7-29-07 Albion Church
Series: The ABC’s of Christian Living
Lesson: Integrity- The Ability
I. INTRODUCTION
Good morning! Great to come back home and worship with family!
We are continuing our series on The ABC’s of Christian Living.
This morning we come to a topic which is very hard to listen to and even harder to preach. But I implore you to listen and more than that-to respond!
I want to start by sharing with you a few stories that deal with our topic of integrity.
Bystander Effect- Lawrence S. Wrightsman
What a sharp contrast with a scene that occurred on a New York street nearly two decades before. Kitty Genovese was slowly and brutally stabbed to death. At least thirty-eight of her neighbors witnessed the attack and heard her screams. In the course of the 90-minute episode, her attacker was actually frightened away, then he returned to finish her off. Yet not once during that period did any neighbor assist her, or even telephone the police.
The implications of this tragic event shocked America, and it stimulated two young psychologists, Darly and Latane, to study the conditions under which people are or are not willing to help others in an emergency. In essence, they concluded that responsibility is diffused.
The more people present in an emergency situation, the less likely it is that any one of them will offer help. This is popularly called the “bystander effect.”
In the actual experiment, when one bystander was present, 85 percent offered help. When two were present, 62 percent offered help. When five were present, then it decreased to 31 percent.
As professional golfer Ray Floyd was getting ready to tap in a routine 9-inch putt, he saw the ball move ever so slightly. According to the rule book, if the ball moves in this way the golfer must take a penalty stroke. Yet consider the situation. Floyd was among the leaders in a tournament offering a top prize of $108,000. To acknowledge that the ball had moved could mean he would lose his chance for big money.
Writer David Holahan describes as follows what others might have done: “The athlete ducks his head and flails wildly with his hands, as if being attacked by a killer bee; next, he steps back from the ball, rubbing his eye for a phantom speck of dust, all the while scanning his playing partners and the gallery for any sign that the ball’s movement has been detected by others. If the coast is clear, he taps the ball in for his par.
Ray Floyd, however, didn’t do that. He assessed himself a penalty stroke and wound up with a bogey on the hole.
After surveying thousands of people across the world, and after over 400 case studies, 2 psychologists identified those traits most desired in a leader. In virtually every study, HONESTY and INTEGRITY were mentioned more than every other trait.
It does make sense doesn’t it? If someone is going to follow a leader, they want someone that can be trusted-someone who will keep their promise and follow through with their commitments.
II. EXAMPLE OF INTEGRITY
(I Sam.12:1-4) Israel’s demand for a leader with integrity should come as no surprise.
After leading Israel for decades he makes a strong promise to repay anyone he has cheated. What an amazing promise-but more amazing than that is the response of the people-there is no wrongs to right, no dishonest dealings to make right.
People want leaders to be honest and to have integrity. They want to know that promises and commitments mean something to the one who makes them.
Today we talk about commitment but when life changes or becomes hard, we change the rules and allow commitments and promises to be broken.
But God tells us how important our word (promises) are.
Throughout the Word, we find God making promises and keeping His promises. God is trustworthy! He says what He means, and means what He says.
It always boils down to this-Character. It’s not about what we say but how we act on what we say.
Biblical Integrity is not just about doing right-it’s about having the right heart and then matching that on the outside by how we live our lives!
A good word to think of is “consistency”. There must be consistency between the inside and outside.
God is completely consistent. What He does always matches His character and nature.
Our goal should be the same. Christ desires His disciples to be disciplined- doing the right thing, the right way, and for the right reason.
III. GOD NEVER CHANGES
Because God is this way, we should desire this for ourselves too.
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN LET DOWN?
Is there really any one we can trust? People let us down again and again because what we believe and how we live are not always the same (remember integrity is the balance between the two!)
But God does not change…so we can completely trust Him! His love, goodness, and truth are not governed by circumstances.
God does what He says- His promises are always real and always kept!
This is very important: What can we truly believe? Who can we completely trust? Who will never let us down? Who we can follow with reckless abandon- GOD!
So many of us have been burned in relationships because the other person failed to keep their promises. There are so many kids who are left scared by parents- missed baseball games, trips not taken, and time not spent.
(Prov.13:12) “Hope deferred makes the heart sick”. Most broken hearts are caused by the unreliability of people.
But God is integrity! God’s yes is always yes. His no is always no. (This is good and bad- you know where He stands, cannot persuade Him against it”
WHAT ABOUT US?
The biblical virtue of integrity points to a consistency between what is inside and what is outside, between belief and behavior, our words and our ways, our attitudes and our actions, our values and our practice.
IV. THE PROBLEM IS HYPOCRISY
Have you ever head anyone say, “That church is full of hypocrites! Why should I go there?”
I heard a man tell me a similar story about their Dad who would take his mom and the kids to church but wouldn’t go himself. As they were waiting for their mom after service, the Dad would point to a person leaving the building and tell something he knew about them. “They’re a bunch of hypocrites! Why should I go?”
2 choices- You can go to church with them or hell- which one do you like?
If you and I fail to live up to our inadequacies, we are hypocrites-which is the opposite of integrity.
(Matt.23:13-19) Jesus accuses the Pharisee’s of being hypocrites. 6 times He uses this word.
Hypocrite was originally used to describe an actor who put on a mask in order to assume a false identity while he played for the audience.- The Pharisee’s would have hated this accusation because they hated all forms of Hellonization. Jesus is essentially calling them what they hated most!
This is not your “Mr. Rogers with a beard” impression you typically hear of Jesus is it?
Here Jesus is accusing the Pharisee’s of saying one thing but doing another.
Now if Integrity is what people must desire in a leader it is obvious the Pharisee’s did not meet Jesus’ standard.
Most times you hear the word integrity it is usually used with ethics and morality but all three are distinct from each other.
Ethics refers to a standard of right and wrong, good and evil. It’s what the Pharisees said they believed was right.
Morality is a lived standard of right and wrong, good and evil. It’s what the Pharisees actually did.
Integrity means “sound, complete, integrated.” To the extent that a person’s ethics and morality are integrated, that person has integrity. To the extent that a person’s ethics and morality are not integrated, that person lacks integrity.
Example: Let’s say I tell you I will lie, cheat, and steal. I have a low ETHIC. If I do business that way, I have a low MORALITY. I am therefore unethical and immoral. But twisted as it may sound, I have integrity (the 2 match-inside/out, belief/action). Now if I claim to lie, cheat and steal but do not I lack integrity but am now ethical (Belief doesn’t match action).
A person can have a high or low ethic, be moral or immoral, but to have integrity the 2 must match.
Now the Bible teaches a high and holy ethic. A Christian is one who claims to live according to God’s Word which is claiming high ethics. Jesus says the worst choice you can make is the hypocritical one.
This is serious stuff! If our walk doesn’t match our talk then Jesus’ statement is for us, “Why do you call me, Lord, Lord and do not do what I say? Luke 6:46)
So what’s your answer? THIS IS WHY IT IS IMPERITIVE THAT WE DO NOT JUDGE!
(Rom. 2:1-4) Paul sounds just like Jesus…This is where many of us disqualify ourselves…many congregations will be condemned by their own judgments.
As a Christian you cannot have integrity and judge others!
V. HOW TO INTEGRATE BELIEF & ACTION
It is clear that a hypocrite cannot lead people to righteousness and holiness. If we talk a good game
But fail to play by the rules-they will get no respect!
(1Tim. 4:15-16) “Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”
In this life, we will never achieve perfection-but we should strive for progress!
What does Paul tell Timothy to watch? (Life and doctrine)
What he is saying is that we need to watch our belief and life closely to make sure they match.
Does your walk match your talk? (Walking the walk, talking the talk).
Remember our story about the golfer? No one would know (but he would, God would-so he made a decision).
VI. SIGN OF PROGRESS- SECRECY/SMALL THINGS
The best way to know whether we are making progress is to look at our lives behind closed doors. “How do I live when no one is around?”
It is easy to walk the talk in public, but does our private life match our public life?
So much of our lives are spent on managing our image-making ourselves look good.
(Matt.6:1) “Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”
It is possible to live one life publicly and another privately. That is not integrity-it is an invitation for God’s discipline!
We are to live consistently because God “sees what is done in secret.”
It is possible that God is more concerned with your private life than your public life.
What we desire is what we will become. If our desire is to be praised by men, then that is what we will work towards. If our desire is to please God, then integrity must become a part of our lives.
