It is very important to tell the truth, but is it ever better to wait to tell it? 

We were cruising in the moonlight along the Olentangy River Road.  Across the river was The Ohio State University.   As I gazed through the window, I noticed a very long line-up of cars that were parked along the river. 

I figured some big event was going on so I asked, “Daddy what’s everyone doing?”   He paused and said, “They are watching the submarine races.”   And I said, “Wow, dad, can we go?  Please?  I want to see the races too?”

If you don’t already know, “submarine race” is a euphemism – a figure of speech, from the 1950’s.  It was used to describe couples who were parked along the river for the purposes of making whoopee (which is another euphemism).

I wasn’t old enough then, to understand the attraction of the sexes, so dad ignored me and I stewed in disappointment over having missed the big event.

It certainly is important to tell the truth, but the situation and ability of a person to hear truth needs to be taken into account.  Consider Jesus.

He was gathered with His disciples for their last supper together.   The atmosphere was sober, even tense at times.  During the meal Jesus foretold of the things to come such as His betrayal (John 13:18-30); Peter’s denial (13:36-38); His departure from them (14:1-6) and their rejection by their world (15:18-21; 16:1-3). 

The guys must have been bewildered and disheartened to say the least, but then Jesus added these words, “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now” – John 16:12. 

Jesus still had more to say to them – more truth to impart, but He determined that they were just not able at that time to hear any more and to bear the weight of His words.

“But Jesus, didn’t they need the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?”  Yes – they did – but it would be revealed later.  Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would pick up where He had left off.  The Spirit would soon come and guide them into all truth. (John 16:13)

I have often thought of these words as I have related to other people and have learned that there really are times that we should withhold the truth.  Not to lie, but to be wise about when we speak it.  

– For instance, we need to postpone truth telling when a person is physically not at their best.  If they are in pain, or physically worn out, it’s better to wait.

– We need to hesitate when the person is emotionally stressed.  If they have just lost a loved one they don’t need to hear, nor are they able to hear your well-intentioned advice. 

– When a person isn’t old enough or mature enough to understand the truth, we need to pause. A six-year old doesn’t need a rundown on the dire state of the family’s finances.

– Be considerate if a person is stretched for time.  It isn’t wise for her to talk to him about marriage concerns when he’s walking out the door to go to work.  

Is it important for a person to hear the truth?  It is!  Paul wrote, “each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor” – Ephesians 4:25.   But he also told us to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). 

I have found that it’s usually better to speak the truth sooner rather than later but speaking the truth in love requires us to be sensitive to timing and circumstances.

Yep, my dad was wise in withholding the truth about what they were doing down by the river.  He did, however, eventually educate me when he gave me the talk on the birds and the bees (which is another euphemism). 

A PRAYER: Lord help me speak the truth, at the proper time so that it gives grace to those who hear.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Scripture passages are from the NETBible ®