Kingdom Integrity Series

On the first day of school in a Peanuts comic strip, the teacher asks her class to write an essay about returning to school after summer vacation. Linus writes, “No one can deny the joys of a summer vacation with its days of warmth and freedom. It must be admitted however that the true joy lies in returning to our halls of learning. Is not life itself a learning process? Do we not mature according to our learning? Do not each of us desire that he...” as Linus continues his bloviated commentary.

He turns his paper in and the teacher is pleased. Linus responds to the teacher, “Yes Ma’am? Why, thank you... I’m glad you liked it.” Then he leans back and whispers to Charlie Brown, “As the years go by, you learn what sells” (Charles Schultz, September 6, 1970).

All too often, people learn what sells. So instead of telling the truth, they say only what will put them in the best light.

The biggest example of that this year (2019) is the college admissions scandal, for which a couple of famous actresses were recently convicted. In March, federal authorities arrested 50 people, who were involved in the $25 million fraud. Reuters called it “the most sweeping college admissions fraud scheme ever unearthed in the United States.” William “Rick” Singer masterminded it at a small college-preparation company based in Newport Beach, California. The scheme relied on bribes to coaches, phony test takers, and even doctored photos. The photos misrepresented non-athletic applicants as elite competitors so they could gain admittance to elite schools.

Wealthy parents paid bribe money, laundering it through fake charities, to get their children into schools like Stanford, Yale, Georgetown, and the University of Southern California (USC). Two of the parents arrested were actors Lori Laughlin and Felicity Huffman, who both played dedicated mothers on television.

Interestingly, they both played characters involved in admission controversies. In season 6 of Full House, Loughlin’s Aunt Becky and John Stamos’ Uncle Jesse fudge a few details to get their toddlers into the right preschool. And in season 1 of Desperate Housewives, Huffman’s character once donated $15,000 to get her twins in a prestigious school – the exact amount mentioned in the actual criminal indictment. (Nate Raymond, “Hollywood actors, CEOs accused of paying bribes, faking photos to scam U.S. college admissions,” Reuters, 3-12-19; www.PreachingToday.com)

Now, you don’t have to be rich and famous to lack integrity. It’s a malady that affects many people rich or poor, which erodes trust and damages relationships.

So what can you do about it? What can you do about the lack of integrity in our society? What can you do in a culture that regards truth as “relative” and is so full of “fake news”? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Matthew 5, Matthew 5, where Jesus addresses the subject of integrity.

Matthew 5:33-34a Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, “You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.” But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all... (ESV)

The ancient scribes warned people not to swear falsely, but to do what they swore to do. They believed that a promise backed up with an oath was unbreakable on the pain of severe retribution from God Himself. And this was especially true if the oath involved the name of God. On the other hand, Jesus says...

DON’T SWEAR AT ALL.

Don’t confirm your promise with an oath. Don’t validate your commitment with a vow.

You see, such oaths or vows are not necessary for one who always tells the truth. They are only needed if a person cannot be trusted to keep his word.

In fact, the ancient scribes and pharisees divided oaths into two classes, those which were absolutely binding and those which were not. They taught that any oath which contained the name of God was absolutely binding; any oath which did not include the name of God was not binding (William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Vol.1)

In that way, they found a way to side-step the truth. If they swore by the name of God, they had to keep their oath. But If they swore by something other than the name of God, they felt no obligation to follow through on their commitment.

So they would swear by heaven or by earth. Or they would swear by Jerusalem or by their own heads to make their promises sound good especially if they were unsure about keeping their promises. That way if they couldn’t keep a promise, they could claim they were safe from God’s judgment, because they did not swear by God Himself.

There’s only one problem with that. You can’t put God in a box. You can’t separate God from the rest of life.