Some have come to his defense and said that what he reported was simply a mistake, not malicious, just what happens to the memory during times of trauma. Others have not been so generous. They say he lied by skewing his story and made himself look more heroic than he actually was.  Either way, the heads of NBC news recognized that their reputation as a source of truthful reporting was on the line and so they took swift action - Brian Williams had to go.

The problem of "telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth" is not just a challenge for news reporters but an issue for those of us who communicate the Gospel's good news. Some preachers and teachers are prone to hyperbole to the point of incredibility; others play loose with the facts - they fail to check their sources and repeat information from the internet as though it gospel. Sometimes in dealing with a controversial matter, preachers will misrepresent those who have a different theological interpretation. And how many of us have not been tempted to exaggerate elements of an illustration to make a point more memorable?

Most of the time, the average person in the audience never picks up on the embellishment.   However, to those who do realize that the truth is being stretched, we lose our integrity and greatly diminish our ministry. These people may not rise up to correct us publicly, as they did with Williams; instead they will tune us out. How tragic when so much is at stake.

So, when it comes to preaching or teaching the truth of God' word, remember - there is no such thing as "fifty shades of gray."