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Exposed! October 29, 2007 By Mark Johnston
I couldn’t believe it.
I know it shouldn’t have surprised me as much as it did, but I was taken aback. I’d completed the exam early in my Financial Management night class and was just sitting there minding my business, waiting for the other students to finish when I noticed them—two women blatantly cheating. We sat in rows, and the first woman was resting her paper on the edge of her desk and casually pointing to the multiple choice question she was on. Then the woman behind her, after waiting for the professor to look away, would whisper the right answer; and the first woman filled it in. Who knows how long they’d been doing this; while I was watching, they answered several questions this way.
The thing is . . . they weren’t just women. I know their names. I’ve sat across from them for seven weeks now, every Monday evening. We smile at each other and say, “Hello.” I could tell you who they are right now.
The first woman, the one benefiting from the whispered answers, is married. She’s six months pregnant. As I sat there and watched her cheat, I couldn’t help wondering—what are her boundaries? My mind ran wild. If she’ll cheat on an exam, will she cheat on her taxes? What about her husband—will she cheat on him if it’s convenient? That little baby growing in her womb—will she one day cheat her child in some way? Did she think about the fact that she wasn’t just cheating the professor, but the class who’d studied for the exam and taken their best stab at answering the questions without the advantage of a broken system of ethics? Did she realize she was cheating herself out of the value of hard work? What happens when she’s in the middle of a promising career five years from now and the only way to get ahead is to cheat someone else? Why stop then, right?
Do I sound like your grandpa yet? Is a little bit of dishonesty okay as long as nobody appears to get hurt? The Old Testament tells us, “Honest scales and balances are from the Lord; all the weights in the bag are of his making” (Proverbs 16:11, NIV).
Everyone Else is Doing It! Integrity is a rare commodity in today’s world of “whatever works to get ahead.” And here’s the problem: dishonesty, like all sinful actions, tends to be difficult to compartmentalize. It’s rarely content to just dwell in classrooms during particularly difficult exams. It wants out and into our friendships and careers and marriages.
Now for the painful part: I’m no angel. I pride myself in not telling lies and not cheating on tests, but sometimes the weather of my life becomes mostly cloudy and, like the sun, the truth stays conveniently hidden behind the gray murkiness of my deception. I don’t lie and I don’t cheat but sometimes I withhold the truth, covering up what I’m too uncomfortable to reveal.
Weigh me, Lord, using your scales—since mine have not been calibrated in a while. Don’t stop working in me until You can call me “true.” Help me walk in righteousness, faithful to Your word and character. Clear away the clouds of my convenience and expose me and those around me to the truth. Don’t let me hide in dishonesty. Don’t let me cheat on You. Somebody might be sitting there watching. ninetyandnine.com © 2007, Mark Johnston
--------- Mark Johnston is the Lead Pastor of The Journey in Newark, Delaware, an emerging Apostolic church that is committed to creatively reaching unchurched people. He also speaks around the nation and the world at conferences and conventions. His consuming goal this year is to break 155 pounds by downing dozens of protein shakes, lifting hundreds of dumbbells, and ingesting thousands of calories.
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