Let’s be honest at the outset. In our cultural landscape, falsehood and mistrust are ferociously bubbling. In workplaces, churches, political parties, and media outlets, we have become like the proverbial “frog in the kettle.” Swimming in precipitated deception, lies, and crises of integrity, we have all grown dangerously comfortable.
Truthfulness truly matters. But regarding our collective tone and temperature in public discourse, will we admit the current reality? The water is now boiling, and we are getting cooked. Many people are wondering, “Can we lower the temperature and find our way back before it’s too late?”
Public discourse supplies the central nervous system of society. Through it, citizens deliberate and leaders persuade. Whole nations decide who they will become. When truthfulness erodes, discourse collapses into noise. Abusive power replaces healthy persuasion, and steady trust disintegrates. Amidst the chaotic water, the body of our citizenry will come undone.
Few voices speak more clearly to this danger than President Abraham Lincoln. He held the rock-solid conviction that truth is not optional in public life. Instead, honesty is foundational to societal preservation and genuine flourishing.
Lincoln on Truth for Public Discourse
Public sentiment cannot be sound if it is built on deception. In the first Lincoln-Douglas debate, Lincoln served up a stern rebuttal to what he surmised as Douglas’ false statements and flagrant misrepresentation of his positions. As expressed in other speeches, he echoed Jesus’ warning that “a house divided against itself cannot stand.” He stressed the importance of pursuing genuine unity.
Nearing the speech’s conclusion, Lincoln highlighted the importance of leading well in discourse: “With public sentiment, nothing can fail: without it nothing can succeed. Consequently, he who molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces decisions.” According to him, leaders shape the discourse, and truth-telling is foundational.
Years prior to his political career and presidency, the log splitter from Illinois paved his career path with the fieldstones of credible character and witness. Regarding truthfulness in legal practice, Lincoln said: “Resolve to be honest at all events; and if in your own judgment you cannot be an honest lawyer, resolve to be honest without being a lawyer.”
His wisdom highlights the complexity and slippery temptation so prolific on the public scene of law and all vocational pursuits. Lincoln understood truthfulness as the core essential to effective law, societal stability, and effective self-governance. On the stage of national discourse, citizens must discern arguments, evaluate policies, and judge leaders for themselves. However, good judgment becomes elusive, potentially impossible when falsehood dominates.
His correspondence, speeches, and actions reflect this belief. Even when making morally urgent arguments—most notably against slavery—Lincoln grounded his appeals in careful reasoning and plain facts. He trusted that truth, honestly presented, had persuasive power.
For Lincoln, lying in public discourse was not merely unethical; it was destabilizing. He wisely discerned that people misled cannot remain free for long, because freedom depends on honestly informed consent. Truthfulness, then, is not just a personal virtue but a foundational civic duty.
As a person of deep faith, his commitment to honesty was founded on divine truth.
Christ on Truth & Freedom
Lincoln was well-versed in the teachings of Jesus, as evidenced by numerous biblical citations throughout his speeches and correspondence. Readily referring to Christ as “the Saviour” (revisit the Lincoln-Douglas debate), he knew that Jesus approached truth from a deeper moral and spiritual angle. That angle delivered profound public consequences.
Christ taught: “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (Jn. 8:32 ESV). He linked truth directly to human freedom. In his teachings, truthfulness was not merely about accurate statements but essential for whole-person integrity—aligning words, intentions, and actions.
Jesus consistently condemned hypocrisy, especially among public influencers and religious leaders who spoke one way and acted another (Matt. 23). Such dishonesty, Christ argued, harmed not only individuals but entire communities, burdening people with confusion, cynicism, and injustice.
During his trial leading to crucifixion, Christ engaged with Pilate about the all-out importance of truth (Jn. 18:37-38). The Roman politician was befuddled. In his own crisis over truth, he washed his hands and sent Jesus to die.
Ignoring truth and fomenting falsehood in public discourse are moral failures that distort relationships and dehumanize precious people made in God’s image. Truthfulness, by contrast, enacts love and respect, acknowledging others as worthy of honesty, mercy, and generous justice rather than manipulation and cruelty.
A Shared Warning for Our Times
Though separated by many centuries and cultural contexts, Lincoln and Jesus converge on a single insight: truthfulness is the precondition for freedom, trust, and flourishing community. When public discourse tolerates lies—whether for political advantage, social approval, or ideological comfort—it corrodes the very structures it seeks to influence. Sadly, abandoning truth leads to further boiling conflict, violence, and even death.
Lincoln’s wisdom, rooted in Christ, challenges modern societies to treat truth not as a weapon or a pragmatic convenience, but as a virtuous responsibility. Disagreement is inevitable, and selfish failure is altogether human. However, deliberate falsehood cynically deployed proves diabolical, entirely evil. It twists our discourse into combat and citizens into targets.
Truthfulness grants no guarantee that either justice or unity will prevail, but without it, we are destined for demise. In remembering both Lincoln’s and Christ’s voices, we are reminded that how we speak to one another in public is not a trivial matter. In the most heartfelt sense, here is where we decide whether our shared life will rest on destructive deception or hopeful truth.
