Overcoming Elephants (2)

Session 2 Cheating

INTRODUCTION

Hey everyone, and welcome back to our series Overcoming Elephants in the Room. This series is all about addressing those elephants in the room, or those big topics that nobody wants to really talk about.

It’s so important for the church to look at these big issues or topics we see in culture, the world, and even in our own lives that people are talking about, and look at how the Bible speaks to them.

As Christians, we must develop a biblical worldview or a way to look at the world through the lens of the Bible. Where culture speaks, we must see what the Bible says. So, during this series, we will look at some of those topics that are popular in the world and even in your own life.

Last time, we looked at the topic of addiction. It’s likely something we’ve all encountered before, whether it was you in the addiction or you’ve seen it affect someone. Either way, we talked about how we can overcome addiction with dependence.

TENSION

Today, we’re going to continue looking at another big topic, the topic of cheating. Everyone, do me a favor: turn to the person next to you and take 30 seconds to talk about the different ways you can cheat on something. Ready? Go!

Alright, now for a self-reflection question: Are you a cheater? Have you cheated before? Is there an area of life where you are cheating so you can get away with something you haven’t earned?

Like on tests and homework?

a) I’m sure that most of us would say we aren’t, but is that true?

But when the rubber meets the road, and your homework isn’t done, or you’re legitimately going to fail a test, and you have the chance at scooting by, will you choose to cheat?

a) Or will you overcome cheating with integrity?

(1) That’s our key takeaway today: overcome cheating with integrity.

OVERCOME CHEATING WITH INTEGRITY

Cheated on a test with someone.

Cheating is simply the desire to get something that you didn’t earn.

AI has enhanced this btw.

Cheating is rooted in a few things.

insecurity, fear. or feeling inadequate.

no one is immune to it.

First, let’s talk about integrity and what it means.

The book of Proverbs writes it this way in verse 3 of chapter 11:

a) Proverbs 11:3 ESV: “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.”

b) Another translation (NIV) says, “the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.”

Duplicity simply means “deceitfulness; double-mindedness.”

a) Is that not what cheating is?

b) Putting your name on something that’s not really yours?

Integrity, on the other hand, is “being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.”

a) So I’ll ask you:

(1) How morally upright are you?

b) My guess is that most of us would give ourselves a pretty good answer rank- don’t you think?

c) I imagine that ranking probably isn’t that far off- I’d like to assume that most of us don’t want to do things we know are bad, like cheating- but why not?

But why do we cheat?

Think about it for a minute: what is your reason for not wanting to cheat?

a) Perhaps it’s because you don’t want to get caught or in trouble

(1) That’s fine as a deterrent for now, but one day, you’re going to find yourself out from under the watchful eye of your parents or teachers.

b) At that point, you’ll need to find a better reason to keep yourself from making the choice to cheat in a real-life situation.

Maybe you cheat because you fear you’re not good enough. So, instead of putting in the right effort, work, and preparation, you find a way to cheat. All throughout, hoping you don’t get caught. But what if you do?

What if you found a foolproof way to cheat but NOT get caught and still get good grades?

a) Would you still do it?

b) Read Proverbs 28:6 ESV: “Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.”

c) Another way to write this, in regards to school and cheating, might be like this:

(1) “Better are those who fail in class and are blameless than those who pass with honors yet do so by cheating.”

APPLICATION

Optional Illustration: Orange Peeling

NOTE: Have an orange with you. One peeled and one unpeeled.

(Hold up the unpeeled orange.) Think about this orange. It looks great from the outside, right? Oranges are refreshing, but you have to peel them first. And once you’ve peeled it, your hands might smell a little funny, like a cleaning solution—but that's not the point.

The point is that sometimes, we focus so much on what’s outside that we don’t pay attention to what’s going on underneath- on the inside.

a) It’s kind of like this orange peel. Imagine if, after peeling the orange, we found an apple or a banana inside! That wouldn’t make any sense—it would be deceiving because it wouldn't match what we expected based on the outside.

That’s a lot like cheating or pretending to be someone you're not. It’s covering up what’s really going on inside, and the more you cheat, the more you lie and deceive others or yourself. You might think, on the one hand, you are helping yourself out, but in reality, you’re putting yourself in the world’s smallest prison.

Cheating ultimately is a form of lying. Every time you cheat or lie, you are forming a prison around you. Every time you cheat or lie, it makes that prison tighter and tighter around you, and before you know it, you are trapped inside a world made up of cheating and lying. There’s only so long before you get caught or busted.

When you live without integrity, you are building a fake version of yourself. Eventually, you’ll find yourself stressed, worried, or anxious about being caught.

And these small areas of life where you cheat or lie can bleed into other big areas of life that can cause significant damage, hurt, or pain to yourself or others. So, not only is it a sin, but it also has the potential for major earthly consequences.

So here’s the important question to ask yourself, one that leads to living with integrity and honesty:

2. Does what people see on the outside match what’s true about you on the inside?

Why does this matter? Jesus came to show us what real integrity and wholeness look like. He lived a sinless life, not to make us feel like we have to be perfect, but to offer His perfection to us.

2 Corinthians 5:21 says: "For our sake, He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."

Jesus internally always matched what He did externally. He never wavered. He was pure through and through. And now, through His sacrifice, He offers to make us whole, to transform us from the inside out. All we have to do is accept the free gift He gives us—the gift of His righteousness, the gift of salvation.

There’s no cheating your way through forgiveness, mercy, and redemption from God. You can’t trick Him or sneak past Him. To find true forgiveness for your sins and to experience the full life that God offers, you have to receive it from the Lord. Because of that sin, we are broken and separated from the Lord.

Will you let Him make you whole today?

The truth is the choice to live with integrity is a daily one. It’s not about getting everything perfect but about aligning what’s on the outside with who you truly are on the inside. Cheating, whether in school or in life, is like covering up the truth with a false image. It may look good for a moment, but eventually, the truth comes out—and the consequences of living a double life are far worse than any short-term reward.

Integrity is about more than avoiding getting caught. It’s about living in a way that reflects who God has made you to be. Remember the words of Proverbs 28:6: “Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.”

 It’s better to fail with honor than to succeed through deception.

Paul says in Romans 12:21 - Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good. Throughout this entire series, we will see how God’s Word shows us how to overcome these evil things with good. Through the Holy Spirit, you can overcome cheating with integrity.

And here’s the most important part: none of us can do this on our own. Jesus didn’t come to make us feel like we need to measure up or be perfect. He came to offer His perfection to us so we can live in wholeness and integrity. He lived a life where His insides always matched His outsides, and now, through His Spirit, He helps us do the same.

So, as you walk out of here today, ask yourself: Will what you think internally match what you do externally?

Will I choose to be a person of integrity, or will I just try to look like one? The choice is yours.

Will you choose to overcome cheating with integrity?