Tongues of Truth-James 5:12

Did you know that +90% of Americans admit to lying routinely, and 36% of these say they tell big lies that hurt other people. These stats were reported by co-author James Patterson in a book entitled THE DAY AMERICA TOLD THE TRUTH. The problem even hurts the nation's competitiveness; America loses four times as many worker hours to disability as Japan. They say "Worker's compensation programs in the US are a disaster. Staggering under an avalanche of claims, the cost of these programs is now 150% higher than in 1980. In that same time span, the number of claims has doubled in many states. The number of workdays lost because of on-the-job injuries has surpassed 60 million a year compared to 30 million in 1975. The per-worker premiums have increased to the point (they now average $500) that many employers cannot pay them. What is worse a significant percentage of the claims are for faked injuries. It is a well-known fact in the insurance industry that many employees file workers' compensation claims for injuries actually sustained at home over the weekend. They even joke about the "Monday morning syndrome." Employers, however, are not laughing. They are the ones who pay the total cost of the claims and there are no deductibles. Neither the workers nor health care providers have any incentive to keep costs down ('Boss, I Feel Lousy--Where's My Check?', U.S. News & World Reports). In a survey of U.S. high school students, 36% said they would plagiarize in order to pass a test; 67% would pad their expense accounts; 50% would inflate an insurance claim; 66% would tell a lie to reach a business objective; and 59% would risk six month's probation in order to make $10 million on an illegal business deal. Friends, we live in a world of lies and false narratives where there is no integrity of speech. It used to mean that a man's word is his bond and could shake hands on a deal, rather than have long detailed contracts to insure that deceptive practices are minimized. Let's sit at the feet of the 1/2 brother of our Lord, James, as he schools us on "Christian Honesty" (Jas 5:12) this coming Lord's Day. If you don't have a church home, please join us!