One definition of honesty is “a refusal to deceive in any way.” This is a goal that is difficult to achieve. Surface honesty is fairly easy. People who are considered respectable are not inclined to steal and loot, to hold up a wayfarer, or to misrepresent things. They tell the truth about most major matters and give honest change for a dollar.
Little things like taking home a few pencils or a few sheets of carbon paper from the office are a matter of convenience and not of money and are not considered dishonest. A doubtful deduction on an income tax form or saying someone is out when the telephone rings at an inconvenient time are taken for granted, as is using an hour or so of the company’s time for our personal business even when we have some company’s business to take care of. A neighbor who is the soul of “honesty” once asked me if it was necessary for him to pay for a coat the store had neglected to put on his bill.
It is quite possible to tell the truth and still convey a wrong impression. Fear usually prompts us to do this; nor is there anything new about it. When Abraham and his very attractive wife, Sarah, travelled into Egypt, Abraham was afraid the Egyptians would kill him and take his wife, so he told her to say she was his sister. As he had feared, Pharoah heard of her beauty and took Sarah into his house and treated Abraham very well for her sake, giving him “sheep, oxen, he-asses, men servants, maid servants, she-asses and camels” (Gen. 12:16).
Abraham had saved his life by this ruse and gained much in material things, but God was not pleased and plagued Pharoah and his house because of it. When Pharoah found out about the deception, he restored Sarah to Abraham, asking him why he had not told him that Sarah was his wife. And yet, in actual words, Abraham told no lie for we read in Genesis 20:12 that Sarah was indeed his sister; the daughter of his father, but not the daughter of his mother, and she became his wife. This shows us very plainly that to be strictly honest we must do more than just speak the proper words. We must not say anything that conveys a wrong impression.
When Shadrach, Meshech and Abednego were ordered by Nebuchadnezzar to join the other rulers of the provinces of Babylon in bowing down to the image set up in the Plain of Dura, they could have saved themselves much trouble and worry over the prospect of being thrown into the fiery furnace by simply complying with the king’s request. They knew that “an idol is nothing in the world” (1 Cor. 8:4) and they could have gone through the motions without meaning anything by it. This would have been expedient, but not honest. I wonder sometimes if we fail to realize the extent of their courage in defying the edict of this despot. We know the end of the story and that they were saved from the deaths planned for them, but when they refused to bow down they did not know how things would turn out. The only thing they could be sure of, was that they would be thrown in the furnace.
We must also be honest in giving credit where credit is due and not taking to ourselves any praise that is not due us. No matter what talents we may possess, we must be truly humble realizing that we have nothing but what God has given us. In Acts 12:21-23 we see an example of this. Herod, dressed in royal robes, sat on his throne and spoke to the people. The people said, “it is the voice of a god and not of a man”. Herod was, no doubt, pleased that his oration was so well received, and accepted the flattery as his right, but his pleasure was short-lived. He was smitten by the angel of the Lord and “eaten of worms” and died because “he gave not God the glory”. Daniel, on the other hand, refused to accept the credit for interpreting the dream of the king, saying “There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days”.
It has been said that honesty is the ability to do the right thing, even when no one would know the difference. This is the goal we should aim for, because even though no human being knows what we do, God is ever aware of all our actions, thoughts and intentions. We can say, as did Hagar (Genesis 17:13) “Thou God seest me”.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One