A gem called Integrity

Craig Groeschel, a pastor, learned about integrity in a powerful way. While on a high school trip with his tennis team, he and teammates passed the time playing a round on a miniature golf course. Like most of those courses, on the final hole the ball should have gone down a chute into a locked box.  Groeschel and his high school buddies decided that they would trap the balls and take them back to their hotel room.  As he lay on his bed tossing the purple golf ball into the air, his coach walked in and asked, “where did you get that golf ball?”  Groeschel dodged the question, but the coach knew the answer. He told him, “You’re off the team! If you’ll steal a golf ball, you’ll steal other things and without integrity, I don’t want you playing for me.”  Later, after much begging, the coach offered the 14 year old boy a chance to take the ball back, to tell the golf course owner what he had done with a sincere apology; which he did.  He never forgot the lesson!  (Altar Ego, Zondervan, 2013, Craig Groeschel)

Integrity is one of those qualities you either have or you don’t. It’s an all or nothing thing!  It’s a rare thing these days. For so many the question is not “what is right?” Instead they ask, “what can I get away with?”  

Christian, let me ask you – are you the same person inside and out? 
Do your actions away from home match your actions at home?
Would you flirt while traveling on a business trip, a 1000 miles from home?
Would you keep a $20 bill that a clerk mistaken gave you in change?

Would you claim deductions on your income tax return that you really did not deserve?

Would you tell a story in such way that you appear to be a better person than you really are?

Hard questions, aren’t they?  Integrity’s value cannot be overstated! If I discover that a person has misled me or lied, even about something relatively unimportant, it is very hard for me to trust that person about anything at all, ever. 

God desires integrity in us, too.  Living authentically, honestly, is one of the basic qualities that allow us to enjoy His presence on a daily basis.  David was inspired to write this.

"LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary?
Who may live on your holy hill?

He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous,

who speaks the truth from his heart

and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong

and casts no slur on his fellowman,

who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the LORD,

who keeps his oath even when it hurts, who lends his money without usury

and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things will never be shaken." (Psalm 15:1-9, NIV)

Do not confuse integrity with perfection! Nobody’s perfect. Integrity allows us to own up to our failures- without excuse, rationalization, or desire to continue in them.

If we admit our sins and gaps, we can grow. When we carry them to God, our confession allows us to experience grace that transforms us.  The amazing grace we find in Jesus, the complete forgiveness He offers, is not a reason to sin more, but a way to become whole.

Integrity is a critical component of our faith walk. It is real tempting to sing songs we do not really understand, to create an image that is far better than who we really are, to pray publicly in a way that does not reflect our actual relationship with the Lord. That is why Jesus tells us “Don’t say anything you don’t mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions. You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ and never doing it, or saying, ‘God be with you,’ and not meaning it. You don’t make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true." (Matthew 5:33-36, The Message)   He told a story about a Pharisee and a sinner that both went to pray.   The Pharisee ‘prayed’ but his words were not addressed to God. He proclaimed his own goodness and thanked God that he was so much better than those average sinners he lived among.  The ordinary sinner had integrity and his prayer was heard in heaven – “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”

Integrity is the long way ‘round in life much of the time. Those who are ‘slick,’ who are willing to lie without a twinge of conscience, often climb the ladder of success; but sooner or later, their duplicity will catch up, the inner rot in their character will bring about a collapse.  Those who commit to integrity increasingly gain respect. They are honorable and honored. 

Here is a word from the Word. May the Spirit bring the Truth home to our hearts today.

"May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you." (Psalm 25:21, NIV)

"The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity." (Proverbs 11:3, NIV)

"Righteousness guards the man of integrity, but wickedness overthrows the sinner." (Proverbs 13:6, NIV)

This is the prayer of the person of integrity:

"How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?
Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
Keep your servant from deliberate sins!
Don’t let them control me.
Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.
May the words of my mouth and
the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you,

O Lord, my rock and my redeemer." (Psalm 19:12-14, NLT)  Amen