By Danny Minton

In April of 1943, Major William Martin began a journey that would save thousands of lives during WWII. Major Martin was an officer in the British Royal Marines who, on April 30^th, was sent on a mission across the English Channel. In his satchel were secret documents concerning the invasion of British and Allied forces to take place in Greece and Sardinia. A short time later, Major Martin’s body was discovered in the waters off Spain and turned in to the authorities, who in turn informed the Germans. On his body, they found a picture of his fiancée, a receipt for an engagement ring, a theater ticket stub, and, in his briefcase, the plans for the invasion. The body and all the possessions were returned to the British.

After careful examination, it was discovered that the documents had been opened and then resealed. The Germans had begun moving their troops from Sicily to Greece and Sardinia, preparing for the British invasion. Major Martin would be buried with full military honors. However, what the Germans didn’t know was that the intended invasion was to take place in Sicily, and there was no Major William Martin. Major Martin was the body of a drifter named Glyndwr Michael, who had died from eating rat poison. The entire scenario was a planned deception to have the Germans move their troops away from the intended target, Sicily. In July 1943, the invasion of Sicily was successful and saved thousands of lives. Michael’s identity would come out in 1996, and in his honor, his name would be added to the gravestone.

Like the WWII incident, which was intended to save lives and move against an evil power, there are times when deception can serve a good purpose. We rear our children to believe in the mythical figures of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and Tooth Fairy. These are not meant to harm but to add to childhood excitement. Growing up, we played jokes on our friends every April 1st and ended them with the phrase, “April Fool’s!” It was all fun, with no intent to carry it past that special day. Sometimes, we even hold back telling the truth to someone if it could be harmful to their health and situation.

Unfortunately, in our world today, deception has moved away from the fun and more toward making people believe things that aren’t true, not for a noble or fun cause but one that is harmful and misleading. Social media has added to the problem by making it possible for falsehoods to reach thousands and even millions of people before they can be exposed as lies. 

The advancement in image manipulation software has made it simple to change photos with the intent to misinform people of reality. Someone can now change the background to show that they are in a different location anywhere around the world. People can be added or removed from photos, and words can be changed to make it appear that someone is promoting an item or idea. 

The problem arises when people believe the falsehoods and then pass them on without taking the time to check for accuracy. Too many people still hold to the old saying, “If it’s on the internet, it must be true!” Unfortunately, misquotes, photo manipulation, misinterpretation of words out of context, and outright lies make it difficult to determine who and what to believe. 

While the internet makes it much easier to deceive others, the concept of deception has existed since Satan convinced Eve to take a bite of the forbidden fruit, and it will remain as long as man walks the face of the Earth. The answer to any deception is always seeking to discover the truth before passing on something damaging. 

God has always placed a premium on our being truthful in our lives and words. One of my favorite Psalms is Psalm 15. David begins with the phrase, “LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others.”  Psalm 15:1-3 (NIV2011)

Regarding life, people who possess honesty and integrity receive our respect. Once someone disappoints us with deceptive words or actions, we find it difficult to trust them again. Jesus mentions the word “truth” over seventy times in the NIV. So, the question we should ask ourselves is, “Do people look at me as someone who is a person who speaks the truth?” “Am I honest and looked upon with integrity?”

I remember a phrase I heard years ago: “Be kind to the people you meet on the way up because you’ll meet the same people on the way down!” If we live our lives always telling the truth and never being deceptive, we’ll find that people will always respect us, which makes it easier to be open about the source of our character, Jesus Christ. 

Danny Minton is a former Elder and minister at Southern Hills Church of Christ