Episode 2 · Luke 16:10
Surrender All (Except the Mirror)
A fought-over mirror, the last of the milk, a stolen shirt. Then the whole family walks in, perfectly composed, to sing “I Surrender All.”
Pundayschool · Topic
Honesty and authenticity: devotionals and study guides
The gap between how we look and how we actually are is one of this series' favorite subjects, mostly because we all live in it. These eight episodes are about closing that gap: at home, on the sign-up sheet, in the word 'fine,' under a raised hand, in the habit of measuring ourselves against everyone else instead, in the swivel of a chair that turns our own verdicts back to face us, and in a room tidied to perfection while the one honest sentence waits untouched.
In short
The Bible ties honesty to small, everyday things: a plain yes or no (Matthew 5:37), faithfulness in the little stuff (Luke 16:10), an honest answer instead of an automatic 'fine' (Matthew 11:28), a heart the LORD can see even when the outward appearance is impressive (1 Samuel 16:7, Proverbs 21:2), and confessing the truth to one safe person instead of managing appearances (James 5:16). Pundayschool has eight short comedy episodes about honesty and authenticity, each with a free devotional and study guide: Surrender All (Except the Mirror), The I'll Pray About It No, The Invisible Load, The Sermon Dodgeball, The Hand-Raise Calibration, The Comparison Tape Measure, The Chair of Judgement, and The Second Chair.
The episodes
Episode 11 · Matthew 5:37
The I'll Pray About It No
A church sign-up sheet comes round, and suddenly we are extremely spiritual. Three asks, the same reflexive dodge, and a very specific feeling of relief.
Episode 12 · Matthew 11:28
The Invisible Load
Ask how we're doing, and there's one answer that survives every crisis: fine. Every time we say it, we quietly pick up another bag, until we're hauling a tower nobody else can see.
Episode 14 · Proverbs 21:2
The Sermon Dodgeball
Some sermons feel less like a talk and more like target practice. We duck, we slide down the pew, the point sails over our head into the row behind us - and we feel better already. Here's the thing about dodging: you can spend the whole sermon deciding who the point was for, and walk out as the one person it was for.
Episode 18 · 1 Samuel 16:7
The Hand-Raise Calibration
During worship, some of us are not really singing. We are measuring: waist height, then shoulder, then ear, matching the person beside us to the centimeter. Then the person on our other side goes full stretch, so we solemnly hold our hand exactly halfway between them. Perfect. Nobody will notice us at all. But nobody in that row was grading us, and the only audience that ever mattered was never looking at our arm. Then 1 Samuel lands the correction: people look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart, the one thing in the room we forgot to lift.
Episode 22 · 2 Corinthians 10:12
The Comparison Tape Measure
Some of us carry a tape measure everywhere we go. Not for wood, not for walls, for people: how good was that solo, how hard did they serve, how sure of themselves do they seem. One problem: the tape never goes back in on its own. Every length we pull out stays out, gathering around our own feet, until an ordinary step becomes a windmilling stumble. Comparison: now with built-in tripping hazard. The tape never once reached the people we aimed it at. It only ever caught us. Then Second Corinthians says the obvious thing: people who measure themselves by themselves are not wise.
Episode 23 · John 8:7
The Chair of Judgement
Some of us hold court every single day: no robe, no law degree, just a chair and a strong opinion. Someone parked across two spaces. Guilty. Someone's phone rang during the silent prayer. Guilty. Justice is swift, when it is aimed away from us. Then the docket clears, and we allow ourselves one small victory spin. The chair keeps going. It stops at the mirror. Court is adjourned due to personal relevance. That is the trouble with a swivel: our verdicts come back around to face us. Jesus once faced a crowd holding stones and said, let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. The stones went back down. The only one qualified to throw never picked one up.
Episode 25 · Matthew 6:1-4
The Breakroom Hero
A secretly cleaned kitchen, a very visible sigh, and a wet floor sign guarding a floor that was never wet. Turns out the good deed was real - the PR campaign about it was the part we made up.
Episode 32 · James 5:16
The Second Chair
Give the mascot a room that looks almost right and it will spend an hour finishing the job: the blanket straightened, the lamp nudged into line, a crumb caught before it lands, the rug smoothed flat, again and again. Across the room, one chair sits open the whole time, a biscuit on its saucer, untouched. 'I'll spend forty minutes making a room look fine,' it decides. 'Two minutes of honesty? Maybe next week.' The smile fades. James 5:16: confess your sins to each other, not to a room full of strangers, to each other. So the chair gets pulled out at last. Grace was never waiting for a perfect image. Just an empty seat.
Episode 36 · Proverbs 28:13
The Apology Negotiator
The mascot sits down to apologize, then opens a briefcase of context and timeline instead. Three tries later, "I'm sorry" has become "I'm sorry you experienced my explanation." Proverbs 28:13: whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy. So today: close the briefcase. Just say the plain sentence.
One verse to hold
"All you need to say is simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one."
Matthew 5:37, NIV
Questions people ask
What does 'let your yes be yes' mean?
In Matthew 5:37 Jesus says our word should be enough on its own: a plain yes or a plain no, with no oath or spiritual dressing needed to make it believable. The episode The I'll Pray About It No applies this to the church sign-up sheet, where 'I'll pray about it' can become a holy-sounding way to avoid a simple, honest no.
What does Luke 16:10 mean?
Luke 16:10 says whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much. Character shows up in small things first. The episode Surrender All (Except the Mirror) puts it plainly: surrender starts smaller than we think, with who goes first in the bathroom or who gets the last of the milk.
Is it wrong to say I'm fine when I'm not?
It is not a sin to be private, but 'fine' can become a habit that keeps everyone, including God, at arm's length. The episode The Invisible Load pictures every 'fine' as another invisible bag we agree to carry alone. Matthew 11:28 offers the alternative: come to Jesus weary and burdened, exactly as you are, without performing.
Does God want brutal honesty?
Honest, yes; brutal, no. The pattern in these passages is truth carried gently: a plain answer instead of a dressed-up dodge, and an honest 'it's been a heavy week' instead of a performance. Grace can handle an honest no, and it can certainly handle an honest answer to 'how are you.'