First, let me apologize for the cold sweat and the shivers down your spine that the word up there just caused. I know the feeling and let me tell you, I’m not a big fan of the discomfort I feel whenever I’m confronted with the big “I”. When this word first cropped up in the recesses of my mind, I decided to Google it. Big mistake let me tell you. A big mistake if you hate the truth, I have to add. I spent approximately five seconds looking at the definition and realized that I, like so many others, had no idea exactly what it meant.
Wikipedia’s first sentence immediately had me swallowing uncomfortably: “…a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations and outcomes.”
Dictionary.com didn’t help much either: “…soundness of moral character, honesty.”
And the Mirriam Webster version added the final accusing nail to the already doomed coffin of justification: “…Incorruptibility; an unimpaired condition; the quality or state of being complete or undivided.”
I don’t know about you, but all of a sudden I feel completely and utterly useless and incompetent. It begs the question: Who can truly live up to displaying a life of integrity?
And then the justification steps in. That coffin I mentioned earlier? It’s made up entirely of our justifications; trying to convince ourselves that integrity is an unobtainable virtue and as soon as we’ve convinced ourselves that integrity is not as important as we are lead to believe, we bury ourselves in a life of mediocrity and slavery to lies.
Do you know what I do when confronted with something like integrity? I close my eyes and hope it goes away. Like an ostrich I try and ignore my responsibilities. It’s not right, it’s not healthy and it won’t help me in the long run, but I still do it.
What do you think will happen if we keep ignoring integrity and it becomes extinct? I believe it will be an apocalypse of sorts. We will wake up to a world of ash and dust, breathing in chemicals that will leave us gasping for air. We will have to start a revolution just to ensure that integrity becomes a part of everyday life again.
And here’s the thing, integrity isn’t optional. God tells us in His Word: “Just say ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong.” (Matthew 5:37 MSG); and also in James 5:12 (MSG): “Just say yes or no. Just say what is true. That way, your language can’t be used against you.” It doesn’t get simpler than that: Say what you mean, mean what you say and do what is right. Don’t bend the truth to cover your behind and if you’re doing something that is technically not illegal but you still feel uncomfortable doing it? Guess what, integrity demands that you stop doing it immediately. We shouldn’t even be wandering around in the “grey areas”.
Look, I’m not saying this is an easy thing to do, but it’s definitely something we are all called and empowered to do. We have to be soldiers and warriors of the age of integrity. Ha! I’m getting all excited! I’ve always wanted to be a warrior. And look, I’ve even found us an anthem:
“I’m waking up, I feel it in my bones, enough to make my systems blow, welcome to the new age;” – Radioactive by Imagine Dragons.
