When I was in highschool I really, really wanted a car.  I finally had my license and the only thing between me and freedom was the fact that I had to beg my parents to borrow their car before I could go anywhere.  I finally set my eyes on a sick ride but was a little short on cash.  I devised a fool-proof plan to raise the money.  I made a bet with a bunch of kids from school that I would walk through the school cafeteria wearing nothing but my signature fedora.  I was able to get people to bet $300 that I wouldn't actually do it.  Well the day came and I was sick with anxiety but a few moments of humiliation can't compare to a summer of freedom.  The lunch room was packed!  Just as I entered the room and covered what I could with my fedora the school principal grabbed me because the school bully, Dwayne tipped him off!
     Ok, so that didn't actually happen to me, it was an episode of Degrassi, but you could imagine right?  My blog today is about stretching the truth to make a point.  At a time when trust is such a precious commodity, don't take the temptation to add power to message by passing off someone else's story as your own or making up a story and passing it off as true.  I know for many of you this sounds  pretty elementary, but it happens.  Likely more than you think.  Perhaps you've done it.  Perhaps you've felt your testimony could use a little punching up.  You didn't outright lie but you made something sound worse than it was because it might give you credibility with a certain crowd.  For example, instead of telling them that you had one sip of alcohol in your life and that was given to you when you were in eighth grade by your Uncle Fred at a wedding and you nearly puked at the taste of it, you tell them that you struggled with alcohol at an early age but with God's grace overcame it.  
    Perhaps you've found the perfect illustration for your youth talk but it doesn't have the same impact when simply told as a story so you decide to tell it as your own story.
    My youth professor in Bible college shared a story about a time (he claims this story is true) that he had a speaker come in for a youth event.  The speaker told an amazing story about something that had happened in his past.  After the message a student approached the speaker and said something to the effect of, "That didn't happen to you.  I read about that in the paper."  The speaker informed the student that it didn't happen to him but the story sounds better when it's told in the first person.  Now, I know you and I would never do such a thing, because that kid caught the speaker in a lie and called him a fraud.  Because of a fake story the student felt he couldn't believe anything the speaker said.  Of course you and I would never compromise our integrity for the perfect illustration!  But then again, maybe we would.
     Perhaps one time it's not so bad, you likely wouldn't get caught, but I'm pretty sure the Bible tells us to have integrity in all things (Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. Luke 6:10).  When you're tempted to pass off a story as your own, realize a great story isn't worth your integrity.  True, it may not have as great an impact as if it happened to you, but the lesson won't be lost on the students if you say, "A friend of mine..." or "I heard a story about..."  And remember, your relationship with students and with your own family will be the most memorable message you ever share.
     Thanks for reading, for the time being I'm planning on doing a humorous post every Friday and less humorous post every Tuesday, which means Fridays will be more fun for both me and my 17 readers but I think there's some important things to say about youth ministry, and I'll try to say them Tuesdays.  If you know anyone involved in youth ministry I'd appreciate you passing my blog on to them!  If you would like to do a guest post or review let me know.  I'm at 17 readers and 20 twitter followers, I'm no Jonathan Acuff but, dare to dream!