Teaching Truth: Nurturing Honesty, Humility, and Honor in the Next Generation

Introduction:

In a household where baseball practice doubles as a classroom for life lessons, one dad takes on the role of philosopher-in-chief. With a mix of humor and heartfelt sincerity, he tackles the age-old challenge of teaching his kids the difference between right and wrong—starting with the simple commandment: "Thou shalt not lie." Amidst discussions of cookie jars and fist fights, he delves into the deeper implications of honesty, humility, and honor, all while navigating the everyday chaos of parenthood. Join him on this comedic yet insightful journey through the trenches of family life, where the real MVP might just be the dad with a knack for turning baseball into moral philosophy.

As a parent I’m constantly teaching my kids to follow what I follow, to honor what I honor, and to love what I love. My ego can tempt me to enjoy their love, obedience and admiration without disclosing my loyalties and what makes me worthy of honor. Such is the temptation of all those in power. What I want to instill in them is the ability to see me in others and to embody my values themselves. 

Today as we were going to practice baseball, we discussed my number 1 rule.

Dont lie. 

This is less intuitive than it sounded. I didn’t just want them to think about cookie jars and fist fights. Questions line “Who stole the cookie?” and Who hit who first?” have their utility but telling the truth is much deeper than this. Today I wanted to talk about humility and honor. 

Me: “If you tell me you understand what I’m saying, but you dont, are you lying or telling the truth?”

Them: “We are lying”

Me: “That’s right. It’s better to admit you don’t understand than lie and pretend you do. It’s better to be honest and humble than dishonest and ignorant. Honesty gives you the gift of curiosity, which will lead to understanding.”

Me: “And if you obey me when you feel like what I’m asking you to do is wrong, are you lying or telling the truth?”

Them: “I don’t know. We aren’t really saying anything.”

Me: “I appreciate you saying you don’t know. It’s harder to understand. When you obey someone you are acting like what they are saying is true and good.”

Them: “So if we don’t believe what you are saying is good, but we act like we do believe it, we are lying.”

Me: “That’s right. Of course I want you to obey me and listen to what I say. But I prefer honest disobedience to you doing something you think is wrong. Sometimes you won’t know and you can trust me. That’s ok. But if I ask you to do something you know is wrong, you need to talk to me about it before you obey. You can say ‘Ok dad. I want to do this. But I don’t feel this is right. Can you help me understand?”

Later we discussed why they wanted me to teach them how to play baseball. I played in college and could be a good guide. Regardless of what I knew, it was their responsibility to make me a better teacher. If they I said something confusing, they have to question me. Otherwise, they need to follow my instructions with commitment and drive. 

As their father, I have the unique opportunity to use my position of power to teach them to either blindly obey those in power or to follow the principles that I follow, even if I don’t always follow them. If I’m successful, they will be moral, humble, curious adults who are fiercely loyal to the truth, their own conscience, and doing what is right. They will be friends who can give and received encouragement and friends who can give and recieve correction. They will be the salt of the earth, children of God, and completely free from the whims and pressures of society. 

For us, have we had fathers like this? Are we free from these whims and pressures? Do we have friends who encourage and correct? It seems to me that our fathers abandoned their post and taught us to honor our egos, worship power, work for money, and value prestige above all. 

You indicate your loyalties by who you follow.

You reveal your values by what you work for.

You disclose your master by who you honor. 

If you are working for empty dollars that lie about value, obey the US government that lies about justice, and honor the deceitful, conceited, greedy, and incompetent, those are your kings. You are their pawns. The king will sacrifice you and you will experience his same fate, which will be temporary pleasure and ultimate ruin. 

Think about it. If you want to gather a team around you, feed them, house them, give them gifts and honor them, you have to do so with dollars. If you want to serve a lot of people with a great idea, you have to have access to credit. You can’t extend honor at any scale in this current environment without honoring those who hold dollars, which is the same as honoring the source of dollars. The source of dollars is the Federal Reserve which creates money out of nothing, which is to say they are knowingly and maliciously committing fraud. Are we really confused why the biggest businesses and the most powerful people in our world are the least honorable, the most corrupt, and the most vile? There are absolutely geniuses and amazing businesses imprisoned by our collective worship of the dollar… It’s gross and our fault.

If you reject dollar, resist unjust laws, and honor the valuable, honest, humble, sacrificial, and competent, you will experience the fate of these people and these virtues, which will be peace, joy, and wealth. 

We are taught to care for only ourselves and in doing so, we do not feel obligated to follow those who follow the truth, sacrifice for justice, fight for the vulnerable. We ask “what’s in it for me” as if a world full of justice, truth, and competency isn’t a world you want to live in, as if the only valid form of payment is the instrument of fraud and theft, the US dollar….

If you want to repair the world, start by pledging your allegiance to the truth. Commit yourself to always telling the truth, even if it embarrasses you (eg “I don’t understand. Can you help me?”), offends (eg “I think you are wrong. Can I you why?”), or humbles you. Withhold empty flatteries from those who are in power but shouldn’t be and offer encouragement to those who aren’t in power but should be. Your support is sometimes all you have. Do not prostitute it for money, status, praise, or power. It’s worth far more than that! Do not betray those unsupported heroes among you. You need them like a child needs a father, a sheep needs a shepherd, and a patient needs a doctor.

I can now turn my attention to terribly misunderstood passages in the Bible that discuss honoring governments and honoring parents. 

In Romans 13, Paul admonishes the church. 

“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor..”

And in Exodus 20:12, Moses commands the Israelites,

“Honor your father and your mother so that you may live long in the land your God is giving you.”

These passages can be read two ways. If we read it from an egoic perspective driven by personalities and titles, then we give the state and parents a blank check to determine morality and goodness and eviscerate any category of abuse of power. Indeed many governments and many parents have used these passages to justify blind obedience, attempting to seek honor where only dishonor is deserved. 

The right way to read these passages is that these institutions are established by God to benefit you and it is your responsibility to honor these institutions when they fulfill their duties and speak truth to these institutions when you see them in error, not in rebellion to the institutions but in honor of the justice, goodness, and integrity these institutions are supposed to safeguard. Christians do not need to be anarchists no more than children need to runaway in order to achieve freedom. Citizens who do what is right OUGHT to enjoy the protections of the governing institutions just like children who honor their parents and tell the truth OUGHT to enjoy the love and care of their parents. There is no contradiction between speaking truth to power and submitting to the authorities. In fact, this is one of the most effective ways to prove your fidelity to the God who establishes these institutions. 

The prophet Nathan, seeing an opportunity to correct David did not hesitate, declaring “You are the man!”. Neither should we believe we are betraying our fidelity to justice when our conscience binds us to challenge the actions of the state. 

Of course I should notice that Jesus was unjustly crucified by the state and did not lead an armed rebellion. Paul was unjustly imprisoned by the state and did not lead an armed rebellion. The early church was killed by the state for not honoring the divinity of Caesar and did not lead an armed rebellion. The state, like so many parents, is given to tyranny, pettiness, and injustice. The resistance required of Christians is not an armed rebellion but a peaceful non-compliance, which attracts the ire of a tyrannical state. We must speak the truth in love, condemning injustice while also praising governments that rule fairly. 

In our current environment, such a peaceful non-compliance is dangerous but necessary. The monetary system must be challenged for it is a source of theft and corruption, undermining the validity of our government, enslaving it to debt which in turn enslaves the people. A moral default on loans is perfectly within the rights of people since debt loans are a lie, an attempt to collateralize the future of their customers. The medicine our world needs to be rid of the parasite of usury is default and nullification. May we have enough love for our government, governance, and justice to take this moral stand against the greatest economic scam in world history.