Integrity: Image of Gold or Feet of Clay?

An important, and often overlooked, aspect of Christianity is the matter of integrity. Integrity is being the same in public as you are in private, not having two standards, but a consistent one, so that those looking on can always tell your stance on things.

Unfortunately, nowadays integrity is not only less common, it is also less supported. A well-quoted saying is that “what people do in the privacy of their own homes is their own business,” and our culture in general seems to have taken a hold of that. Now, it doesn’t matter what we do in private, or when no-ones looking, as long as we act a certain way when in public. Integrity is relegated only to the work-place, not to the home.

Is it any surprise, then, that people are starting to lose their integrity altogether, both outside the church and within it? Now there are the problems of priests being sexually immoral, people stealing money from offerings, and others viewing ‘images’ online. As long as no-one finds out, the reasoning goes, then it doesn’t matter.

However, not only is this wrong thinking, it can seriously damage a person’s standing in the community if this character flaw is discovered, and, in the case of Christians, can seriously damage non-believer’s views of Christianity and God as well!

Just that statement alone should be enough to make us think about our values. The bible says that teachers will be judged more harshly, because they are responsible for instructing those who follow them in the right ways to go. The same applies for Christians who, by simply being a Christian, are giving an example to those around them of the right way to live. If they are not living the way they say they are living, then they will not only have to live with the consequences of their own actions, but with the repercussions this may have on those that look to them for examples of right and wrong.

I personally know how hard it is to be someone of integrity, and have struggled with being the same in private as in public myself, but I also know how important this aspect of life is, and so I am working hard to present a true image.

I want to reflect God as truthfully as I can. I don't want to have feet of clay, that will crumble if someone hits them. My faith has to be more real than that!

My God is far more important than that.