~ Integrity As Christian Witness

I started thinking about this topic and then thought that I had better get my definition straight first.  So I Googled the word and got this “What is the definition of integrity?  Integrity implies honesty, fairness, ethics, and moral character.”  It is not that integrity is not found within the Bible: it is replete with instances of it. 

The problem is that there are others who could be defined by another definition of the word.  That definition being “1.Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.  2.The state of being unimpaired; soundness.  3.The quality or condition of being whole or undivided; completeness.” 

One of the best, or worst, examples of how this can work is Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan.  The priest in that tale could rightly claim to be acting out of integrity under “Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code” because under the Jewish law he stood the chance of rendering himself “unclean” if he came into contact with blood.

Here is the rub.  Jesus, in the Samaritan yarn, implied that the priest and his lawyer fellow traveller had acted in a way that was not in alignment with the Kingdom of God and yet the Samaritan, a member of a despised race, did do the right thing even though, as a Jew, the victim would not have treated him in the same way.  This hero of Samaria took honesty, ethics and morality to a cross racial bridge because he saw a need in the injured person who just happened to be a Jew.

So two thousand years later, or nearly, the question of integrity is still a major issue in our dealings with others.  The Golden Rule of “Do unto others as you would have others do it to you” is a good starting point but it is only that, a starting point.  Some have added “but do it to them first” as an postscript and then taken advantage of the people they “do” to.

Motivation is important in this respect.  It was the difference between the response of the Jewish religious figures and the Samaritan traveller.  Their integrity was self centred but the Samaritan saw a victim who needed help.  In the same way we can do the right thing for the wrong reason and hurt others in the process.

We need to see others through the eyes of love and treat them with the integrity of the Good Samaritan.  Most of us are pretty good at loving our brothers and sisters in Christ but find it a bit of a stretch to do the same with others who are outside of the Community of Faith.  True integrity must apply to all people not just those we relate to or those who can do us some good.

Jesus tells about this in Luke 14 when He healed a sick man at the home of an important Pharisee’s home

“When you give a dinner or a banquet, don't invite your friends and family and relatives and rich neighbors. If you do, they will invite you in return, and you will be paid back. ¹³When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. ¹⁴They cannot pay you back. But God will bless you and reward you when his people rise from death”. Lk 14:12 – 14

To paraphrase 1 Cor 13 three things are important love, loyalty, and integrity, but of these love will last.  Can we live this paraphrase to the glory of the Master and the benefit of others?