Dear Friends,
One of the best and simplest descriptions of integrity I've
read is the following: "integrity is honoring your commitment, and
behaving in the way you promised to behave, even when you don't feel like
it."
Steve Farrar tells the following parable told by a Hattian
pastor.
A certain man wanted to sell his house for $2000. Another
man wanted to buy it very badly, but he was a poor man, and he couldn't give
the full price. After much bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house to
the man for $1000. But the reduced price came with a stipulation. The owner
would sell the house, but he would keep ownership of a large nail, protruding from
over the front door.
Several years later, the original owner decided he wanted to
buy the house back. Understandably, the new owner was unwilling to sell.
As a result, the original owner went out, found the carcass
of a dead dog in the street, and hung it from the nail he still owned. Soon,
the house became unlivable, and the family was forced to sell to the owner of
the nail.
The Haitian pastor concluded the story with these words:
"If we leave the devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return
to hang his rotten garbage on it." Finishing Strong, Steve
Farrar, p. 61.
The one who is bald, doesn't suddenly
wake up and discover he is bald; it happens gradually, overtime, one hair at a
time, until we wake up and exclaim, "Yikes, I'm bald. "
The tiny cracks and fissures of our
moral foundation may seldom be seen by the outside world.
Sometimes we don't even see them
ourselves, but sooner or later, these fishers become cracks, and those cracks
become rifts, and suddenly, and without warning, just like an earthquake they
produce the destruction of a character, a relationship, or even life
itself.
It was only a white lie," we say.
"It's not a big deal," and we pass it off by saying "everyone
does it."
As Yvonne Castaneda writes,
"White lies are deemed acceptable because the intention is often a noble
one-to protect someone from feeling hurt. But white lies have more to do with
protecting ourselves. Many of us don't know how to embrace discomfort, and
white lies are an easy way out." "Are You a Chronic White
Liar," Yvonne Castaneda,Oct 3, 2023, taken off the internet.
We say to ourselves it is only a
little white lie, or a little exaggeration or a questionable secretarial
relationship, or a second glance-you get my drift."
Today I so appreciate the
financial integrity displayed by a church I once served.
Someone in the church wanted
to give me a pair of sneakers, but to receive them I was required to fill out a
lengthy report documenting the source and reason I was gifted in them.
Yes, such integrity may
make purchase orders and check requests more time consuming, but the church
knew as believers that we are not to even give a hint of impropriety in
conducting our business matters.
Some might say, having to
fill out an extensive form just because someone wants to give me a pair of
sneakers is going a bit too far, but no, not for the institution, organization,
or person who wants to keep those fissures from forming, those cracks from
developing, and those riffs from shifting and bringing down the foundation of
our character. It is not worth it. If we give the enemy access to even one nail
in our life, it places us in the high-risk bracket, and I don't want to
be in that group. It is just too costly.
David prayed, "May integrity and
honesty protect me, for I put my hope in you." (Psalm 25: 20)
What a great prayer for David, and what a great prayer for
you and me.
Yours in faith and friendship,
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