Recently an interview candidate shared some potentially incriminating historical information about himself and while on the surface it was negative, it left me with a greater feeling of trust toward the individual. Skill and personality are easier to identify, but trustworthiness is something more difficult to gauge. And no trust, no job.
The candidate “Lorenzo” (fake name to keep it private) had an engaging personality and possessed the necessary skills to perform the job. He was energetic and passionate and seemed like great fit for our company. The interview was going great!
Lorenzo then shared that he learned a foreign language through his experience at the school he attended. Inquiring further, I asked him what year he graduated and he said “I didn’t, they kicked me out!”
As Lorenzo continued to talk about his experience I realized the school that kicked him out happened to be the same school my kids attend. He didn’t realize this because he thought I resided elsewhere and he had very little information about me.
If Lorenzo would have lied about graduating I would have found out, and it would have been over for him. Instead, the situation gave me insights as to who this person is, and he earned further respect and trust. The truth set him free. The fact that Lorenzo made some life choices at the age of 15 (over 10 years ago) do not change the fact that he’s a highly skilled and likable individual.
In today’s reading Acts 4:32-5:11 we find two people who conspire to lie and it costs them their lives. One lie and they dropped dead on the spot. Yikes!
A few takeaways and thoughts about truth, lies and sin as we go about our day and pray for those who have not yet accepted the truth about Jesus:
- God is serious about sin.
- Lies are sinful and cause pain, distrust and even death.
- We’ve all lied. Sin deems us guilty before our creator. This guilt demands punishment.
- Jesus is the truth. One day will will stand before our creator (The Father) to give an account of all of our lies and other sins. On our own we cannot stand, but because Jesus already sacrificed himself as a penalty for our sin, we can then be deemed clean and forgiven. Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
- The truth (Jesus) sets us free. Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:34-36)