Integrity: Saying What You Mean, Meaning What You Say (Matthew 5:33-37)
By Gary C. Redding
He was America's most adorable liar and cult hero. At the time,
Newsweek called his lies "lavish" and "lovable." The
New York Times said that the ads were the "funniest being aired on television today."
Time suggested that his lies were responsible for turning bull into bucks.
He was "Joe Isuzu" and he was pulling -- or bulling -- Americans by the thousands into the showrooms of an import auto manufacturer that few of us had heard of thirty-six months prior to when the ads began airing.
Here was his pitch:
During Isuzu's Truly Incredible Sale, thanks to factory incentives, you'll be able to take advantage of some truly remarkable deals. PUP, America's lowest priced import truck, now only $3. (The disclaimer reads, "Give or take $6,296."
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(The disclaimer reads, "Great deals, but no chinchilla.")
And for the first 10,000 customers, we'll throw in a free chauffeur. (The disclaimer reads, "Providing you pay for him."
You have my word on it.What made this ad campaign so successful was that everyone knew the announcer was not telling the truth. Someone has called ours a "huckstering, show-bizzy world, jangling with hype, hullabaloo, and hooey, bull, baloney, and bamboozlement." Indeed, people have come to expect not to hear the truth anymore.
The lie is not an unusual element in the American way of life. Most errors on tax returns are in favor of the taxpayer. In fact, Americans lie on their income tax returns to the tune of millions of dollars every year. Doctors falsify reports in order to profit from Medicare patients. Prize athletes at state universities are kept eligible for competition through bogus credits and forged transcripts of academic records.
Employees call in "sick" when relatives are visiting. Few of us think twice before arguing that we were not driving as fast as the arresting officer claims. Almost any marriage counselor who interviews each spouse separate from the other can hardly believe that he is hearing a description of the same relationship, the accounts vary so radically.
Every teacher can recite a catalogue of each year's most unbelievable lies contrived by students who missed a test or a deadline. Frequently, parents even get in the act through pleading the case of and making elaborate excuses for lazy or rebellious children. Customers or clients frequently hear feeble excuses for late deliveries, extended repair periods, or inferior workmanship.
In the military and in politics, in public service and private, there is a well-developed technique for not telling the truth about certain things. An entire vocabulary has been tested and developed by centuries of usage that indicates what to say in this and that situation and what to conceal all the while you are saying it. Occasionally, we refer to it as being "diplomatic" or "tactful." Historically speaking, the plea has been registered with the American public: "My deceit was in the best interest of our national security."