To Tell The Truth…Teaching Children to Seek The Truth

Hello, my name is …???  Hello, my name is …???  Hello, my name is …???  Over 50 years ago a new game show written by Bob Stewart and produced by Goodson-Todman Productions was first aired on CBS. “To Tell the Truth” game show, hosted by Bud Collyer, was introduced to the public on December 18, 1956.   After its debut, the show took off and was watched for over a decade in homes across America.  Because of the popularity of this twenty five minute program, it remained on TV until 1968.

Hello, my name is …???  Hello, my name is …???  Hello, my name is …???  Over 50 years ago a new game show written by Bob Stewart and produced by Goodson-Todman Productions was first aired on CBS. “To Tell the Truth” game show, hosted by Bud Collyer, was introduced to the public on December 18, 1956.   After its debut, the show took off and was watched for over a decade in homes across America.  Because of the popularity of this twenty five minute program, it remained on TV until 1968.

“To Tell the Truth” was a game show about deception, lies, and fabrications.  You see, in this game there were three people who were all claiming to be the same person.  One was the real person, who was of some notoriety or had an unusual story, and the other two contestants were impostors.  During the game the impostors tried to deceive a panel of four celebrities with lies and false answers, in an effort to get the panel to believe they were the person in question and thus win money.  

At the start of the game, the celebrity panel would ask the 3 contestants various questions that only the real person should know.  In turn, the impostors would answer the questions according to their own perception of the truth, while the real contestant was telling the truth.  After the questioning was completed, it was then up to the panel of celebrities to select the person who they thought was the real “person.”  

Deception was the goal and lying was the primary tool used to fool the panel and make the most money during the game show.  Each wrong contestant selected at the end of the game was worth two hundred and fifty dollars.  If the right person was chosen, the money won was significantly less.  With that in mind, the contestants used their skills of lying to try and outwit the panel and win the most money.

How do our kids discern lies from the truth?  Are our kids being deceived by impostors who are telling them lies to win their attention and take away their futures?

It has become more difficult in these days of relativism, for kids to know what is true and what are lies.  Many kids are being taught to believe in lies and seek one’s own perception of truth, without any source of truth as the absolute model.  This is a post Christian way of thinking and worldview that comes from parents, peers, teachers, relatives, and friends.  Over the last few generations, it appears that relativism has become more and more popular and that truth is something that one makes real in one’s own perspective of things.

Kids are being deceived daily, hour by hour, because they do not have a Christian worldview and are not taught that the Bible is the only source of all and absolute truth.  In many families children are taught that truth is not absolute and depends on one’s own understanding and perspective of things.  Many children thus, believe the impostors who tell them lies and pull them away from the truth.   

Throughout the Scriptures there are stories of the impostors trying to deceive and manipulate a situation, but God intervenes and prevails victoriously over that which is evil.  In the Garden of Eden, the serpent came as an impostor to deceive Adam and Eve and a devastating choice was made.  Because of Adam and Eve’s disbelief of God and His word, our only source of truth, they chose to follow the impostor (Genesis 3:1-6), sin was brought into the world, (Genesis 3:7) and the consequences were devastating (Genesis 3:16 – 24).

Satan, the author of lies, comes as an impostor and is crafty, wanting to destroy our children and take away their future, hope, and joy (1 Peter 5:8).  If we really want our children to know the truth and to be set free from the impostor’s snares, we must stand bold and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ from one generation to the next and teach them the things of God.  Teaching children to trust in the only true Savior, Jesus Christ is essential in our Children’s programs.  He is the one who can give them a future and we must teach them to go to God’s Word for the answers to their problems and for absolute truth.     

Children need to know the truth, the real truth, and nothing but the truth…God is Truth…the only source of Truth…so teach your children to live according to God’s Word and to trust in Jesus Christ the only person who can bring them peace, hope, and joy in the midst of a world full of deception and lies. 

This is the way we should all “Tell the Truth!”