Saturday, March 13^th, ‘10

All rights reserved © message by Kris Jackson

BENDING AND STRETCHING

“And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth…” (Jeremiah 9:3)

That’s one way of getting out of shape, rather than in shape. By bending is how things get bent. A bent arrow never hits the target. A bent spoon or fork is an aggravation at the dinner table. Bent character is bound to lead astray. Jesus speaks of a straight and narrow way. The “good” bad guy in the movie talks of going straight. The purpose of discipline is to straighten out the kids. Adam-nature has a natural bend to it, or warp if you prefer; crookedness. “They are all gone out of the way…” (Rom 3:12) The out of alignment car pulls toward the ditch, or worse, toward oncoming traffic. Bend the rules and order is suspended. An accident is waiting to happen.

Notice Jeremiah says they bend their tongues. One wouldn’t think that bending is all that bad. Twisting the tongue upside down, now that would be an anatomical feat, but simple curvature, how can that be any big deal? The problem is that bending weakens tensile strength. A nail once bent will bend again under little resistance. The tongue is bent a little then before you know it, it is bent “like their bows for lies”. Truth is like steel. Error is like a fiberglass bow, it gives in to the “pull” of peer pressure.

Stretching the truth is similar to bending it. Bending makes the truth less than real, stretching it makes it more than real. Bending is usually used to keep the person out of trouble, while stretching is used to make the situation look better than it actually is. Someone quipped “when you stretch the truth, watch out for the kickback”. Along the same line, using the bow metaphor, watch out for the stray arrow.

Jeremiah adds, “but they are not valiant for the truth…” NLT says, “they refuse to stand up for the truth”. One reason we bend the facts is to avoid criticism and persecution. Being honest does not always win a blue ribbon. You can make the workmates or whoever quite angry by not covering for them. It is one thing to be committed to speaking the truth, yet another to be “valiant” for it. The criticism is that such a person is too rigid. God has plenty of round edges because He is merciful and longsuffering but the Law is a straight edge not a bow. There is no flex in stone tablets. It takes a straight edge to line things up properly. The Talmud says “if you add to the truth you subtract from it”. Bending the truth leads to curvature of the spine and God knows we need more backbone today.