Chapter 8

 

Nothing but the Truth

 

 

 

 

 

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

 

 

            Harley’s life had more than the usual share of ups and downs.  Sure, he had a great opportunity to be an intern at the First Love Foundation, and in that position, he networked with amazing people and traveled extensively.  At the same time, he faced enormous temptations.  His choice to give in to those temptations caused him to lie to Nathan Bronson and other donors.  He stole from funds that were intended for the organization.  He thought God would overlook his behavior...until the day everything he’d done lay exposed in black and white on a ledger sheet held by Ellis’s hand. 

            The name Harley means “wild spirited.”  Somehow it fit. 

            Who was this man?  At the beginning of the book I explained that all the events in this story were real.  I changed names and certain details to hide the true identities of those involved, but now, in this final chapter, let’s learn the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

            Harley’s real name was Gehazi.  Sounds like a sneeze, but that’s what his mom called him.  Gehazi lived long before you were born...almost three thousand years ago.  You’ll find him in the Bible at the beginning of the second book of Kings. Gehazi wasn’t an intern for an evangelist but a servant – these days we’d call him an executive assistant – to a famous prophet.^[1]  As spokesman for the prophet, he traveled with his boss everywhere he went.  Gehazi met kings and army generals.  He saw his master perform incredible miracles.  Life was good.

             And Ellis, his boss?  That would be Elisha.  Like Gehazi, Elisha had also been a servant of a prophet.  As a young man, Elisha had served, not Billy Graham, but a famous man of God named Elijah.^[2]  Working alongside his master, Elisha had opportunity to walk into the presence of kings and queens.  No doubt he struggled with temptations similar to those Gehazi faced.  Both Gehazi and Elisha had access to political power, money, and fame.  But when the crunch came, Elisha made a different choice than Gehazi.  Elisha wanted God in his heart more than money in his bank. When his master retired, Elisha begged that a double portion of Elijah’s spirit would fall on Elisha.^[3]  Elijah granted that request and Elisha began to do miracles too.^[4] 

            That makes Elisha sound mighty holy, but remember that he was still a young man.  He didn’t have a clear understanding of how to use that power from God appropriately.  One day when Elisha was walking alone down a country road, a mob of young boys from town surrounded him.  They began laughing at him, teasing him about being bald.  (Remember how Ellis wore a hair piece to cover his baldness?)  This wasn’t just a couple of kids.  There were forty two of them!  Count them.  That is a lot of kids standing around and tormenting a defenseless man standing by himself on a country road.  Elisha must have been scared.  He turned and cursed the children, calling on God’s power to protect him.^[5] 

            Elisha must have been shocked when he saw the results of his curse: two wild bears came out of the woods and began to maul the children.  Seeing God’s raw power at work in response to his own words shook Elisha.  Immediately, he fled to a place called Mount Carmel.  Why?  That was a place where his former master, Elijah, had demonstrated the power of God by calling down fire from heaven. At Mount Carmel, his master had challenged the people of Israel to choose: “How long are you going to waver between two opinions?  If the Lord is God, follow him!”^[6] 

            Now it was Elisha’s turn to spend time up on that mountain sorting out his own life choices.  And again Elisha chose to follow God.  He refused to curse any person after that time.  Even when a king later sent soldiers to murder him, Elisha treated the men gently, telling people, “Give them food and drink and send them home again to their master.”^[7] 

            Like Gehazi, Elisha was once young.  He may have been godly, but he was still human. Elisha needed to mature.  The episode with the children taught him two important lessons: Never underestimate God’s power.  And, never, NEVER, doubt God’s commitment to protect his children in a tight squeeze.^[8]

 

What about the others?

 

            Who was that woman named Sharron?  Her real name isn’t even in the Bible. Elisha  called her the woman from Shunem.  She was married to a wealthy man.  Together they offered Elisha and Gehazi a place to stay whenever they were in town.  When Elisha learned that the couple could not have children, he promised the woman that she’d have a child within a year.  And she did. When that child became sick and died, the woman turned to Elisha for help.  Since she didn’t own a cell phone, she saddled a donkey and rode about twenty-five miles to the prophet’s place at Mount Carmel.  By the time she arrived, she was in no mood for fiddling around.  Gehazi tried to keep her from bothering his master by pushing her away, but she’d have none of it.  And when Elisha sent Gehazi on ahead to heal her son, she refused to trust the servant. 

            She told Elisha, “I won’t go home unless you go with me.”^[9]

            The woman’s intuition was right.  Gehazi failed the test miserably.  He went through the motions of praying for the child but the woman’s son didn’t revive until Elisha touched him. 

            As for Senator Bronson, Nathan’s real name was Naaman.  Both the imaginary senator and historical Naaman were in the military.  Both men were sick.  While Senator Bronson wrestled with post-traumatic stress disorder, his historical counterpart had a skin disease.^[10]  Your Bible may use the word leprosy but most scholars realize now that the original word refers to a variety of skin conditions.  Naaman might have had scabies, a disease caused by little insects called mites that crawl into clothes and thus pass from person to person. 

            Naaman heard about Elisha by listening to a slave girl.  He took an impressive array of dignitaries with him to find Elisha. He was pretty ticked to be met by a servant named Gehazi instead of the prophet himself.  And when Gehazi reported that Elisha said Naaman should go wash in a dirty smelly stream called the Jordan River, Naaman almost stamped his foot and headed for home, but one of his men suggested the commander try the prophet’s advice.  Once again, listening to the right voices turned out to be a good thing.  Naaman was healed inside and out: his heart found the true God and his skin became clear again.^[11]

            That’s when Gehazi fell into a trap.  Up until that time the servant had been able to do a balancing act. On the one hand, he enjoyed all the spiritual respect that being associated with Elisha offered.  But on the other hand Gehazi had been dipping into the pot for his own purposes.  When Naaman showed up offering gold and designer-label clothes to Elisha, God used that event to force Gehazi to choose between two worlds.  Which was more important?  Being with Elisha and following God, or having money and fancy new threads?  Gehazi made a choice which he regretted for years and years afterwards.

            Elisha called him on the carpet, saying, “Don’t you realize that I was there in spirit when Naaman stepped down...to meet you?  Is this the time to receive money and clothing and olive groves and vineyards and sheep and oxen and servants?”^[12]

              Olive groves?  Vineyards?  Sheep and oxen? You see, the prophet had known all along what Gehazi was doing.  Sure, Gehazi had only accepted money and clothes from Naaman, but Elisha knew about all the other things Gehazi had taken from unsuspecting donors:  gifts of property, animals, even servants. 

            And just as our friend Harley developed the same symptoms as Senator Bronson with his PTSD, Gehazi walked out with the skin problem that had troubled Naaman.^[13]  After all,  hadn’t Gehazi accepted those clothes from Naaman, including any mites crawling on them?  God’s sense of humor makes me smile.

            Oh, and God...was God.  He never changes.  Not then.  Not now.

 

God still has a plan!

 

            Was Gehazi doomed to sit on the sidelines forevermore?  Did God tell Gehazi to leave the game and head for the showers?  For many years I thought that was where the story ended.  Here was a powerful lesson in the Bible about making right and wrong choices.  It was obvious that Gehazi made a wrong choice and blew his chances of getting into heaven.

            But one day I realized there was more to the story.  Call it the sequel, like “Gehazinator II.” 

            You remember when “Harley” had lunch with the governor?  And how he told the governor about the time Ellis healed the woman’s son?  That event happened in the Bible too, though the man was a king, not a governor.^[14]  Right at the moment Gehazi was telling the king about the boy coming back to life, in walked the woman from Shunem.  The woman’s husband had died.  She had lost her property for seven years and needed the king’s help to get it back.  Now, in those days, a widow had next to no legal clout. Married women had to depend on their husbands to represent them.  No husband?  No representation.  Use your imagination: Here she comes to court, wondering how on earth she can convince the king to give back her property.  She sees this man Gehazi sitting there next to the king, and her heart sinks into her sandals.  This is the guy she doesn’t trust.  This job is Mission Impossible!

            And then she discovers that God has done the impossible.  God has used Gehazi – the man who scammed others and cheated the prophet of money and property – to persuade the king to restore all her property and money...with interest!^[15]

            Now flip the coin and imagine how Gehazi felt.  Instead of leaving Gehazi on the sidelines for all eternity, God moved him on to the playing field.  God used him to make the saving play for the whole game! 

            That is some amazing God, right?  He is the kind of God many people want to know. 

 

Do miracles like these still happen today? 

 

            You may think that, sure, all this happened a few thousand years ago.  Does God still do this sort of thing?  Can he work in your life as he did in Gehazi’s?  The answer is a resounding, YES!

            In case you still need to be convinced, what follows are the true stories of modern day Gehazis.  These young people have allowed me to use their real names.  When they were teens, Melody and Brian each made choices that they later regretted.  God reached out to them and restored them.  Today they offer examples of lives that are a testimony to God’s continuing grace. 

 

A new song to be sung...

 

            When Melody grew up in a small town in rural Pennsylvania, she never imagined that her future would include an unplanned pregnancy, an abortion and multiple sexual partners. 

            Melody started her life in a Christian home.  She attended church regularly, memorized scripture, and sang in the choir.  She never dated in high school.  After graduation, she chose to attend a Christian liberal arts college not far from her home.  The campus, situated in an idyllic setting, had rolling lawns and a creek that flowed gently around the perimeter of campus.  The river was like a castle moat, separating the ramparts of her academic world from the harsh realities of life.

            While at college, Melody worked part-time in the school cafeteria.  There in the kitchen she met “Dale” who served as a chef.  They began going to church together. Melody enjoyed Dale’s bubbly personality.  He wasn’t embarrassed to be affectionate with her in public. It felt good when he put his arm around her.  He would kiss her as they stood in line waiting for a ride at the local amusement park. And soon they began expressing their love by having sex.  Much later Melody would learn that Dale had already gotten at least one other girl pregnant.

            Red flags should have gone off when Melody learned that police were seeking her boyfriend on drug trafficking charges.  Dale fled to Florida until things cooled down.  When he returned, he entered a drug rehab program.  Things looked hopeful again. 

            Because of their prior sexual bond and due to her conservative church upbringing, Melody felt impelled to continue seeing Dale. Their physical relationship picked up where they had left off earlier.  They talked of marriage and even put a down payment on an engagement ring.  To be safe, Melody began using birth control.  Around this time, Dale went back to drinking and drugs.

            Disappointed by Dale, Melody became vulnerable to more poor choices.  One night when Melody was sitting alone in her residence hall on campus, the phone rang.  A man she didn’t know was on the other end of the line.  What began as a phone interview ended up with him coming to her apartment on campus for a night of casual sex. 

            By the time Melody discovered she was pregnant several months later, she was dating Dale once more.  Dale questioned whether the child was his or if it was the result of Melody’s impulsive fling.  Dale was in no position to take on responsibility for a child.  He was having difficulty holding a job and could barely care for himself.  Eventually, Dale moved away from the area and their relationship faded.

            Getting little encouragement or support from Dale, Melody made another hard choice.  She opted to abort the pregnancy.  She scheduled the appointment, went to the clinic, and paid for all the costs herself. After the abortion, Melody lost all interest in having sex.  “Even the thought was sickening,” she explained. 

            All through this period of time, Melody managed to maintain her cover as a good Christian kid.  She had attended church and Bible studies.  She even taught Sunday School and helped with her church’s Bible quiz team.

            One night at Bible study, Melody met a quiet young man.  When he asked her out on a date, he was polite and respectful.  Even when a heavy snow late one night made returning to his home difficult, he refused to remain at her apartment.  He didn’t want people starting rumors about Melody.

            “You don’t want me,” Melody thought.  She felt unworthy as she remembered what she had done in her past.  With Dale out of the picture, she could at last think more clearly.  She was tired of that old life.  In fact, she regretted it so much that she had pondered drowning herself in a deep pond or walking in front of a truck on the nearby interstate highway.  How could this new young man respect her when she didn’t even respect herself?

            But God was gently working in Melody’s heart.  He took the discordant notes of her past and wove them into a new harmony, a song that sang of his perfect love.  And several years later?  She married that quiet young man who forgave her past and accepted her as she was.

            Still Melody struggled with her own sense of worth.  Had God really forgiven her?  She worried that retribution might yet come.  She later told me, “When I had my daughter, I was scared she’d be deformed.” 

            A woman from her church began meeting with Melody and teaching her more about life in Christ.  Melody learned that as much she devalued her own life, God still saw her as a beautiful person.  Encouraged by her mentor, Melody began memorizing scripture.  Those words sank deep into her heart.

            Years passed.  When her church sponsored a mission trip to South America, Melody volunteered to go along.  She never intended to speak in front of a group   She figured that she could help with construction or childcare..  But during a private lunch with one of the staff, she revealed her history.  The staff member encouraged her to share the story with the group.

            Melody protested, “When they look at me, that’s all they’ll think of...abortion, abortion, abortion!”  She feared other team members would reject her.  Instead, Melody found that the doors of her self-imposed prison flew open.  She walked out of those walls and into a freedom she had never known before. 

            If you were to meet Melody today, the first thing you would notice is her wide smile.  That smile welcomes all who come near.  She would tell you,  “If God can heal me, he can heal you too!” 

 

Getting a better ‘fix’ on life...

 

            Brian was always something of a loner. His brothers were much older and already out of the house when he was growing up so he felt more like an only child.  Instead of joining team sports, he preferred to stay by himself and repair old motorcycle engines.

            Like Melody, Brian attended church and made a personal declaration of faith as a child.  When he was 14, he attended a Christian conference and renewed that commitment, but shortly after that he began hanging out with new friends who did not attend church.  Brian had a new girlfriend too and their relationship quickly became physical.  He added pornography to his mental library. His friends introduced him to alcohol and drugs.  He moved from marijuana to cocaine and then on to heavier stuff.  More women and more drugs formed a cycle in his life.

            After his mother discovered evidence of his drug habit in his room, she showed the paraphernalia to his father, but his dad gave it all back to his son.  Brian’s father had never experienced a close relationship with his own dad and didn’t want to risk offending his son.  When the abuse of drugs escalated, Brian’s mother insisted that Brian move out.  No problem.  He moved into the home of one of his friends with whom he could continue to have “fun.”  He says, “I didn’t realize it then, but I was already too wrapped up in the drugs.  You think you can control them but they take control of you.”

            Brian’s appetite for drugs increased rapidly.  At the same time, his ability to perform his job as an auto-mechanic suffered.  He found it hard to work when he was stoned all the time.  In the space of only a few years he worked for five different garages.   “Next I sold drugs for a while, but that’s hard to do when you are your own best customer.”

            He needed money – a lot of it – to support his habit, and in the warped logic of a mind controlled by chemicals, he figured the fastest way to get out of debt was to rob a bank.  He took his own gun, borrowed a car from a friend and entered the lobby of a local bank.  With thousands of dollars in a sack, he fled the state and holed up at a small hotel in New Jersey.  Police investigators tracked the car to his friend who helpfully pointed them to Brian. That night, FBI agents came to the hotel, posed as repairmen and entered Brian’s room in order to “fix the pipes.”  Within minutes, Brian found himself face down on the floor with handcuffs on his wrists.

            Brian’s appearance in court was brief.  He realized he had completely screwed up his life.  He pled guilty and was sentenced to five to ten years in the state prison.  He says with a wry smile, “Jail was actually a step up. At least I had a place to sleep.”

            In prison he had zero privacy.  Lights were on all the time.  Guards peered in at him any hour of the night. To this day Brian hates the color of burnt brown.  The color reminds him of the prison garb he wore day in and day out all those years.  It took six months for the drugs to work their way out of Brian’s system and for his brain to clear out; no one had told him that cocaine could hide in the body’s fat cells and cause problems for years afterwards. 

            Sitting in prison, Brian recalled scripture verses his mother had taught him as a child.  He knew he had broken every one of the ten commandments, and he realized he needed to make some big changes in his life.  He asked God to forgive him and asked his parents to do the same. 

            Though it was painful to see their son behind bars, his parents visited him each week. When Brian was at last released on parole, he attended church with them regularly.  There he met the woman who is now his wife.

            Memories from his past still threaten to strangle him from time to time.  After all those years of looking at pornography, Brian struggles to keep his thoughts pure. He and his wife had to work hard to establish intimacy in their marriage.  “I wish I’d never had sex with anyone but my wife.  I never meant to hurt her.”

            Looking back, however, Brian can say that God has brought good out of the lowest point of his life.  “I have a harder time judging people.  Now I see them through God’s eyes.  Anyone can sink to the bottom, but no matter what decisions you have made, you can look to God.  You can’t find happiness anywhere except in him.”

            Today Brian and his family serve full time with an international ministry where Brian teaches maintenance skills to people who live in a halfway house.  Brian knows the pit they are in.  He lived in one himself for far too long.

 

So what about you?

 

            Now you know the truth about Harley and his Bible counterpart Gehazi.  You have heard the stories of Melody and Brian.  What difference will their stories make in your life?

            I have struggled with poor eating habits all my life.  If all I did was read articles about the effects of high cholesterol and watch other people run around the track, it would have zero impact on my health unless I put some of the head knowledge into action in my own life.  That’s why I get up early each morning to do a daily workout.  I grab my gymbag and head to the pool for an hour of laps.  Or I do stretches and work out with the weights.  Or I climb on the stationary bike.   Some days I don’t feel like moving.  Lying in bed seems like a pleasant alternative.  But doing a workout has become a daily habit. This is my new way of life. If people ask me why I am always around the gym, I grin and explain, “It’s to support my habit of eating.”   The truth is that I need a complete overhaul.  Not just my exercise habits but my eating habits too.  I have to let head knowledge sink into my heart and then live it out.

            What will it take for you to stand up after falling down?  Until you put the lessons of this book into action, your spirit will remain in cardiac arrest, writhing on the floor in pain.  No ambulance crew in the world will be able to revive you. 

            Only one Physician in the whole universe can accomplish that miracle.  He calls to you and me saying, “I will give you back your health and heal your wounds.  Now you are called an outcast for whom nobody cares...but when I bring you home, there will be joy and songs of thanksgiving..”^[16]  And think about it: this doctor even makes house calls!

 

 

 

Chew on it:

 

1.  Like Harley and Gehazi, your life has had its share of ups and downs. They learned about God’s mercy.  What aspect of God’s character excites you most?

 

2.  Melody started off well and then made a disastrous choice.  What was the first warning sign? What would you say to a friend facing the same situation?

 

3.  Brian was heavily influenced by his new friends.  Where were those friends when he was hurting?  If you were in jail, who do you think might visit you?

 

4.  Imagine trying to learn to ride a bike by reading an instruction manual.  What skills, like balance, can’t be taught just by sitting in a chair with a manual on your lap? 

 

5.  What obstacles keep you from getting off the fence and joining those in action?  What do the following verses tell you about how to overcome those obstacles?

“Come, let us return to the Lord!  He has torn us to pieces; now he will heal us.  He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds.  In just a short time, he will restore us so we can live in his presence.  Oh, that we might know the Lord!  Let us press on to know him!”                                     

                                                Hosea 6:1-3

 

 

 

 

ENDNOTES