I was thinking this morning.... Days ago, I was rushing through an international airport to catch a flight. I had less than two hours to sort out my luggage, clear security and find my gate. My boarding pass was in my email, so I needed WiFi. I selected the airport network and entered my email. Then came that familiar little box: “I have read and agree to the Terms and Conditions.”
Without thinking, I ticked it. Boom! Connected.
As I hurried towards my gate, something suddenly dropped in my spirit. Weyimi, you just lied! Lie ke? How? “You said you had read the Terms and Conditions.”
Jesu!!! I hadn't even opened them!
That got me thinking. Could this be the most commonly told lie in modern history? You open a social media account, tick. Banking app, tick. Hotel WiFi, tick. Online shopping, tick. “I have read and agree to the Terms and Conditions.”
My brother, you didn't read jack!
I remember once actually opening one. Seventeen pages appeared! By page one, my spirit was willing but my flesh was weak. I quietly pressed “Back” and ticked the box. Case closed.
But then the troubling thought came: the Bible says we should put away lying. So what happens to all of us professional Terms-and-Conditions tickers? 😄
Perhaps the bigger lesson isn't really about those 17 pages. It's about how easily we can become comfortable saying something is true simply because everybody does it. Little compromises have a way of becoming normal when repeated often enough. As Warri people might say, lie wey everybody dey talk no go suddenly become truth.
Next time that little box appears, I may actually open the Terms and Conditions. Whether I will finish reading them is another matter entirely! Ephesians 4:25 says “Therefore, putting away lying, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbour.”
In the meantime, I decided to visit the Warri dambadamba Lake, a serene enough location for me to ask God for mercy for the innocent lies we sometimes tell.
Stay hopeful. God's got our back.
Happy Sunday!
......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey