MORE TO THIS LIFE: Integrity 8-6-23

MORE TO THIS LIFE: Integrity 8-6-23

 

INTRODUCTION

 

God is doing a new thing!

There has got to be more to this life!

The ontological question - What am I?  The inevitable question about God

The existential question - Who am I?  How should we exist?

Whose are we?

Why are we here?

What is your choice?

What is the point?

My story - How I got here?  How we got here?

What is your story?

 

Phase 2: Integrity

 

Quote: Francis Bacon:

• “It is not what men eat but what they digest that makes them strong;

• Not what we gain but what we save that makes us rich;

• Not what we read but what we remember that makes us learned;

• Not what we preach but what we practice that makes us Christians”.

 

One Sunday a pastor preached a sermon on honesty. Monday morning he took the bus took get to his office. He paid the fare, and the bus driver gave him back too much change. During the rest of the journey, the pastor was rationalizing how God had provided him with some extra money he needed for the week. But he just could not live with himself, so before he got off the bus, he proceeded to give back the extra money and said to the driver, "You have made a mistake. You've given me too much change."

 

The driver smiled and said, "There was no mistake. I was at your church yesterday and heard you preach on honesty. So I decided to put you to a test this morning."

 

We call that integrity.

               Curry Pikkaart

 

I.  WHAT IS INTEGRITY AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?

 

               A.  What is integrity?

 

Dictionary.com defines integrity as “adherence to moral or ethical principles.”

 

               B.  Why does it matter?

 

In 1912, Leon Leonwood Bean started a mail order business in Greenwood, Maine by selling a hunting boot with a money-back guarantee. However, defects in the design led to 90 percent of them being returned. Making good on the guarantee could ruin his fledgling business, but Leon kept his word, corrected the design, and continued selling the boots.

 

Today, L.L. Bean is one of the largest mail-order companies in the United States, in large part because it has continued the tradition of treating its customers with integrity.

(Louis Upkins Jr., Treat Me Like a Customer, Zondervan, 2009. From a sermon by C. Philip Green, Hot Pursuit, 2/19/2011)

 

II.  WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT INTEGRITY?

 

A.      Security v. Discovery

 

“Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.”

               Proverbs 10:9 NIV

 

         B.  Guidance v. Destruction

 

“The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.”

               Proverbs 11:3 NIV

 

               C.  God’s ways v. Other options

 

“May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, Lord, is in you.”

               Psalms 25:21 NIV

 

III.  HOW DOES INTEGRITY EFFECT OUR SPIRITUAL LIVES?

 

We might be like the Salesman I read about. He was waiting to see the Purchasing Agent so he could submit his Company’s bid. While he was waiting, he couldn’t help but notice that his Competitor’s bid was sitting on the Purchasing Agent’s desk.

 

Unfortunately, the actual figure for the Competitor’s bid was covered by a coke can.

He got to thinking: How could it hurt if he took just a quick look? No one would ever need to know. So he reached over and lifted the coke can. But his heart sank as he watched thousands of BB’s pour out from the bottomless can and scatter across the desktop.

 

It was a test set up by the Purchasing Agent … and he failed it. Needless to say, he didn’t get that company’s business.

               K. Edward Skidmore

 

               A.  The Lordship test

 

““Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

              Matthew 7:21-23 NIV

 

               B.  The hope test

 

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.”

               1 Peter 3:15-16 NIV

 

               C.  The honesty test

 

“For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of man.”

               2 Corinthians 8:21 NIV

 

Ken Wales is a TV and film producer, who has produced several, award-winning TV series and films, including Christy, East of Eden and the highly-acclaimed movie Amazing Grace.

 

Wales has enjoyed tremendous success as a producer, but he started his Hollywood career as an unemployed actor. Early in his career, Wales chose to turn down a significant role because it conflicted with his faith in Christ. While he was under contract with MGM, he was cast for a film starring Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Shirley MacLaine. At one point in the script, his character enticed a young woman to get drunk so he could take advantage of her. Wales described his decision to decline the role:

 

"I had been speaking to a lot of church groups and conventions around the country on the subject of making right choices. So when I read ... the script ... I had to meet with the director, Vincente Minnelli, to tell him I couldn't do it. He told me, 'You'll do it, or you'll be out of your contract, you'll go on suspension, you'll have no salary for a year, and I'll see that you never work in this town again.' I told him he'd have to find someone else, and he literally threw me out of his office.

 

"I was put on suspension," Wales said. "When the film came out the following year, I was speaking at a youth convention in Denver, to about 600 kids. We took a break at dinner time, and everybody piled out to see a movie and to get pizza. As we started to walk across the street, there was a huge marquee with a sign for the movie I'd turned down. And I thought that was interesting. What if I'd done that film and the kids had gone in and seen it?"

Marcia Segelstein, "Amazing Grace: Interview with Ken Wales," Salvo, Summer 2011.  From a sermon by C. Philip Green, Unqualified Leader, 8/27/2011

 

CONCLUSION

 

On December 2, Basque athlete Iván Fernández Anaya was competing in a cross-country race in Burlada, Navarre. He was running second, some distance behind race leader Abel Mutai - bronze medalist in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the London Olympics. As they entered the finishing straight, he saw the Kenyan runner - the certain winner of the race - mistakenly pull up about 10 meters before the finish, thinking he had already crossed the line.

Fernández Anaya quickly caught up with him, but instead of exploiting Mutai’s mistake to speed past and claim an unlikely victory, he stayed behind and, using gestures, guided the Kenyan to the line and let him cross first.

 

Ivan Fernandez Anaya, a Basque runner of 24 years who is considered an athlete with a big future (champion of Spain of 5,000 meters in promise category two years ago) said after the test:

“But even if they had told me that winning would have earned me a place in the Spanish team for the European championships, I wouldn’t have done it either. I also think that I have earned more of a name having done what I did than if I had won. And that is very important, because today, with the way things are in all circles, in soccer, in society, in politics, where it seems anything goes, a gesture of honesty goes down well.”

 

He said at the beginning: “unfortunately, very little has been said of the gesture. And it’s a shame. In my opinion, it would be nice to explain to children, so they do not think that sport is only what they see on TV: violent kicks in abundance, posh statements, fingers in the eyes of the enemy …”

 

“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”

               1 Peter 2:11-12 NIV

 

Integrity matters.  Even if those around you don’t notice; God notices.  The Bible has much to say about integrity.  Integrity has an impact upon our relationship with God.

 

INVITATION

It is our custom to offer an "invitation" following the preaching of the Word.  You may want to follow Jesus.  You may want to proclaim your faith.  You may want to repent (stop doing ungodly things and start doing Godly things).  Perhaps you want to be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Possibly, if you have already responded to God’s call in these ways, you would like to become a member of Kenwood Church.  If you have been moved by the Holy Spirit to make a decision in your life, you can come forward now.  If you would like, I would be honored to speak with you following the service about what God is doing in your life.