Articles
I Promise
Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGuire were all eligible for induction into Baseball’s Hall of Fame this year. Bonds is the all-time home run leader. Sosa is the fastest player in baseball history to hit 500 home runs. And McGuire is the single-season home-run leader. All should have been first-ballot inductees. All remain on the outside looking in.
Why? Because they cheated and then lied about their cheating. Lying and cheating – the two are so prevalent in American culture that they hardly raise an eyebrow. And so when Lance Armstrong finally admits what we’ve suspected for years or Manti Te’o confesses that he knowingly lied about the death of an imaginary girlfriend, we shrug and blame it on a culture that is spiraling ethically downward.
Jesus was the antithesis of that mindset. Peter’s firsthand conclusion was that “he committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth” (I Pet. 2:22). Think about that. Every word was accurate; every sentence was true. Not once did He fudge the numbers in His business; not once did He exaggerate the truth in His teaching. Nothing shady, nothing questionable – He was the epitome of integrity.
Clearly, we who wear His name and represent His interests in this world are to be of the same spirit. “As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (I Pet. 1:15-16). Understanding that, it is no wonder that Solomon observed, “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight” (Prov. 12:22).
And yet it’s easy to fear the immediate consequences of telling the difficult truth more than the eternal consequences of taking the dishonest escape. I think about Jesus on trial before Pilate. “I have the power to free You,” Pilate enticed. “Are you a king or not?” Jesus knew exactly what was on the horizon if He answered truthfully. He could have dodged and deceived – “A king? Do I look like a king to you? I’m just a carpenter from the little village of Nazareth.” Integrity would not allow Him to do so.
The application? If we are not willing to pay a price for integrity with our money, in our relationships, on our job or at our school, then what makes us think we would ever pay a price for our faith in a time of challenge or crisis?
There is, however, a huge price to be paid for a lack of integrity.
It makes us think we’ve fooled God when we haven’t. He is “the God who sees” and so “there is no creature hidden from His sight” (Gen. 16:13; Heb. 4:13).
Do we really believe that God doesn’t see us sign our name on a credit card receipt, promising to pay the debt we are incurring? Do we really believe that God doesn’t see us when we sign the agreement for a student loan, promising to pay the debt we are incurring? Do we really believe that God doesn’t hear when we find a clever, subtle way to circumvent the truth in our conversation?
All are matters of integrity. All speak to whether we are taking seriously our resolution to be “conformed to the image of God’s dear Son” (Rom. 8:29).
It makes us think we’re different from others when we’re not. Isn’t it amazing what we will allow in ourselves but condemn in others? We would be less than pleased if we learned that someone we trusted had lied to or deceived us. We would be less than pleased if someone owed a financial debt to us but then just walked away as though the debt didn’t exist. Didn’t Jesus say, “Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 7:12)?
It makes us think we have succeeded when we have failed. “If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless” (James 1:26). Dishonesty and self-deception go hand in hand. However, it’s foolish to play hide-and-seek with omniscience. Simply put, God knows.
A portion of the Cadet’s Prayer at West Point reads: “Make us choose the harder right rather than the easier wrong and never to be contented with a half-truth when the whole truth can be won. Endow us with courage that is born of loyalty to all that is noble and worthy, that scorns to compromise with vice and injustice and knows no fear when right and truth are in jeopardy.” If that is the code of a military cadet, how much more should it represent the character of one seeking to reflect the image of God?
(from Biblical Insights, April 2013, briefly edited for space)
