by Luciano Cozzi We hear much talk about integrity or the lack of it especially about people in positions of responsibility and leadership. Yet, even with all these talks, we must admit that few really know what it means to have integrity, especially when things are tough. Is integrity just another way of saying that someone is honest? Or is there more to it than we perhaps realize? Defining the term If you were to check a dictionary, you will find that integrity is usually defined as a “strict adherence to a moral values, artistic principles, or other standards; complete sincerity or honesty,” or as the “state of being unimpaired; soundness,” and finally as “completeness; unity.”(1)  In its usage, “integrity” often pertains to being truthful and honest, and having moral soundness. In Scripture, integrity is often understood as the state of being complete and undivided in terms of righteousness (Psalm 7:8), uprightness (Psalm 25:21), without wavering (Psalm 26:1); blameless (Psalm 102:2). In the New Testament is it applied to teaching in Titus 2:7, but the concept of singleness of heart can be frequently found in other passages as well. Personal Experiences Perhaps the best way to understand what integrity really is, however, is to see it at work in the lives of biblical characters. Several people, in Scripture, are defined as being men and women of integrity, and a study of their character and their life-story can be quite helpful. Some of them are: Noah (Genesis 6:9), Abraham (Genesis 17:1), Job (Job 1:1, 8; 2:3), and David (1 Kings 9:4). Although a study of each character would certainly help and reveal much, we will focus on one of them in particular: Job. In his life story, we find great teachings and valuable help for our understanding of integrity, especially in times of great distress, when integrity is most challenged. Let's look at it together in the pages of your Bible. The Story of Job Read the first two chapters of the book of Job. Although we will focus on the second chapter, the first sets the background to the story, and will help you understand it in its proper context. As you read these chapter, and especially chapter two, outline the main events that occurred. Read Job 2:2-3. Why did God ask Satan to consider Job again?  What did God say that Job had maintained? Comment: Notice that although Satan had already challenged Job's faithfulness to God, Job had not given up his integrity. Read Job 2:4-5 Why did Satan say that it was no big deal that Job had maintained his integrity? Comment: Notice that Satan's accusation was not that Job had done something wrong. Satan did not question that. What he did question was Job's motive for acting righteously. Read Job 2:6-7 What authority did God give to Satan? And what did Satan do to Job? Read Job 2:9-10 What did Job's wife tell him to do? How did Job respond to his wife's suggestion? What was it that Job did not do in the midst of his troubles? Comment: Notice that despite all his troubles Job refused to listen to his wife's desperate advice. Instead, he decided to accept adversity for the sake of God, and refused to sin. So far, in the story, Job had maintained his integrity. Let's Understand Let's ask ourselves some questions, now, that will help us understand the point. In what way is it true that a person will give all he or she has for his or her own life? Comment: Think in terms of our self-centeredness and our sense of self-preservation. Although self-preservation is not wrong in itself, when it becomes the focus of our life it can distract us from what really counts. You may wish to compare this with the teachings of Matthew 6:31-34. Why is it hard to maintain one's integrity when bad things happen? Why is it easy to accept good from God but not adversity? What good things did you receive from the Lord? How did you respond? Now think about a time in which even through you prayed to God to remove a major trial from your life, He still allowed it to happen and to run its course. Did you see a shift in your loyalties and affections then? How should we respond when trouble comes? In our fallen nature, we are all so very concerned about ourselves and what we “get” out of our life. We all seem to seek happiness, wealth, health and fulfillment in this life. Then, when things go wrong, we tend to feel cheated, abandoned and unloved by God and by our friends and loved ones. When this is the case, our loyalties and affections have clearly shifted from God toward ourselves. Our integrity is undermined, and we can almost hear Satan mocking us and pointing out to God how our faithfulness to Him was not real after all, but was rather a facade of hypocrisy motivated by self-interest. Someone has said that it is all too easy for people to be great when all is well and things go our way, but true character and integrity of a person is demonstrated when things go wrong. Why? In simple terms because it is in adversity that the true motivation of our heart is manifest. It is when we no longer have anything to gain from our integrity in the here and now that our true loyalties and affections are shown for what they really are. Do we really love God? Or do we love what He can do for us? Do we really long for His Kingdom and righteousness, or do we rather long for the personal benefits we perceive in it? These are hard questions to ask, but the point to the very core of our integrity. Being a person of integrity, then, means remaining unimpaired and sound in God's righteousness and placing our loyalties and affections on Him regardless of our circumstances. It means rejoicing in His blessings and accepting adversity not for ourselves, but for Him. It means realizing that our own righteousness is not what it is all about, and that we rather need Jesus' righteousness to transform us and shape us in the image of our Lord. It means to learn to really trust God, His love, His wisdom and His sovereign power unconditionally to work out the best for us and for everyone else, through joys and pain, in His own time and way. It means to remain loyal to Him even when it hurts, not because we seek something else for us, but rather because we are won to Him by His infinite love and grace, and we can only respond by giving all of ourselves back to Him.

Endnotes:

1. Noah Webster, Webster's Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary (Montreal: Tormont Publications, 1990).