Last week we began looking at flaws in our lives that might hinder us from being effective ambassadors for Jesus. Patience was our subject from last week.
We read about Saul’s lack of patience and how it led to disobedience. This disobedience caused an end to come to his kingdom, a kingdom that God would have established forever.
We also read about Esau’s lack of patience. He traded his birthright to his younger twin brother Jacob for a bowl of stew which led God to make the statement “Jacob I loved but Esau I rejected.”
We discovered we must be “patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults” (Eph 4:2). We are to be patient with those who are idle, disheartened, and physically or spiritually weak (1 Thes. 5:14). Also we must “be patient with difficult people.” (2 Timothy 2:24).
Today we will talk about another important element of being an ambassador for Jesus, integrity. In our modern day language integrity means “an adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.”
The question we must ask about today’s culture is who sets those moral and ethical principles that we adhere too? According to a poll done by Youth Talks the number one influence on those 26 and younger are movies. Number two is TV. Number three is music. Number four is advertising. Number five is social media. Number six is video games. Number seven is heroes and idols. Number eight is peers. Number nine is parents. Number ten is teachers. Number eleven is the church. Number twelve is youth leaders. Number thirteen is the extended family.
The top six influences in this generation called the Milliennials or Generation Y are centered on the electronic media. Church has become less of an influence in the lives of young people than athletes and rock stars.
When we realize that movies have a greater impact on shaping the “moral and ethical principles” of today’s upcoming adults than the teachings of Jesus, we see the challenge that lies ahead. In the latest Gallup poll 70% of those polled stated that “religion was losing its importance in today’s society.” And I am afraid that we have no one to blame but ourselves. We have not been a people of integrity that the Bible calls us to be.
The Greek word for integrity consisted of five traits. Integrity was true. Psalm 33:4 “For the word of the Lord holds true, and we can trust everything he does.” Being true and trust goes hand in hand. We know that the word of the Lord is always true and we can trust his Word to be true. Why? Because the Lord has integrity.
Our words are to hold true. James 5:12 tells us “never take an oath, by heaven or earth or anything else. Just say a simple yes or no,” People should be able to take us at our word. Our yes should not mean no or maybe. Our no should not mean yes or maybe. Our word must hold true.
Integrity was genuine. James 1:27 “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” When Jesus walked on the earth he had a great concern for those who were unable to fend for themselves. He loved when the little children ran to him. At the time that James wrote this letter to the church being a widow or an orphan meant being an outcast. Widows and orphans were usually homeless. Integrity meant caring for those who were in distress but also not allowing the world to influence you.
Today’s Christian often turns away from those in distress. We are much too busy to be bothered with those types. We become indifferent to the plight of those who are not like us. We even allow the world to corrupt our thinking on how to embrace those that the world and even organized religion have rejected. To have the type of integrity that God finds pure and genuine we cannot allow ourselves to be corrupted.
Integrity was trustworthy. Proverbs 11:13 “A gossip goes around telling secrets, but those who are trustworthy can keep a confidence.” When you pray to God, do you worry about him telling your secrets to others? We have a Father that we can be open and honest toward. We can confess our sins and He listens without informing others of your sins. There are cases in the Bible where God exposes someone’s sin to another for the purpose of repentance (King David and Nathan for example) but for what we confess to him, his lips are sealed.
We are to be trustworthy. People should be able to come to us and expose their deepest secrets without worrying about others hearing of them. Trustworthy means to be worthy of someone’s trust. If we break that trust by relaying a confession given to us in secret, we are no longer trustworthy. And our integrity is compromised.
Integrity was reliable. Proverbs 13:17 “An unreliable messenger stumbles into trouble, but a reliable messenger brings healing.” The word “reality” in Hebrew meant “what conforms to reality in contrast to what is false.” In other words it was contrasting a report to the reality of the circumstances to determine its truthfulness.
Jesus was a reliable messenger. The circumstances in his life and the life of those He encountered determined his truthfulness. He broke the yoke of oppressive religion to set people free and heal them. He healed both physically and spiritually.
My doctor is a reliable messenger. I go every three months for blood work and he interprets those results. He recommends what I need to do to keep myself physically fit and I choose whether to accept his recommendations or not. If I listen, it brings me healing.
When we are reliable, we bring healing. When people test us to see if we are a people of our word and we don‘t disappoint, we bring healing. But when we are unreliable, we, ourselves, stumble into trouble.
Integrity was valid. In John 5:31 Jesus says of himself “If I were to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid.” Our integrity is validated by others. We can boast that we are true, genuine, trustworthy, and reliable but it’s the validation of others that determines our integrity.
If we cannot be trusted, our integrity suffers. If we turn from those who have a need, our integrity suffers. If we share with others things shared in confidence, our integrity suffers. If we cannot be counted on, our integrity suffers.
Remember that movies are the number one influence on the lives of the future generation that will lead our country. The number one movie this weekend was “2 Guns.” The violence is heavy with people being shot, tortured, run-over by a car, blown up, stabbed, and beaten with a bat. Chicken heads are shot off for fun.
Unacceptable language is used seventy times and God’s name is profaned five times. (As a side note, four letter words are unacceptable on TV but allowing God’s name to be profaned is ok.)
Sex and nudity is prevalent throughout the movie. In its opening weekend it brought in seven million, two hundred thousand dollars. This is where The millennial’s integrity is influenced the most. Can we make a difference? Let me share a story with you.
“Dr. James Dobson’s Focus On The Family recently aired this true story from Dr. Bob Reccord, president of the International Missions Board:
A pastor friend in Texas was in a hurry after work. He had to get to the mall for some items, go to his daughter’s school to pick her up, take her home, get to a Deacons meeting, and then to spend the evening in counseling sessions. Once in the mall, he saw an advertisement on a music store window that said, “2 CD’s for $9.99.”
He loved music so much he decided he just had to take advantage of it. He went in and picked up 2 CD’s he’d really wanted, and went to the register to pay for them. He threw down with his money while talking to everyone around him — as pastors do.
Then he picked up his bag and his change and went out of the mall. When he threw the bag in the front seat of his car, he noticed for the first time that the clerk had charged him $1.99 instead of $9.99 for those CD’s. His first thought was that he didn’t have time to go back in to get it fixed.
But a small voice kept saying, “You don’t have time not to.”
So, he went back in, stood in the same line until it came his time to talk to the clerk once again. He said, “Look I’m in a hurry. You made a mistake. The sign says $9.99 and you charged me $1.99. Please make this correct so I can get on with what I have to do.”
She said, “Sir, I didn’t make a mistake.”
He said, “Sure you did. There’s the sign; here’s the receipt.”
She said, “No, sir, I didn’t make a mistake.”
He said, “What do you mean?!!”
She said, “For 17 years I’ve been out of church. Recently, my life has been falling apart and I needed to get back into church. I looked around at what was closest to me. I found the name of the church and I went there Sunday and slipped in and sat on the back row. The pastor that day was speaking on integrity.
Sir, it happened to be your church. And when I saw you in my line, I wondered if this was something you preached on Sunday and lived on Monday. And I determined to find out.”
Then she said, “Sir, I don’t even know the right questions to ask, but I know that whatever you’ve got I need.” And then she began to cry.
Do you think she would have ever gone to church again if this pastor had not gone back in?
Our witness, even in the everyday events of our lives, makes a difference in others’ lives.”
Our integrity shows. People are constantly observing it. Our family, our friends, even strangers learn about our integrity simply by watching the way we inter-act with others. But God sees our integrity even more than others. We made be able to mask our integrity with others but God sees beyond the mask. He sees the real us.
In Psalm 15:1 David asks this question “Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?” Basically David is asking “Who can fellowship with you?” and then gives us seven examples of living an integrity filled life.
2a “Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,” People who act with integrity can fellowship with God. There lives are lived in such a way that no fault can be found in them. And if they have wronged someone, they make it right.
2b “speaking the truth from sincere hearts.” People who speak with integrity can fellowship with God. Those around them know that they are true to their word. Their word is reliable.
3a “Those who refuse to gossip” People who are motivated by integrity can fellowship with God. It is easy to fall into a trap set by gossip. Someone begins the gossip and if we have something to add it is very difficult to hold our tongue. We may excuse ourselves by letting gossip begin as a prayer request or setting the facts straight based on what we have heard. However, in Leviticus a 19:16 God command is people not to gossip. That, in it self should motivate us to not take part in gossip.
3b “or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends.” People who interact with integrity can fellowship with God. Remember our lesson on patience? Remember we are to have an internal and external control that delays our actions, especially when dealing with difficult people? Integrity calls us to a higher level of patience with those we know (our friends) and those we don’t know (our neighbors).
4a “Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord,” People who discerns with integrity can fellowship with God. This passage is not about us setting ourselves up as judges. The teaching is that we should show contempt toward those that have been rejected by God. We should show contempt toward those things that draw us away from God. We should honor toward each other. We should honor those things that draw us to God. But how we show contempt and honor must be discerned. Jesus in no way approved of the tax collectors and the prostitutes. Being fully God he would have found them contemptible. But He discerned that these were the one’s He came to save. We cannot afford to honor each other to the point that we discard those around us who need the gospel.
4b “and keep their promises even when it hurts.” People who maintain integrity can fellowship with God. Integrity is trustworthy and reliable. In the Book of Judges we read the story of Jephtah.
Jephtah was a man of outstanding military ability who rose from despised beginnings to become a leader of Israel. In the heat of battle he promised God that if he was victorious he would offer as sacrifice the first thing that met him when he returned home from the battle.
Jephtah won the battle and returned home. As he approached his house, his beloved only daughter ran out to meet him. The story finishes with him carrying out his vow.
He was a man who maintained his integrity at a very expensive cost.
5a “Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.” People who practice integrity can fellowship with God. This deals more with loving money more than your integrity. Remember the pastor and the Cds. He could have saved eight dollars because of someone’s mistake. He could have reasoned that no one would know about it. Or he could look at it as a blessing from God. But his integrity would have had a price tag of eight dollars. If you take something from work for your personal use, the cost of that item is the worth of your integrity. If a cashier gives you too much change and you accept it, that amount is how much your integrity is worth. Integrity must become a lifestyle. Psalm 15 ends with “Such people will stand firm forever.”
In closing let me tell you one last story.
Years ago in Germany, there was a young Jewish boy who had a profound sense of admiration for his father. His family’s life centered on the acts of piety and devotion prescribed by their religion. The father was zealous in attending worship and religious instruction, and he demanded the same from his children. While the boy was a teenager, the family was forced to move to another town in Germany. There was no synagogue in the new town, and the pillars of the community all belonged to the Lutheran church. Suddenly the father announced to the family that they were going to abandon their Jewish traditions and join the Lutheran church. When the stunned family asked why, the father explained that changing religions was necessary to help his business.
The youngster was bewildered and confused. His deep disappointment soon gave way to anger and a kind of intense bitterness that plagued him throughout his life. That disappointed son, disillusioned by his father’s lack of integrity, eventually left Germany and went to England to study. He sat daily at the British Museum, formulating various ideas and writing a book. In that work, he introduced an entirely new world-view, envisioning a movement that would change the social and political systems of the world. Drawing from past experiences with his father, he described religion as an “opiate for the masses” that could be explained totally in terms of economics and personal gain. Today, millions of people still live under the system invented by this embittered man, and millions more suffered under previous regimes that incorporated its values. His name, of course, was Karl Marx, and his idea was communism. And it all began with his father’s misuse of the name of God for the sake of profit.
Karl Marx’s father’s integrity had a cost and it cost the world millions of lives.
