The mission of our church is "to bring English-speaking Asians in our community into a right and healthy relationship with God and with one another through Jesus Christ, and to multiply our effort by supporting missionaries, church planters and church plants who minister beyond our focus and community."
And in order to accomplish this mission, we need to develop certain personal as well as organizational characteristics. Who we are determines what we are able to accomplish. These personal and organizational characteristics are identified on the banner behind me.
This morning, we will look at the characteristic of Responsible Integrity. Each characteristic is positioned intentionally to give a visual reminder. Responsible Integrity is positioned on the backbone of the figure.
To be responsible is to have the ability to act without supervision. To have integrity is to have wholeness, uncompromising honesty, reliability and faithfulness. A person with responsible integrity has a strong moral backbone.
In James Patterson and Peter Kim’s book, The Day America Told the Truth, they polled the American public to ask, "What are you willing to do for $10,000,000? They found that:
25% would abandon their entire family
25% would abandon their church
23% would become prostitutes for a week or more
16 % would give up their American citizenships
16% would leave their spouses
10% would withhold testimony and let a murderer go free
7% would kill a stranger
3% would put their children up for adoption
Two-thirds of Americans polled would agree to at least one of the above, and some agreed to several.
We should not be surprised at Enron and WorldCom’s corruption and the crisis of confidence in the American business world. When money rather than integrity is the bottom line, people become puppets on the strings of greed.
While some suggest that a better accountability system would prevent future fraudulent activities, I believe only by possessing responsible integrity would people do what is right. Responsible integrity is an important characteristic for individuals in business, in government, in the family, in the church, in the school and in every relationship in society.
But how does one measure and develop responsible integrity? And what would motivate a person, whether yourself, your child, your pastor or the CEO of a large company to develop responsible integrity? We will answer these questions from this morning’s text in Psalm 15.
From this passage, we see the measure of responsible integrity, the motivation for responsible integrity and the movements toward responsible integrity.
First, the measure of responsible integrity is ultimately God’s companionship. We see this in verse 1.
The psalmist begins with an evaluation questions. He asks, "Who measures up to be in God’s company?" Or who is good enough to have God as a constant companion? And verses 2-5 give us the answer - those with responsible integrity.
In other words, responsible integrity is not measure by comparing ourselves with others. Responsible integrity is measured by whether God wants us in His company.
Before I go on, I want to distinguish between someone being in God’s family and being in God’s company. If you have teenagers or adult children, you know the difference between them being in your family and being in your company.
If you were here last week, you would know that only God’s sacrificial love through Jesus enables us to be forgiven and adopted into His family. Our forgiveness and membership in God’s family is a gift from God. All we have to do is receive this gift through trust in Jesus Christ.
Once we receive God’s gift, we have partial responsibility for maintaining a healthy relationship with God. We share with God the responsibility for maintaining our company with God.
Because God keeps His promises to us, because God is faithful to us, because God is honest with us, and because God is a God of integrity, we can only share in His companionship if we are people of integrity.
Isaiah 59:2 tells us, "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that he will not hear." If we don’t have responsible integrity, we don’t have God’s companionship. The measure of our responsible integrity is the presence of God’s companionship in our lives.
Second, the motivation for responsible integrity is also ultimately God’s companionship. We see this in verses 1 and 5b.
Many people will point to the rewards of responsible integrity without ever pointing to God. They will point to the rewards of self-respect, credibility, and freedom from the fear of being found out. They would certainly experience better relationships, fewer lawsuits and fewer sleepless nights.
But to point to these rewards without pointing to God is like pointing to great food without pointing to the chef. Or to point to the rewards for responsible integrity without pointing to God is like my daughter, Esther, pointing to her own goodness as the reason for receiving ice cream or a hug. Her goodness has something to do with having ice cream and a hug, but without me, she can be good and not receive any reward.
So the psalmist reminds us that those who possess responsible integrity are rewarded with God’s companionship first of all. And it is God Who gives the peace, the confidence and the joy that satisfies life and makes our life choices unshakable and uncompromising.
For me to try to explain the tremendous rewards of having God’s companionship to someone who has never experience God’s companionship is like trying to explain to a newborn baby about candy, Disneyland or falling in love. Trust me; God’s companionship is worth pursuing responsible integrity.
With the remaining 15 minutes, I want to guide us into a life of responsible integrity as revealed by the psalmist. We’ll look at four movements toward responsible integrity as recorded in verses 2, 3, 4 and 5a.
The first movement toward responsible integrity is to align our heart to God’s truths to produce right words, actions and lifestyles. We read this in verses 2 and 3.
The psalmist calls us to a blameless lifestyle, righteous actions and truthful words. And then he contrasts the positive traits with the negatives. We are not to gossip, not to do wrong to those who come into contact with us, and we are not to highlight the faults of others.
But can we be blameless, righteous and truthful, when gossip is so common, when the people closest to us are often the ones we hurt the most, and when most of us have enough inferiority or envy in us to make us highlight the faults of others? How do we practically move toward responsible integrity when irresponsibility and selfish ambition are working in and against us?
The psalmist points to the heart as the source of our words, our actions and our lifestyle. Now when talking about the heart, the Bible is not referring to the muscle that pumps blood, but the part of our brain that stores our passions and desires.
Jesus said in Matthew 15:18, "The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart." Proverbs 4:23 tells us, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Our speech and actions are the outward manifestations of our heart. And our lifestyle is formed by our habit of speech and actions.
To pursue responsible integrity, we first have to align our hearts with God’s truths. Self-help books may teach us what and how to say and do things for our personal advantage, but only God’s truths will enable us to say and do the right things with integrity.
Philippians 4:8 gives us the instruction for aligning our hearts with truth. Paul writes, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."
That’s why I read the Bible and memorizing certain verses in the Bible. As we align our hearts with God’s truths, our words, actions and eventually, lifestyle will reflect our new heart.
The second movement toward responsible integrity is to associate with those who revere God. We read this in verse 4a.
The Psalmist tells us to have nothing to do with those who have rejected God’s ways and truths, the vile man. And we are to honor, value and associate with those who fear or revere God.
1 Corinthians 15:33 reminds us, "Do not be misled: ’Bad company corrupts good character.’"
Your wife, husband, child or certain co-workers may not revere God, but you can surround yourself with people who do. I surround myself with Pastor David Wong, Paul J. Meyer, Billy Graham, Oswald Chambers, A.W. Tozer, Fenelon, the Apostle Paul and Jesus Christ. By the way, some of these people are dead or too busy to give me an appointment, but their writings, audio and videotapes allow me to associate with them.
If your associates are Seinfeld, Oprah, Frazier, or Jet Li, you will not move toward responsible integrity. Charlie Jones notes, "What you read and who you associate with will determine who you become." If you want to and want your children to move toward responsible integrity, associate with and help your children associate with those who revere God.
The third movement toward responsible integrity is to act on promises without regard to cost. We read this in verse 4b.
The psalmist is basically saying that we need to live up to our words with our wallet, our time, our attitude and our follow-through. When you say you’ll be there at nine o’clock, what time do you show up? When you say you’ll call, do you? When you said to your husband or wife, "I love you in sickness and in health; in poverty and in wealth," have you follow-through?
Our choice to act on our promises should not be determined by the cost. Some people have a calculator on at all times. I will be there, but let me calculate how much sleep I’ll have. I’ll show up, but let me calculate how much of the game I’ll miss on television. I’ll be God’s witness, but let me calculate how much money and inconvenience it will cost me.
Connie told me that Bill was a man who acts on his promises without regard to cost. I was impressed, first because a wife would praise her husband with such a high compliment. Second, I was impressed because I saw how Bill recently acted on his promises to God.
Last Sunday, Bill and Connie’s car was hit in a parking lot, and the person didn’t leave any information. When the police officer came, Bill was very gracious and even humorous. Bill used the opportunity to share his faith with the police officer.
Sometime in Bill’s life, he vowed to be a witness for God. I saw Bill keep his oath to be God’s witness even in an unfavorable moment. I also know from past conversations with Bill that he sees everything he has belonging to God. His gracious response to the hit-and-run demonstrated that he kept his word. If that car belonged to Bill, he would have been upset. Bill knew that car belonged to God.
If you want to move toward responsible integrity, don’t take the route of least resistance or least sacrifice. Don’t sacrifice to God that which costs you nothing. Turn off your calculator and follow through with your promises.
The fourth movement toward responsible integrity is to assist others without selfish ambition. We read this in verse 5a.
Although the Psalmist is writing about our relationship with the poor and powerless, we in general need to ask ourselves, "Am I helping someone because they need help and because God has given me the resources and opportunities, or am I helping someone with the expectation of getting something in return?"
A couple of weeks ago, I drove over to El Cerrito to meet with Pastor Winsome Wu. When we sat down at the Macaroni Grill, he said, "I’ll take care of lunch today." And I replied, "I know." Immediately I felt guilty, because it revealed that I was keeping track of the fact that I paid for lunch the previous time, and I expected him to pay this time.
Our record keeping for our advantage can corrupt what God wants to do through us to bless others. Romans 12:9 tells us, "Love must be sincere (or pure)."
Don’t just help those who can influence your promotion, but also help those who are below you in the company. Don’t just help those who can return a favor, but help those who have nothing to give back to you. Responsible integrity assists others without selfish ambition.
Instead of closing with a story this morning, let me close with this statement: If the desire of our lives is to have things always work out for our advantage, we may never develop responsible integrity. But if the desire of your life is to have God’s companionship, we will surely develop ressponsible integrity over time.
