Aspiring Meditations: 23. Aspiring to Integrity
1 Kings 9:4 As for you, if you walk before me in integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws
Job 2:3 he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.
Psa 78:72 David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.
Titus 2:7,8 In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned
Now ‘integrity’ comes up not that many times in the scriptures and, strangely enough, ‘honesty’ even less, although warnings again dishonesty arise a lot. So I tackle this subject, not because the word has hit me a number of times in my readings, but simply as I have prayed on a daily basis for these studies, it is a word that has remained with me just recently.
So what does it mean? Well dictionary definitions for ‘integrity’ include, “the quality or state of being complete; unbroken condition; wholeness; entirety of being unimpaired; perfect condition; soundness, of being of sound moral principle; uprightness, honesty, and sincerity.” While we are at it, dictionary definitions for ‘honesty’ include, “a refraining from lying, cheating, or stealing; being truthful, trustworthy, or upright, sincerity; fairness; straightforwardness.”
Funnily enough, ones of the groups attacking Jesus and trying to trick him, asking about giving to Caesar, start out by saying, “Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are.” (Mt 22:16) i.e. we know you are more concerned with the truth, and so much so that you will not care about what people think about you. Now that was dishonest on their part, because they were trying to lead Jesus into saying something rash about paying or not paying taxes, but nevertheless, it did highlight an element of what we usually think about integrity, and that is that it is a characteristic of being determined to remain honest, regardless of what others think. Now in the dictionary definition above, I have included, in the first part of it, the element of meaning that suggests wholeness or completeness, unimpaired etc. and that is true of Jesus and, I suggest, he wants that for us, this sense of remaining true to the person he has made us to be and remain whole righteously, we might say.
When someone invites us to take part in something that is underhand or slightly on the edge of honesty, or slightly questionable, the enemy is trying to make a dent in the wholeness of your character and once there is one breach it makes it so much easier for him to undermine you completely. One step over the line makes you vulnerable to future challenges.
Our quote above, from 1 Kings 9:4, comes in the Lord appearing to Solomon a second time, after he had finished building the temple, and the benchmark or plumb line, we might say, for Solomon for the days to come, was to be the example of his father, David. Psa78:72 confirmed that, confirmed David’s reputation. Yes, David was imperfect and he fell in respect of Bathsheba and Uriah, but according to scripture that was the only time he fell in such a way (see 1 Kings 15:5). Generally, however, David had a reputation for integrity, of right and honest dealings, a man who could be trusted and relied upon. That is what integrity is about.
The same sense of holding on to one’s righteousness complete or intact, also appears in the story of Job after his first testing and the Lord pointed out to Satan, “he still maintains his integrity,” (Job 2:3) and a few verses later his wife chides him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!” (2:9) It is that same ‘holding on to your righteousness’, remaining whole before God.
Paul taught Titus (Titus 2:7) to maintain integrity in his teaching which some have suggested could be ‘incorruptibility’ (Message version), i.e. the refusal to allow any form of corruption into his life and ministry, i.e. this same idea of remaining above board, open and honest, visible for all to see, holding a strict regard for the truth (JBP version).
Now although there may not be lots of exhortations in the New Testament (possibly because mostly the early Christians were not well off or in positions where they might abuse their authority) if we ask the simple question, ‘Should we not then bother within integrity as something to which we should aspire?’ the answer, surely, has got to be patently obvious, “Definitely not, go for it!”
In a day when values are sliding, with the rejection of God as the arbiter of right and wrong, so absolutes no longer exist in the minds of many, history of modern government, and indeed virtually every other public institution in modern life in recent years and decades screams out, ‘we need a return to the values of honesty and integrity in life in general, in ways like we have not seen for many years.’ Bribery, corruption, taking short cuts that are ethically dubious, all of this has been well recorded in public life in Europe in the UK and in the USA at least, numerous times in the last two decades. I have a number of them on file, and they are in the public record.
In this sort of world, the call is for us to stand out, not only with love and goodness, but also in the ethical realm with honesty and integrity. I was blessed recently to receive a testimony that said, “a number of years ago you prophesied over me that God would bless me with ‘the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place’, and I therefore sought to maintain those in my business life. I have just been given a major promotion and the reason my employers gave it me was, they said, because of me being a man of truthfulness and righteousness.” (that is as near as I can recollect what was shared with me while in the USA recently.) What a testimony today!
I like Nehemiah’s words, “I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, that is Hananiah the commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most men do.” (Neh 7:2) Integrity AND fear of the Lord! An attitude outwards and upwards! Yes, I will definitely aspire to more of that!