Leading a Worthy Life

Real-life integrity

[IMAGE] Story of Robert Adams who found $17,000 in cash in a bank bag beside an ATM in Chicago.

At first, he thought is was prank/joke. But no TV crews popped out to catch him.

Bag had Chase on the side, so he took it to the bank, but they said it wasn’t theirs. It had to belong to the company that provisioned the ATMs.

Took some work to figure out but finally concluded an armored truck employee accidentally dropped the bag.

When he was asked about being tempted by the money, he said, “it’s not my money. I don’t care if you put another zero on there, I wasn’t raised to take money that isn’t mine.”

Robert Adams didn’t suddenly wake up one day and choose to have integrity. He said it himself: he wasn’t raised that way.

We are taught integrity as children. (or not) We practice integrity daily. (or not)

As we move into the “practical” part of Ephesians, Paul begins by urging us to have a “worthy walk.”

The first part of Ephesians tells us the good news that God has restored us to Himself and to one another through Christ.

Here’s a way to think about it:

“Good News Results in Good Lives”

A Worthy Walk

Ephesians 4:1 (NLT)

1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.

We begin a life of integrity by examining our “walk.”

“Walk” in the Bible often means your life as it’s translated here in the NLT.

It’s essentially living your life with integrity.

“Worthy” here describes a balance or scales. It’s not that God judges us based on the accumulation of our sins and good deeds. We stand justified before God through Christ. That’s grace.

1 John 1:7 NLT

7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

But as we live in Christ and are sanctified daily, we mature, we practice, we live out that good news. We learn by experience and teaching what a life of integrity looks like. We judge ourselves to be worthy or unworthy.

But integrity needs accompanying virtue.

A Virtuous Walk

How do you determine what a life of integrity looks like?

Our walk begins with choosing to be virtuous. (Not a common word anymore!)

Ephesians 4:2 (NLT)

2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.

This sounds a lot like the gifts of the Spirit he’ll elaborate on in Galatians. But catch the point:

Galatians 5:22–23 NLT

22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

A life based on the virtues given to us by the Spirit never has to worry about integrity. Our walk worth of praise and emulation.

A Unified Walk

Ephesians 4:3–6 NLT

3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. 4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.

This isn’t something we do alone. No one can resist all the temptations that come our way in life.

We need one another.

And we need a common bond.

A Gifted Walk

Ephesians 4:7–10 NLT

7 However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. 8 That is why the Scriptures say, “When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people.” 9 Notice that it says “he ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. 10 And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.

Paul introduces the next level of gaining in integrity by reminding us that, in our unity, we all bring something to the table.

Every one of us has a special kind of giftedness that is intended to be a blessing.

How much or little we use our gifts is a measure of our walk with Christ

A Trained Walk

But it’s not reasonable to believe that we’ll suddenly know how to use our gifts.

Baker Mayfield didn’t start off with NFL QB kinds of skills at 5 years old. Coaches trained and shaped his gifts.

The same thing should be true in the church.

Ephesians 4:11–13 NLT

11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

This is a vital part of church leadership we must pay careful attention to.

As leaders, we must constantly ask, “What are we doing to equip the church?”

As the church, we must understand and accept that not all training and direction are exactly what we want to do.

1 Thessalonians 5:12 NLT

12 Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance.

We don’t wake up one day and decide to walk with Christian integrity.

The time to decide to have integrity isn’t when the “heat is on.”

Integrity is a daily walk with Christ.

It’s a choice.

It’s strengthening our character with Christian virtues

It’s knowing and utilizing our gifts for the church and the community.

It’s working with the leaders God has given us to help us grow into strong, faithful, effective followers of Jesus who walk with Him every day.