THE scene was in Queens, New York city. A woman had asked her butcher to grind a certain piece of meat for her. Before he could grind it, however, the man in charge replaced the meat with an inferior grade, and insisted that the butcher give this to the customer. When presented with the ground meat, the customer asked the butcher: “Is this the meat that I asked you to grind?”

What would you have answered? Would you have told the truth?

The customer had a right to know the facts. Yet, under the circumstances, it was not easy for the butcher to tell her the truth, and thereby expose the dishonesty of the man in charge. Nevertheless, he did. The result was that he was fired.

Surely, the wise course is to exercise care as to our truthfulness, and not ignore the proddings of conscience. A secretary for a merchandise comptroller in a Chicago department store exercised such care. Her employer told her: “If anyone calls, tell them that I am not in.” Some persons’ conscience might allow them to say this. However, after thinking about the matter, the secretary’s conscience troubled her. So she explained to her employer why, as a Christian, she could not tell persons that he was out when he was really in his office. He respected her for her high regard for the truth.

True, many statements may be considered minor untruths, ‘little’ lies. But if we do not exercise care to avoid them, is there not a danger that we may be led into more serious wrongdoing?

Of course, not everyone will appreciate a Christian’s strong love of truth. For instance, one of Jehovah’s witnesses, who worked for a landscaping firm in Holden, Massachusetts, received a call from a local bank. It wanted to verify some figures on a bill of sale for equipment. However, the figures on the company’s file copy were different from those that the bank had.

When his employer returned, the Witness asked about it, and the employer became angry. An incorrect bill of sale, showing a much higher figure, had been issued to the bank. This was done, the employer explained, to obtain more money from the bank and for tax purposes. The employer wanted the Witness to call the bank and apologize for his “gross mistake” and verify the phony figures. The Witness explained why he could not do this, and when he saw that his employer had no regard for the truth, he quit his job.