Investigating the Bible: Paperless honesty

By David Carlson Pastor

An older gentleman at the desk checked a woman into a hotel. She learned from staff that he was 98 years old! She later asked him how he could still be so active at his advanced age? The old fellow scratched his head. “I ain’t decided yet, ma’am. I’m dickerin’ right now with two or three cereal companies over my endorsement.” Honest words seem hard to find these days; the same was true in the days of Jesus.

In the ancient culture, business deals were sealed by words only. Reading was not a common skill; writing materials were expensive. The Old Testament bond was an oath. “If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.” (Numbers 30:2, English Standard Version used throughout.) Jesus demanded more. “But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” (Matthew 5:34-37).

Jesus also spoke against oaths because they were sometimes abused. In business transactions, Pharisees and scribes deceptively considered some oaths valid and others worthless. Jesus said to them: “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred.” (Matthew 23: 16-17).

Contemporary justice can be denied by technicality. Nov. 27, 1978, former San Francisco Board Member Dan White crawled through a basement window of the county building, carrying a Smith & Wesson revolver. He had recently resigned from his position over a dispute with mayor George Moscone, and others on the board, including Harvey Milk. He went to Moscone’s office and asked for reinstatement. When the mayor refused, White shot him four times, killing him instantly. Then he went to the office of Harvey Milk and executed him with five bullets. He confessed and was charged with first degree murder. During the trial, White’s defense lawyers argued he wasn’t responsible for the murders due to depression and by radical changes in his diet from healthy foods to sugary food and drinks. The media labeled this the “Twinkie Defense.” He was convicted of the lesser crime of manslaughter and only given a seven-year sentence. The city rioted and later voters removed California’s “diminished capacity law.” Dan White committed suicide in 1983.

For Jesus, actions were the true test of integrity: “You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit…Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.” (Matthew 8:16-17, 20).

Honorable actions enabled a peaceful end to America’s war with Japan. On Aug. 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender of Japan. Sept. 2, the battleship Missouri, carrying Admiral Chester Nimitz and General Douglas MacArthur, cruised into a Japanese harbor to sign the official documents. They were unaware that the day before, two squadrons of treasonous Japanese made a secret plan. One group of pilots would take to the air and destroy the Missouri with kamikaze attacks. The other squadron would slaughter survivors in the water with machine guns. A Japanese general got word of the treachery. At 2 a.m., he had a crew of mechanics remove the propellers from all the airplanes; the emperor’s brother persuaded the squadron with the machine guns to stand down.

Mr. Pastor (yes, that is his last name, not his profession) is a Polk County, Oregon resident and graduate of Bethel Theological Seminary in Minnesota (M.Div., M.Th.).