Suppose your car has a flat tire and you need to be at an important meeting downtown in a short while. You don’t have the time to fix your tire, you just want to get to the meeting.

Gratefully, you jump in my car and we take off  down the street.

Then, to your astonishment, I ignore a red light. I drive right through a busy intersection without even slowing down. You exclaim that you are not in that much of a hurry.

I say: “What do you mean?”

You say: “Didn’t you see that red light?”

another red light.

You shout: “YOU DID IT AGAIN! You drove right through a red light!

I say: “Relax, there is no such thing as red lights!”

You shout: “OF COURSE THERE IS! YOU JUST RAN THROUGH TWO OF THEM!”

I calmly explain that red lights are a matter of personal preference: To you there may be red lights, that’s ok. BUT TO ME, there are no red lights.

You’d probably think I was crazy.

But I would be no more crazy than a lot of people are these days who ignore the TRUTH.

We live in an age where people feed on fantasy and run from reality. The most important thing to most people in our culture is to feel good about themselves. And facing the truth usually doesn’t feel good. Parents pamper their children rather than punish them. Politicians promise pompous platitudes in order to get elected. Educators promote “politically correct” lies in order to keep their jobs. Advertisers pour forth a powerful parade of perverse persuasion to provoke people to part with their money. Business executives falsify financial records to sell stock.

I spend a lot of time with four particular groups of people: my family, business owners, church members, and prisoners. I spend time with my family because we live together and we are involved in many activities together. I spend time with business owners because of my work. I spend time with church members because I go to church and I’ve spoken in many various churches representing the Gideons. And, I spend time with prisoners because I am in the Clackamas County Jail on Saturday nights teaching and counseling them.

I’ve noticed there is very little difference between these groups. Oh, they live in different conditions, they have different goals, they have different backgrounds, and they have different problems – but these are all minor differences.

They all have one thing in common which dominates how they live. They indulge in illusions of hope. My wife and children and I hope we are not doing anything seriously wrong that affects the rest of the family. Many business owners hope they can borrow their way to success. Many church members hope they are going to heaven because they have made a profession of faith or are doing good deeds. (Others hope there is no hell and they won’t be held accountable for how they have lived their lives.) And many prisoners hope they will soon be released from jail because they didn’t really mean to do anything wrong.

Facing the truth is not natural. Few in my family (starting with myself) are willing to face the damaging influence we can have on each other. Few business owners have the courage to face the truth about the condition and value of their business. Few church members are honest enough to face the truth about the fruitlessness of their lives. And very few prisoners are willing to face the truth that they deserve much worse than being in jail.

Worst of all, in our culture we have educators, politicians, the news media, ollywood and lots of others all telling us that “truth is relative.” Truth has been reduced to a matter of personal preference and feeling, rather than something that is real.  “I feel that such and such is true for me, but what’s true for me may not be true for you.”  Therefore, since truth is relative, it doesn’t actually exist, so it doesn’t really matter! As a result of this kind of thinking, our culture is wallowing in confusion, delusion, and deception.

All of this delusion is motivated by the desire to have our own way, whatever the cost. But, we are blind to the cost. 

The cost of ignoring the truth is devastation. The truth will be exposed, sooner or later. And the longer we ignore the truth, the more devastating the result will be. I see this in families where marriages and the lives of children are destroyed because everyone is just doing what they feel is right for them. I see it in the business world where business owners end up losing everything because they felt they could go on indefinitely without regard for what was really going on in their businesses. I see it in churches that are torn apart when church leaders feel it is acceptable to overrule what God says in His word. And nowhere is this more evident than in jail where I see men whose lives are ruined because they have broken laws – laws that they did not feel were real or relevant or “true” for them.

Another sad result of believing that truth is a matter of personal preference is this: it is unpopular to even talk about the truth, let alone face it. It is considered kind and “tolerant” to lie to someone, if it will make them feel good. It is acceptable to lie to yourself if it makes you feel better.

So, what does all this have to do with you and I and running our businesses? First, we need to realize that each of us is susceptible to being deceived about what is true. The one who is sure he is not deceived is usually the one who is the most deceived.  

It is essential that we have the courage to embrace the truth about every area of our business from the financial records to the value of our employees.

Embracing the truth means:

First, facing it (not ignoring, avoiding, or denying it);

Second, admitting it (talking honestly and openly about it with all who are concerned); and 

Third, dealing with it (doing what needs to be done).

All of this is NOT to say that the truth is always and ultimately painful or disturbing. On the contrary, facing the truth frees us to live and run our businesses as we should. When we face painful and disturbing truth, we are able to see what is really worthwhile and understand the real reasons to rejoice. It’s only when our false illusions of hope are destroyed that we are in a position to discover hope that cannot be destroyed.

Press on,

John Patrick - President, The Patrick Group