What's Your Price For Lying?

I was looking back at the Roman guards from the Resurrection story. Here in Southeast Missouri, we know the power of a hard day’s work and a hard-earned paycheck.

Think about these guys for a second. They didn’t just hear a rumor. They were there. They felt the ground shake like a chassis snapping. They saw the angel, they saw the stone move, and they were so “shook” they fell over like dead men.

They had a front-row seat to the greatest supernatural event in human history. And yet, look at how they handled the aftermath once the adrenaline wore off:

“While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened… they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, ‘You are to say, “His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.”’” (Matthew 28:11-13)

These men took a bribe to live a lie. Even after experiencing the power of God firsthand, they chose a paycheck of temporary comfort over the undeniable truth they had seen with their own eyes.

The Cost of Denial

It’s been a few weeks since we celebrated the Resurrection, and the “bribes” are already starting to circulate.

We live in a world that is constantly trying to pay us off to stay quiet. The bribe isn’t always a bag of silver; sometimes it’s just the “paycheck” of social standing. It’s the comfort of not being the “weird religious person” at the office. It’s the safety of blending in with the crowd instead of declaring that the Hero has rescued your heart.

We trade a Kingdom encounter for a comfortable seat at the tomb.

When you take the bribe of denial, you’re trying to “salvage” your reputation at the expense of your soul. You saw the stone move. You know God has been working on your heart. But because the truth is disruptive, because it demands you head to Galilee and change your alignment, you take the easy out. You repeat the lie that “everything is fine” while your spirit is starving for oxygen.

Stop Taking the Bribe

If you’re waking up this Wednesday feeling like you’re just going through the motions, check your pockets.

Are you holding onto a “paycheck” of denial? Are you protecting a version of yourself that doesn’t include the Resurrection? God isn’t impressed by your ability to keep a straight face while the world ignores Him. He’s looking for people who are willing to look “awkward” for the sake of the truth.

The soldiers stayed at the tomb with their silver, but the disciples went to Galilee and met the Living God. One group got paid; the other group got a Rescue.

Your Mission This Week: Identify one area of your life where you’ve been taking a “bribe” of comfort or silence to avoid talking about what God is doing.

Stop taking the paycheck. This Wednesday, open your mouth. Verbalize the truth to one person; maybe a coworker, a neighbor, or someone at Men’s Bible Study. Tell them that the stone is gone and your life has been repurposed.

Don’t stay at the tomb with a lie. Get on the road to Galilee.

See you Sunday,

Pastor Jeremy