Copyright © 2018 Michael A. Brown
‘Therefore
each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his
neighbour... He who has been stealing
must steal no longer...’ (Eph.
4:25,28)
Reading: Psalm 15
If integrity can be defined as uncompromising
adherence to a code of moral and ethical principles and values, and therefore
as the quality of being honest, sound and avoiding deception, then, for
believers, learning to live and act with integrity is essentially learning to
live and act according to the inward convictions of our heart regarding
biblical principles in any given
matter. For example, we believe it is
wrong to steal, so we resolve that we ourselves will be honest and not steal;
we believe it is wrong to gossip, so we refuse to get involved in gossip; we
believe people should keep their word, so we determine that we will always do
our best to try to keep our word, and so on.
We live and act out of our inward
convictions which are being shaped by biblical principles.
In Psalm 24:4 we can see this connection
between inward convictions and outward action or behaviour: the person who
seeks the Lord is to have clean hands (so, outward behaviour) and a pure heart
(so, inward convictions). We can see
some of the qualities of such a lifestyle of integrity in Psalm 15. The person’s life is blameless (v2); s/he
does what is righteous (v2); s/he speaks the truth from their heart (v2); there
is no slander on their tongue regarding other people (v3, cf. Prov. 11:9); s/he
does their neighbour no wrong (v3); s/he casts no slur on their fellowman (v3);
s/he keeps their oath even when it hurts (v4), and s/he does not lend their
money with usury and does not accept bribes (v5).
Phrases such as ‘standing in his holy
place’ (Ps. 24:3), ‘dwelling in his sanctuary,’ or ‘living in his holy hill’
(Ps. 15:1) describe believers who want to walk closely with the Lord and desire
to develop intimacy with him as a habitual lifestyle: ‘Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face…’
(Ps. 24:6). So such a believer needs to
become a person whose everyday life and walk with God is characterized by the
qualities of integrity listed above. It
is such a person who will receive blessing and vindication from the Lord (Ps.
24:5) and who will never be shaken (Ps. 15:5).
Learning
to live and act with integrity is a key foundational aspect of personal
discipleship and is basic to the growth of Christian character. Life
in a local church family provides a good environment to get issues of integrity
sorted out in our lives. For example,
such things as guarding our moral integrity in the context of the growing
relationships we have with other believers in the church (cf. 1 Tim. 5:2);
taking part in the various ministry activities which a local church provides;
learning to work together with other believers; taking responsibility to lead a
ministry activity or to oversee a small team or a house group; overseeing the
finances of a particular ministry activity (or even of the church), and
learning to be accountable to leaders, are all examples of areas which provide
opportunities for believers to learn and grow in integrity.
Towards the end of his life, king David
had recognized that God tests our hearts
and is pleased with integrity (1 Chron. 29:17, Prov. 17:3). The motives of our hearts are weighed by the
Lord (Prov. 16:2). So as believers we
should aim to please the Lord both in the motivations of our hearts and in our
actions and behaviour (1 Thess. 2:3-4).
The fact
that God tests our hearts should make us aware that our integrity will be tested in our growth as believers.[1] Put another way, we will from time to time
find ourselves in situations in which we need to make a choice or a decision
based on integrity, by choosing to live out our convictions in our actions or
behaviour, when choosing or deciding differently would mean compromising our
convictions or some aspect of biblical teaching we know to be true. Such tests of integrity determine the
consistency between our inward convictions and our outward actions. As a result, we can then consciously measure our growth in areas of integrity and in
our Christian character. The testing
of our integrity is more common when we are young in the faith, because of the
need to root and establish principles of integrity into our lives at that stage
of our walk with God, but it can happen at any stage of our life (and often does
so when we are in a position of leadership, in particular). Sometimes our integrity may be tested in ways
which only we ourselves are aware of, with other people being completely
unaware of it. This is because it is our
heart that is being tested.
So we need to learn to maintain our integrity in
our relationships with other people.
Keeping our word is a key to developing trust in relationships, so we
need to learn to say what we mean, and to mean what we say; we need to follow
through on promises we have made; we should not say one thing, and then do
something else. We should avoid going
back on our word by changing arrangements after we have made them, simply
because something more attractive has come up. We should ‘keep our oath even when it hurts’
(Ps. 15:4). We should be careful with
the words we speak about people behind their backs, and so on.
We need to guard our moral integrity. Our
inner convictions regarding moral purity will certainly be tested over the
course of our lifetime. Where king David
failed, Joseph succeeded (see Gen. 39; 2 Sam. 11-12). Joseph maintained purity in his heart,
whereas David gave place firstly to sinful desires and then to full-blown
adultery. We need to be careful what we
allow ourselves to watch, hear or read in or on any form of media. We should be careful not to flirt with members
of the opposite sex, and not allow ourselves to get into situations where we
may become vulnerable to moral temptation.
We need to be honest when it comes to financial
dealings and money (Prov.
13:11, 16:11). We should make sure we pay off our debts;
we should make restitution when we need to; we should pay our taxes; we should
not over-charge people; we should pay back money (and return other things) that
we may have borrowed from other people; we should be as careful with other
people’s money (including tax-payers’ money) as we are with our own (cf. Luke
16:10-12), especially the money of the church or of our employer; we should be
honest in the way we use our employer’s time at work, and so on.
Growing
in integrity will help us in several areas of our life as believers:
a.
It
helps to develop in practice the necessary link between inward convictions and
outward actions or behaviour which is basic to putting into practice the
teaching of the word of God.
b.
It
develops strength in our inward character and establishes strong inner values
which are foundational to the whole of our Christian life. This is important if we are to become
leaders.
c.
It
develops the conviction within us that God will act according to the promises
and principles of his word.
d.
It
helps us to make sure that we keep our word and our promises to other people.
e.
It
helps to build trust in the community of the church.
f.
It
builds a good and healthy testimony in our lifestyle towards non-believers.
Walking
in integrity helps us to build a solid foundation in our life as believers. Whereas dishonest people may hate a person of
integrity (because they themselves love unrighteousness, Prov. 29:10),
Scripture tells us that integrity helps us to walk securely (Prov. 10:9) and
that it acts as a guiding principle for
us in different situations we may find ourselves in (Prov. 11:3). The righteousness that integrity produces
within us can guard us from many mistakes in life (Prov. 13:6).
Integrity is an essential character quality which
is always sought for in those who would aspire to any form of Christian
leadership (e.g. 1 Kings
9:4, Job 2:3, Ps. 78:72, Titus 2:7). A
good example of what it means to be a man of integrity is Nehemiah. Scripture records that he refused to take
advantage of his position to lord it over people and place burdensome taxes
upon them. We are told also that his
appointment of other men to public leadership positions was based on their
integrity and their fear of God (see Neh. 5:14-15, 7:2). Leaders are in a position of influence over believers,
and believers look to their leaders to provide a good example and to lead them
in the ways of God. Paul expected and
exhorted Timothy to provide an example to believers in the way he lived (1 Tim.
4:12).
To maintain godly influence over
other people over the long-term of a ministry demands that a leader be a person
of integrity. One main purpose of the testing of integrity in our lives is to develop
our growth into leadership and influence.[2] Leaders who exemplify integrity of character
will be trusted by those whom they lead.
Indeed, integrity of character is the foundation of trust in
relationships between leaders and those who follow them. The contrast in moral integrity between
Joseph and king David can teach us many things.
Joseph guarded his integrity and refused to sin, and was eventually
promoted to a position of national influence in God’s purpose for him, whereas
David, when already king, fell into serious moral compromise and ended up with
dreadful family problems he could never resolve. Many failures among Christian leaders can be
traced back to issues of moral or financial integrity.
[1] See Clinton’s discussion of the
integrity check in Clinton, J.R. Leadership Emergence Theory, Altadena:
Barnabas Publishers, 1989, p.125.
[2] ibid., p.152.
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