Integrity

Integrity is more than knowing the right thing or knowing what the rules of the game are.

A man is being tailgated by a woman who is in a hurry. He comes to an intersection, and when the light turns yellow, he hits his brakes. I know...many of you hit the gas, but is that the correct response??? Anyway, he hits his brakes. The woman behind him goes ballistic. She honks her horn at him; she yells her frustration in no uncertain terms; she rants and she gestures. You can fill in the blanks.

While she is in mid-rant, someone taps on her window. She looks up and sees a police officer. He invites her out of her car and takes her to the police station where she is searched and fingerprinted and put in a cell. After a couple of hours, she is released, and the arresting officer gives her stuff back to her and says, "I'm very sorry for the mistake, ma'am. I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, using bad gestures and bad language. I noticed the 'What Would Jesus Do?' bumper sticker, the 'Choose Life' license plate holder, the 'Follow me to Sunday School' window sign, the Christian fish emblem on your trunk, and I naturally assumed you had stolen the car."

My friends, the world gets pretty tired of people who have Christian bumper stickers on their cars, Christian fish signs on their trunks, Christian books on their shelves, Christian stations on their radios, Christian jewelry around their necks, Christian videos for their kids, and Christian magazines for their coffee tables but don't actually have the life of Jesus in their bones or the love of Jesus in their hearts.

Integrity is much bigger than simply avoiding breaking the rules. It is becoming the kind of person who does the right thing. It means actually becoming the kind of person who wants to do the right thing as well. May the grace and love of Jesus Christ rule and reign in your hearts, minds, and actions today......and tomorrow!