Job is a man of integrity. His integrity is legend.
The backwoods preacher found a small boy all alone, playing in the dirt. “Where’s your
father?” the preacher asked. The boy said, “He was hanged last week.”
“Where’s your mother?” “She run off.”
“Where’s your sister?” “She’s in jail.”
“Is there anybody else in your family?” “Yup, I’ve got a brother.”
“Where is he?” “At Harvard University.”
“Well, at least one member of your family is doing well. What is he studying?” “Nothin’. They’re
studying him.”
I’m sure you know the story. God permitted Satan to destroy everything in Job’s life, almost everything that he had. And then at the end of the story, God restored double what had been destroyed, because of Job’s patience and obviously because of the faithfulness of God under trial.
I’m much more interested in looking into the man’s character than I am into his circumstances. I want to see what made Job tick. This man who couldn’t curse God. What kind of a man was he? We want to look inside of Job, to get to know his heart, to find out what was at that very warp and woof of his being. What is it that made him respond to this tragedy in the way that he did? And when we accomplish this, I think we’ll be better prepared to handle those disasters that come into our lives as well.
can of shaving cream, and read the words on the label…
In fact, those words have me reading labels these days, on everything…
Those words said; Warning; contents under pressure, Do not puncture or incinerate…. Do not throw into fire… It even said, keep out of the reach of children… Harmful or fatal if swallowed…
And the words caught my attention, because they summarize the situation going on in so many lives of the children of God….
They are living under pressure… They are on the verge of an explosion…
They are just a few degrees away from losing it… They can’t stand the heat, but they don’t know how to get out of the kitchen… The pressures, and the calamities of this present life are destroying them… They are living under pressure, wondering just how much anyone is expected to take…
Many of them ought to wearing a sign this morning, saying warning, stay away…
Warning… danger approaching… Many of them ought to be wearing a sign saying keep out of reach of children…
What kind of a man was he? What was down there deep inside that showed up on the outside? Well, today our focus is going to be on Job’s integrity.
Chapter one, verse one. "There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, one who feared God, and eschewed evil."
’perfect.’ Everything about Job’s character will relate to these two words. The word is perfect. The second word is upright.
"upright" simply means to be straight or not deviating from any of God’s standards. I think it reinforces the description of Job as being perfect.
If we were to look into a Hebrew Bible, we’d learn that the word perfect is the Hebrew word tam. And it means to be complete or entire, not lacking in any respect. I suppose an equal word to that would be the word "blameless." Corresponds to the Latin word integer. And obviously, we get our word integrity from that word.
He was a man who was blameless. He was a man who was upright. He was a man who had absolute and complete integrity.
Today, integrity is a word that’s losing a lot of its meaning. It means to be sound in moral principles, being upright, honest or sincere. Job was all that and more, but he was a man of integrity. He was a man without moral blemish. In these waning years of the twentieth century, I wonder how many of our politicians we could say are men and women of integrity. I wonder how many preachers are like that?
Sixty-five percent of America’s high school students say that they would cheat on an important exam. What are we teaching our kids about integrity? Fifty-three percent of them said that they would lie to protect a friend who vandalizes school property. All this is based on a LOU HARRIS poll of more than 5,000 children between fourth and twelfth grade, in public, private and parochial schools.
What does integrity mean? How will you and I know if we have integrity?
Ted Engstrom "Simply put, integrity is doing what you said you would do." It means you keep your promises.
If you promised the Lord that you would give Him the glory, integrity means you keep on doing whatever you need to do so that you give Him the glory.
What can we learn about integrity from Job’s life?
Integrity can be demonstrated. You can see it. You know that it’s there.
Integrity can be destroyed. It’s possible to lose our integrity.
Integrity can be determined; that is, you must will to have integrity before you can walk in integrity. It’s largely a matter of the will.
The demonstration of integrity. You know, when a person lacks integrity, you and I soon know it. But when a person has integrity, I think that’s quickly demonstrated as well.
Job 1:8: "The Lord God said unto Satan, ’Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and eschews evil?’"
God asked Satan if he had considered the integrity of Job. But how could Satan know of Job’s integrity unless it was demonstrated in Job’s life? God could know because He was omniscient. But Satan could only know because of observation. So Job’s integrity was a demonstrated integrity. But isn’t that always the case? You know, if you’re subtle, if you’re sneaky, if you’re deceptive, it’s sometimes possible for you to hide those character flaws. But if you have integrity, it’s going to shine through, folks. It will be demonstrated.
Remember David. Asaph said, in Psalm 78:70-72, that "God chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds: From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands."
I like that tandem. David fed Israel according to the integrity of his heart and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands. David’s integrity and his skill were evident to everybody around him. Integrity is always demonstrated.
1 Kings 9:4,5 records the Lord’s charge to Solomon at the building of the temple. He said, "If thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness . . . then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel forever." You see, everybody knew that David was a man of integrity. It just shined through in everything that he did. And like Job, David was a man of integrity. It’s something that could be demonstrated, something that could be seen.
Somebody has said, "It is not what we eat, but what we digest that makes us strong. Not what we gain, but what we save that makes us rich. Not what we read, but what we remember than makes us learned. And not what we profess, but what we practice that makes us Christians."
How demonstrable is your integrity today. Do those who work with you on a daily basis see your integrity? Does your family see your integrity? Do they see the sound moral principles—the things that happen in your life that prove that you’re a person of integrity? Do people in your church see it? Job teaches us about the demonstration of integrity. He was a man who demonstrably was perfect and upright in all his ways.
The destruction of integrity
Integrity is a very fragile thing. It doesn’t take much to destroy integrity, does it? But you say, "Is it really possible for integrity to be destroyed?" Well, consider this. Job 2:9. Mrs. Job makes this biting comment, she says, "Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die." Job’s wife wonders if after all that they’ve gone through, if losing sons and daughters, if losing servants and sheep, she wonders if her husband can still maintain his integrity. That would seem to indicate that integrity can be destroyed.
C. S. Lewis struggled with the same problems after the death of his wife. He wrote in his journal: “Not that I am (I think) in much danger of ceasing to believe in God. The real danger is of coming to believe such dreadful things about Him. The conclusion I dread is not ‘So there’s no God after all,’ but ‘So this is what God’s really like. Deceive yourself no longer.
And still later in the story, chapter 27:5, Job talks about the destruction of integrity when responding to Bildad. He says, "God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me."
Job was aware that integrity could be taken from him. His actions would either demonstrate his integrity or they would destroy it. And you know what? Your actions and mind do exactly the same thing. By the way we live, we either demonstrate our integrity or we destroy it.
Psalm 37:37 counsels us, "Mark the perfect man." That’s the word tam, the word that means integrity, the same one use of Job here. "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace." Integrity retained leads to peace, but integrity lost leads to turmoil.
Preacher Phillips Brooks was known for his poise and quiet manner. At times, like most of us, he suffered with frustration and irritability. One day a friend saw him pacing the floor liked a caged lion. He asked, “What’s the trouble, Mr. Brooks?”
Brooks replied, “I’m in a hurry, but God isn’t!”
Integrity is largely a matter of determination. It’s largely a matter of our will. If you want to remain morally pure, if you want to have a pure conscious, if you want clean hands and a pure heart that’s largely up to you. Through it all Job was determined to hang on to his integrity.
Wave after wave of violent destruction hit this man, and ruined him in chapter one. And still the determination of integrity shines through in the words that conclude that chapter, chapter one, verse twenty-two. "In all this, Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly."
It’s pretty easy to talk about that but it’s pretty tough to do it. This is the man who couldn’t curse God. And when Job’s wife counseled him simple to get it over with, to curse God and die, Job showed the great determination he had when he said, "What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" (Job 2:10).
And then there’s this comment to conclude that verse. It’s almost an editorial comment. "In all this did not Job sin with his lips." Have you wondered why that happened to Job? Why is it possible that this man kept his integrity all the way to the end?
It’s possible because he decided he was going to do it. He decided there wasn’t anything that could happen to him, nothing in his life would cause him to curse God and therefore die. The determination to maintain our integrity seems most logically to break down when we don’t control our speech. That’s why it’s important that this verse says, "In all these things Job did not sin with his lips."
Sometimes things happen in our lives and we simply cry out to God. We say, "Why? Why me? Why now? Why this?" Sometimes we curse God by condemning Him for all the calamities that come into our lives. We utter some bitter comment toward God or toward others about our trials.
The New Testament counterpart, the Hebrew word tam meaning integrity, that word is teleios. This is the very word that is used in James 3:2. "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and also able to bridle the whole body." Word for perfect is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word for perfect in Job 1:1. If we’re able to bridle the tongue, we can bridle the whole body.
Do you know what the best way for you to maintain your integrity is? The best way is to keep silent. To hold our tongue when we don’t understand—that’s a mark of a determined integrity. And when we refuse to lash out at God, when we refuse to curse God in the midst of our distress, that’s a mark of determined integrity.
David demonstrated the determination to maintain his integrity when he said, "I will sing of the mercy and judgement of the Lord: Unto thee, O Lord, I will sing. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart [that’s our word for integrity, by the way]. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes." That’s Psalm 101.
That’s the determination to maintain your integrity. We need to say along with Job and along with the psalmist, "But as for me, I will walk in my integrity" (Ps. 26:11).
It’s a matter of will. It’s a matter of the walk. Largely it’s a matter of the tongue.
We have to determine that no matter what Satan throws in our pathway, we’re not going to lose our integrity. We will love the Lord God. We will praise Him in the midst of the storm.
You and I can lose our integrity, but generally the way we lose it is when we lash out at God. We have to demonstrate to the world that we’re men and women of God. We have to be able to minister in preaching and in teaching and in prayer and however God enables us to do so, so that others may be presented to God in integrity when He judges their lives.
The character of Job reveals to us the importance of integrity. In a world full of cheaters and liars, financial and spiritual con men, you and I have to walk in integrity. In these waning years of the twentieth century, if there’s one character quality that is conspicuous by its absence, it has to be the quality of integrity. Men and women need it, and so many lack it. If you’re a believer in the Lord Jesus today, it’s so vital that you possess the kind of character that Job did. It’s the way to win a world to Christ. Live today in integrity.
