Walking With Integrity

As I sift through the news headlines I am disturbed by what I see.  The news is filled with scandals, hate, gossip, vanity, and the list goes on.  Not that the news has changed much over the years, but for me it makes me wonder how we got here and how bad will things get before Christ's return.  Even as Christians we seem to get caught up in worldly affairs and what we know as blatantly wrong by God's standards seems to be the norm in the world.  This begs the question, as Christian's, are we walking with integrity?

Integrity is defined as 1) adherence to moral and ethical principals 2) the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished 3) a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition.  To break this down integrity means to be 1) incorruptible, 2) to be sound, and 3) and to be complete.  In other words, as Christian's, are we living the life we know we should be living, and being the light amongst the darkness, or are we reflecting shades of gray into the world?

If we look at some of the things that have just become the norm it really is scary.  Things like premarital sex, drug addiction, cosmetic surgery, body art, divorce, children out of wedlock, adultery, abortion, gay marriage, and the list goes on.  I know all of these issues have been around since the beginning of time, but it just seems to become more the norm.  Take the divorce rate, today the vows that people take when they get married mean less and less, generally speaking of course.  When we say "for better or worse, sickness and in health, till death do us part" it seems more tongue in cheek these days as we have our future spouse sign a pre-nup...really? 

As Christian's it is important for us to live with integrity by abiding in God's word.  We know what is right and wrong and we should live by God's standards, not societies.  Jesus said "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot." Matt 5:13. By being salty is having integrity in God's word.  If we go out and live by societies rules then where is our saltiness?  How can we lead people to Christ when we are living in sin and being hypocrites to God's word?  Not that we, as Christian's are perfect, as we are all are going to fall every now and then, but our lifestyle should mirror God's principles.  When our family and friends look at us they should say he/she lives by God's word and does so with integrity.

One of my favorite quotes is by Brennan Manning who really summarizes how a lack of integrity can impact the world when he said "The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door, and deny him by their lifestyle.  That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable".   Are we living with integrity?

TD