By Their Fruits You Shall Know Them

Integrity: It's a Small Matter

It's Election Time, and truth is unimportant.

We have repeatedly asserted that there are only two cities or kingdoms in the world: the City of Belief and the City of Unbelief. In principle these two Cities are contra-polar opposites. There is no common ground. They see every aspect of creation differently. In actual historical experience, however, neither City lives entirely consistently with its fundamental principles. Each City is more or less consistent at any one time.

For Jerusalem being more consistent with its fundamental principles means that its citizens and culture are comprehensively conformed to, the rule and law of Christ Jesus as revealed in His Word. For Athens, being consistent with its fundamental principles means that its citizens and culture are comprehensively conformed to its father and leader, the Devil himself.

As Athens becomes more ascendant, its people and institutions become increasingly diabolical in thought, word, and deed. The City comes more to reflect its true head.

They say that upon declaration of war, the first casualty is truth. In Athens also, truth is the first casualty. Its head is the Father of Lies, declared our Lord. Therefore, the more consistent the City of Unbelief comes to be with its head, the Devil, the more lies and untruth come to dominate its private and public discourse.

In Jerusalem (again, in principle) one's word is an extension of self: it is a dependable representation and extension of oneself. To utter a word is to offer an implicit contract to all hearers—they can trust their lives and property to one's word. As they used to say in more Christian times: “his word is his bond.” This primacy upon truth, the word being an extension of self, conveying an implicit warrant of truth and reliability, is derived from the Lord Himself.

Unlike the Father of Lies, when God speaks He speaks truthfully and He obligates Himself to carrying out what He has said. Thus, the holy man welcomed into God's presence, is one who walks with integrity . . . and speaks truth in his heart; he does not slander his neighbour, and swears even to his own hurt and does not change. (Psalm 15:2—4).

In Athens, truth is a worthless commodity to be sold or traded at a whim for personal advantage. Slander, misrepresentation, distortion, exaggeration, and flat-our lying are all the order of the day. The “truth” becomes subservient to a wider, more malevolent purpose. That purpose has to do with trampling over others, taking advantage of them, putting one over them, and getting on top. Truth becomes something to adhere to when it is advantageous to do so, otherwise, it is entirely worthless. In Athens, truth is a wax nose.

In this diabolical Athenian world, speech and words become nothing more than tools of manipulation, designed to achieve a certain effect or outcome. Artifice and craftiness are the order of the day.

In New Zealand we are currently going through a general election. All the players—almost universally—are Athenians, representing that wretched City. This is to be expected in our temporarily post-Christian world. But some of the players are more in tune with their true head than others. One way this is manifest is their relative commitment to the truth.

Those political leaders and actors who use words for affectation, who lie, who manipulate the truth, who misrepresent, exaggerate, slander and distort in an effort to win others over to their side—those political leaders show they have entered the ultimate diabolical pact. They have sold themselves to the Devil. They are his true servants. They are following in the footsteps of their true father, the Father of Lies.

As we said above, at any one time in history, Athens is more or less consistent with its fundamental principles and with its true head. In our day, given that Athens is temporarily ascendant, and Jerusalem is weak, it is not surprising that many who seek to lead the City would be emboldened in their efforts to walk after the steps and in the counsel of the Devil himself.

But those in Jerusalem can identify them relatively easily. Anyone who seeks to win electoral favour by dissembling, lying, misrepresentation, exaggeration, slander, and distortion shows thereby that they are truly of their father, the Devil, who has always been the Father of Lies from the very beginning.

In Athens, truth is despised as a small matter. In Jerusalem, truth is sacred.