Integrity

Thursday night was the first meeting of The Living Room, a Bible Study at my house for those ages 20-35.  We're studying Ephesians and specifically started with chapter 1 verses 1-14.  Paul starts by introducing himself and then begins to get caught up in a bigger story.  One about God's blessings and the inheritance that awaits all of us.  Before we read this portion of scripture the study guide we are using gave an illustration of a bigger story overshadowing other things in life. The example was of a man who waited for a bus that was late.  He got irritated when he began to tell his family about the ordeal and before he knew it was complaining about the government and how soon there would be an election and he could vote for someone that would fix the bus system.  The issue at hand was the late bus, but the man's frustration over the late bus was overridden by the bigger story, his frustration over a government that he felt was failing.

Rebecca and I went to lunch today (I know you're so surprised....).  On the drive there we started talking about a certain situation and no matter what else we talked about all through lunch we kept coming back to the same thing.  I kinda felt bad because it's always that way when this topic comes up.  So as we sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes I let my contemplator kick in and I pondered why when we've said all we can say we still talk about it.  Then I realized, it's because it's about a bigger issue.  It's not just the circumstance, it's the fact that the circumstance points out a blaring lack of integrity. 

Few things irritate me more than a person acting one way in one situation and completely different in another.  I realize that there is some adaptation to be made to every environment, but if there is a drastic difference between how you act in one setting vs. another then you have an issue you need to deal with.  And in my (probably not so humble) opinion you probably lack integrity if that is the case. 

Most of our staff has gone through an interview process to help us establish our purpose statement.  A purpose statement helps you understand some of the qualities that God has given you to use.  My purpose statement is: To support you in receiving loyalty and integrity so that truth is given for wise choices to be made and you are demonstrating and walking in freedom while achieving purpose, destiny and life transformation with 100% excellent results!  Loyalty and integrity are often "the bigger picture" for me.  I strive to be loyal and walk in integrity and I am greatly bothered when others don't.

Webster's defines integrity as follows: 1 : firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : incorruptibility;2 : an unimpaired condition : soundness;3 : the quality or state of being complete or undivided : completeness.  "Firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values: incorruptibility."  So, in order to have integrity you must first have a moral code.

In today's society moral codes are as varied as people's ice cream preferences.  Instead of everyone just enjoying vanilla we're like a Marble Slab or a Cold Stone Creamery, picking a base and mixing in our own idea of what tastes good.  As Christians our base should be the Ten Commandments, but then there is a myriad of things that the Bible is not specific about; drinking (it's clear on drunkenness btw...), smoking, tattoos, piercings, dancing, movies, music, etc.  It's difficult enough to navigate the areas of life that the Bible is clear on let alone the ones that are left in the grey area.  

So how do we walk in integrity in a world where even within the church there are so many varied moral codes?  My answer - let your yes be yes and your no be no.  Be who you are and what you stand for no matter where you are or who you are with.  If you act in a way with some people that you would be ashamed of in front of others.... you're not walking in integrity!  If you're always talking in an attempt to out speak your actions.... you're not walking in integrity!  If people would be completely shocked to see "the other sides" of you.... you're not walking in integrity!

The Bible says that the things that happen in darkness, in secret, will be exposed in the light.  (My paraphrase.)  Are you walking in integrity in all areas of your life?  Is there anything taking place in the darkness of your life that, if not dealt with, God may choose to expose in the light?  I know there are areas of my life that aren't in perfect alignment, but getting those things aligned is part of my walk with the Lord.  I would much rather deal with them, allow Him to correct them, than have them exposed, shouted from the mountain tops!

Take some time this week to do an integrity check!  

And next time you find yourself unable to stop talking about a situation or circumstance ask yourself, "What is the bigger story?"