Is your life shaped by something a parent, grandparent, teacher, or church leader said to you? This question was asked on the radio the other day. A lady called in to say that her dad always said, “Do the right thing even when no one is looking.” And one day, her dad’s words became a reality when she was at the ATM machine and the person next to her left $80 in the machine. She thought, “I could use $80 right now.” But then her dad’s words flooded her mind. So, she did the right thing and turned the money into the bank. That’s walking with integrity.
According to our verse, integrity is a quality every Christian should walk in. Integrity means that you adhere to moral and ethical values. Hence, biblical values. And the church should be the one place where integrity is lived out, especially by leaders. Walking with the highest of integrity is the best way to show Christ.
Here’s a sad reality: integrity is often hard to find in the church. Why? Because believers are adept at compromising. Pastors, teachers, and ministry leaders should be the ones to set the example for their congregations, but instead, they often bow to pressures from inside and outside. We compromise in many areas: the television shows we watch, the movies we go see, relationships, parenting, our speech, our beliefs, and the list goes on and on.
So, what is so bad about compromising? Does God really care? Absolutely He cares! Paul warned the church at Corinth that if they continued to let division separate them, then “the cross of Christ would lose its power” (1 Corinthians 1:17). Compromising can do the same thing. I don’t know about you, but I want to draw others to Christ, not away from Him. I don’t want to be responsible for the cross losing its power. I don’t want my compromising to put a stumbling block in someone’s pathway. How about you? Let’s evaluate if we are compromising. Let’s walk in integrity.