Integrity - part one

A Starting Point

Integrity. A multitude of concepts are wrapped up in this significant word. We use integrated circuits (at least we used to) to keep appliances working; without them it was just an odd-sized weight on the kitchen counter. People are described as an ‘integral part’ of a team – a key to their success. At the heart is the meaning ‘unbroken’ – a solidity that cannot be disintegrated, dissolved or dissuaded. The last thing in the world you would expect to find broken is something with integrity.

Unfortunately, that has been proven over and over to NOT be the case. Politicians, corporate executives, televangelists, lay workers and even pastors have been found in recent days to be anything but people of integrity. The easy road is too often taken, the foundations eroded, the principles crumbled, the sins hidden, the truth disfigured; and the destructive wake of shattered faith, ruined lives and broken trust all point to the desperate need for men of integrity.

Becoming a person of integrity does not happen overnight. No potion exists to transform a liar’s lips into those of an honest man. No incantation is capable of making a faithful husband out of a lecherous louse. Those seeking quick fixes are better off going to a 30-minute oil changer!

The process found at Quickie Lube is remarkably similar to the one that will build the integrity you desire into your life. The process at the oil changers is simple: remove the old oil, replace the filter, add the new oil. That is the process, outlined in Ephesians 4:22 – 24, we will follow as well. The first step in becoming a person of integrity is to remove that which is destroying your integrity. Secondly, and most importantly, is to replace the filter. Too often we charge ahead and try to force the new oil through a clogged filter. It doesn’t work well for cars, and is even less effective on a person’s life. The significant transformation of integrity takes place in this second step, as it involves a transformation of the mind and thought processes. Finally, new oil can be added. Think of this as the practices of a transformed life.

I have two distinct presuppositions. First, I believe God has given His Word so you can know exactly what He intends you to know, so you can be exactly what He intends you to be, so you can do exactly what He intends you to do. This order is important: to try to do what pleases God before you are being what pleases God does not please God! Transformed lives produce transformed actions, not vice versa. Secondly, I believe integrity is comprised of three inter-related character qualities: faith, honor and discipline. These three themes will be discussed in depth as the study progresses.