Integrity
Notes
Transcript
A psalm of David. 1 Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? 2 Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. 3 Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends. 4 Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord, and keep their promises even when it hurts. 5 Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever.
Today we are continuing this series about virtue, and I want to kick us off with something David wrote in Psalm 15. He started off asking God some questions…
Psalm 15:1 “1 Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?”
In other words, “Who may dwell with You, God? Who can experience your presence, goodness, and peace?” Then he answers his own question…
Psalm 15:2–5 “2 Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. 3 Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends. 4 Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord, and keep their promises even when it hurts. 5 Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever.”
He’s talking about those with integrity. Those who live and walk with integrity. If you are looking for some heart warming stories online, you will probably come across articles about strangers who have returned lost wallets to their owners. I came across several the other day and in all of them people were surprised and even shocked when these people had returned wallets full of cash.
That says a lot about the world we live in. To me, it is kinda tragic that we live in a world where people are more shocked by integrity than they are by a lack of it. Integrity is just not something that is celebrated or even encouraged today. It seems like almost every day there is another news story about some politician, celebrity, or leader who fails. Even friends and family whose lives don’t reflect their beliefs.
Today we are talking about the virtue integrity. What is integrity? Before we look at what it is, it is important to grasp what integrity is NOT. For example, integrity is NOT perfection. Having integrity doesn’t mean that you will never make a mistake. If it did, Jesus would be the only person to ever have integrity. A better way to think of integrity is having an integrated life, where your life and your values are one or whole. In fact, the word “integrity” comes from the Latin word “Integer” which means untouched, undivided, whole.
Often, what we tend to do is compartmentalize and divide the different areas of our lives. Like this pie, we will compartmentalize and say, “This slice is my professional life. This is who I have to be at work.” Then we might compartmentalize our family. This is who I am around my family. This slice here is who I am once a week at church. This one is the one I can’t let anyone see because it is my private life.
Integrity is when your beliefs and values are not divided, but instead help to complete and make whole every aspect of your life. Rather than being compartmentalized, your life and your values are one, complete, whole, and don’t change depending on the climate of your environment. In short…
Integrity is when your behavior matches your beliefs.
Integrity is when your behavior matches your beliefs.
We often compartmentalize because we want to gain favor with specific people. You want a customer to like you, you want to have a great relationship with your co-workers, you want your family to respect you. What is interesting about that is how much stress it can create for you. Proverbs gives us some great imagery on integrity…
9 Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.
When you give in and do things differently at work or with a specific group of friends, it is amazing how much stress it can create. On the other hand, how many times have you laid in bed worrying that someone would find out that you had integrity? That your values at work are the same as your values at home? People who walk in integrity walk securely. There is no fear as you walk down life’s paths.
Integrity is when your private life is consistent with your public life. Who are you when nobody is looking? If those two “you’s” are different, then you may be more concerned with reputation than integrity. Reputation and integrity are different…
Reputation is who others think you are.
Integrity is who you really are.
Chasing reputation will often lead down the crooked paths that Proverbs mentioned and cause you to live a life completely opposed to the integrity that God desires. In fact, we have a word that describes the opposite of integrity. It is “hypocrite.” A hypocrite is someone whose life doesn’t line up with their beliefs. Jesus made it clear how important integrity is in the way that He responded to hypocrites. He was much harder on hypocrites than prostitutes and other sinners.
Jesus often got into it with religious leaders for being hypocritical. He even told a crowd of people following Him that they should practice what the Pharisees taught, but they should definitely not follow their example because they don’t even practice what they preach. Jesus used a lot of imagery to teach, and at one point in this particular passage He referenced mosaic law that forbade eating things like camels and gnats. He said…
24 Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel! 25 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! 26 You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.
It’s not what you show on the outside that matters, your reputation. It’s what is on the inside that matters. Focus on the inside, your integrity, and your reputation will follow.
There was a well known builder that worked for a massive company and built some of the most amazing and beautiful homes. He had been building homes for 35 years and was getting excited about retirement and spending time with his grand kids so he decided that at the end of his 40th year he would retire. So in anticipation he began counting down the time, only 5 more years to go. Then the next year, only 4 left. Then 3 more years, then 2 more. 1 year to go, 10 months, 6 months, 2 more months.
When it was time to retire his boss begged him to do one more house. He said, “If you could just do one more house for us we would really appreciate it. It would really mean a lot to me.”
He said, “I have been announcing my retirement for the last 5 years, everyone knows how much I want to go.”
His boss wouldn’t give up though, he kept asking. Finally the man decided to do the one more house before he quit, but his heart wasn’t in it. He was normally the best, but he was so ready to go that he found himself cutting corners he never would have cut. He hired cheap contractors that could get there faster, he used cheaper materials.
At the end of the project the owner came up to the builder with a big smile on his face and said, “I want to tell you that we value your work more than you could ever imagine. As gratitude for 40 years of service we wanted to give you this as a retirement gift. Here are the keys to your new home.”
That builder realized what all of us will realize one day, which is YOU ARE BUILDING YOUR OWN HOME. Every decision you make, how you live, what you say, and what you do. You are building your own home. Whether you do what is right or cut corners, whether you show grace or judge harshly, whether you tell the truth or bend it to benefit you, whether you show honor or dishonor. You are building your own house. Integrity matters.
Integrity is far more valuable than our actions often show. What would your actions say that your integrity is worth?
What is your integrity worth?
What is your integrity worth?
What would you do if you had an opportunity to get a great job? This is your dream job, you just need your resume to look great. Are you willing to lie on your resume?
You want someone to like you or connect with you in some way. What is your integrity worth? Are you willing to exaggerate a story to be liked? To make one up completely?
You see a window in the expense reports to slip a little money into your own pocket, are you willing to embezzle?
Where are you willing to cut corners in your life? What is your integrity worth? Remember that you are building your own house.
Pastor Craig Groeschel played tennis in college and he has shared many stories from that time. Once he told about going to a championship tournament and having to stay in a motel. One day, before returning to the motel, the team went to a putt putt course. On the 18th hole, when you put the ball toward the hole it will either fall into the cup or into a trough that sends the ball to Narnia, or somewhere, so that you can’t play anymore.
When they got to the last hole, his friend blocked the cup so that Craig’s ball didn’t go into the hole and he kept it. When they got back to the motel, Craig was laying in bed while he tossed the ball up and down. At some point his coach came into the room and caught the ball and asked where he got it. Craig told him it came from the putt putt and his coach immediately kicked him off the team.
He said, “I don’t allow thieves on my team, you’re off the team. You’re not playing in the championship tomorrow.” Craig was shocked and begged to stay on the team. The coach told him that today it is a golf ball, tomorrow it is car stereos or something more. Every thief starts small.
Craig was devastated and begged him, “What can I do to stay on the team?” The coach told him that he could take it back and tell everyone there that he was once a thief, but he isn’t anymore and ask for forgiveness. So that is exactly what he did.
The ride back to the motel was quiet, except that the coach said one thing that stuck with Craig. He said, “If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.”
A few year later, Craig was teaching kids how to play tennis at a tennis camp. On the last day he played a match against each of the kids to 10 points. He had a very expensive tennis racket that he loved, so to keep things interesting with the kids he told them that if any of them beat him, he would give that person his racket. To keep things interesting, he would let the score get to 8 all with the kids before he would beat them.
That was going great until this one kid, who could barely even hit the ball, happened to hit the ball in a way that it hit the net and just rolled over the other side. 9 - 8. Well that was just lucky, Craig was going to have to just hurry and get his points to win. The very next hit was the same exact thing. The ball hit the tape and rolled over the net.
All of the kids were excited and yelling, “You have to give him your racket! You have to give him your racket!” This expensive racket that he used in tournaments. If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.
There is a very powerful prayer in Psalm that can be incredibly difficult to pray. I want to challenge all of us to pray this prayer. It goes…
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Search me and know my heart. Is there any thing that is compartmentalized and separated from the values You have called me to live by? The heart is deceitful above all things, show me where my heart is being hypocritical. There are three areas I would encourage you to examine…
Where you are most defensive.
What you don’t want others to know.
What you criticize in others.
For me, where I am the most defensive is often where I am the most vulnerable. It’s that weak part of me that I am instinctively defending. Maybe I am even defensive because I don’t want someone to see that it is my weakness. I have even found that I tend to be critical of other people in areas where I am weak. Sometimes, what we criticize the hardest is a reflection of where we are the weakest.
Where have you cut corners? When have you been more concerned with reputation than integrity. It can be difficult to stay the course of integrity when you don’t know what the outcome will be. You may never know, but integrity is far more important than making something happen the way we want it to.
Craig could have held on to his tennis racket, but he knew that when you have integrity, nothing else matters. When you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters. One Sunday after preaching someone walked up to him in tears. They guy was a wreck. He told Craig that his wife left him and his life was falling apart, but he prayed the prayer that Craig led at the end of service. Then he said, “Thanks, coach.”
Craig looked at him a little confused, and the guy said, “I was there that day you gave the other kid the racket. Nobody thought you would actually give it to him, but you did. And when my life was falling apart I started thinking of what preachers I knew. I knew you. I figured if you told the truth then, you’d tell it now.”
It may be difficult, but integrity is important. When it gets difficult and you don’t know what the outcome might be, remember to trust God…
Do what’s right and trust God with the results.
Your integrity is easier to keep than it is to recover.
The bible has a lot to say about integrity, but I want to leave you with one final thought. Integrity will either make or break you. Either your integrity will guide you and God will bless you for living in what Jesus called the important aspects of the law, justice, mercy, and faith, or you will be a hypocrite like the Pharisees. A thief. Someone who cuts corners. Without integrity you will be crooked. You may start out with a little bend and think, “this isn’t too bad,” but before long all of your paths will be crooked. And living without integrity leads to destruction…
3 The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.