “No. Non-stop highway-Mandeville”.

So I got into the bus. When it was full, we headed out at minibus speed (a little slower than the speed of sound so that you can hear the reggae music they are playing). Then the bus took a sudden swing and headed towards May Pen. “We never plan to go May Pen”, the ‘ductor explained. “we jus goin’ drop off this man”. But once in May Pen they parked, several passengers came off, we waited and waited for the bus to fill up again and then the ‘ductor announced that we would need to “tek that Coaster deh, because the bus going back to Town”. “’Ductor”, I shouted angrily, “howcome you tell me that the bus going to Mandeville and now you turning back?” “So what”, he replied calmly, “nobody never tell you lie yet?”

That day “ina de bus”, I learned the truth that some people are so comfortable with lying that all they need is a good reason. “Good reason”, of course varies from person to person. It might mean that telling the lie will help the person to get a little extra money, or to avoid an embarrassing situation, or to get a job or a visa, or to impress somebody of importance. Unfortunately, many persons who feel that way are professing Christians! It’s true! Many “decent’ church-going Christians will lie about all kinds of things and figure that if nobody is hurt, they’ve done nothing wrong. Some even tell lies that undermine church leadership or destroy people’s reputations.

Today’s text reminds us that lying is not an option for Christians. We can afford to tell the truth because God protects the truth and those who speak the truth. (More about that tomorrow.) God is so committed to truth, He says “I am the Truth”. In Rev. 21: 8, we are told that all liars will burn in the fires of Hell. Let us be true children of God and always be true to the truth.

Dear Lord, I know you hate lying lips. Help me to be honest and courageous enough to speak the truth at all times, in Jesus’ name, amen.