Living A Life Of Integrity
Romans 12:2

A lawyer is trying to call his clients. The phone rings and their little boy, in a whisper, says, "Hello."
Lawyer: "Is your mommy there?"
Boy: (whisper) "Yes."
Lawyer: "Can I speak with her?"
Boy: (whisper) "She's busy."
Lawyer: "Is your daddy there?"
Boy: (whisper) "Yes."
Lawyer: "Can I speak with him?"
Boy: (whisper) "He's busy."
Lawyer: "Is there anyone else there?"
Boy: (whisper) "The fire department."
Lawyer: "Can I talk to one of them?"
Boy: (whisper) "They're busy."
Lawyer: "Is there anybody ELSE there?"
Boy: (whisper) "The police department."
Lawyer: "Well, can I talk to one of THEM?"
Boy: (whisper) "They're busy."
Lawyer: "Let me get this straight, your mother, father, the fire department AND the police department are ALL in your house, and they're ALL busy. WHAT are they doing?"
Boy: (whisper) "They're looking for me."

Many in the world today think they are able to hide from God.
The ancient Chinese were So fearful of their enemies on the north that they built the Great Wall of China, one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.
It was so high they knew no one could climb over it, and so thick that nothing could break it down.
Then they settled back to enjoy their security.
But during the first 100 years of the wall’s existence, China was invaded 3 times.

Not once did the enemy break down the wall or climb over its top. Each time they bribed a gatekeeper and THEN marched right through the gates.
According to the historians, the Chinese were so busy relying upon the walls of stone that they forgot to teach integrity to their children.

The editor of a popular magazine, has written rather despairingly: "What is going on in North America?. . .
We have no built-in beliefs, no ethical boundaries.
`Cheat on your taxes, just don’t get caught.
Cheat on your wife, just don’t get caught.’
Our high-tech society," he writes, "has given us everything - everything but a conscience," and integrity is a mangled casualty of our times.

Is this editor right?
Have we lost all sense of decency in our nation today?
Has our conscience been so damaged that we no longer recognize what is right and wrong?
Is integrity simply an old-fashioned and out-of-favor virtue?

By the way, what is integrity?
Simply put, integrity is more than just telling the truth.
Integrity is doing what you said you would do.
Integrity means keeping your promises.
Integrity means that your words and your actions are the same. In other words, you practice what you preach.
As someone has said, "Integrity is the foundation stone for eternal life."

So let’s look at ourselves this morning and ask the question, "Am I living a life of integrity?"
If not, then I had better scrap my present value system, determine what is important, and change my lifestyle because my salvation depends upon it.

Remember, it was Jesus who said in Matthew 16:26, "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?"

So our first question is, "What is the source of my values?
I’m getting them from someplace.
Where am I getting them?"
Now that is a very important question, because where I get my values determines how valuable they are.
As a nation, we’re largely being molded as to what morality is, what decency is, what integrity is by what we see on the TV set.

Listen to what it says in 1^st John 2:15 & 16.
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world.
If anyone loves the world,
the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh
and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—
is not from the Father but is from the world.

It’s obvious, isn’t it, that the world’s value system has always remained the same.
This verse tells us that there are 3 basic world values that are constantly being conveyed to us.

The first one is pleasure.
John calls it "the lust for physical pleasure."
We are a culture majoring in pleasure.
Do you realize that the #1 industry in the U.S. is entertainment? We spend billions of dollars every year just trying to entertain ourselves.

LAST SUNDAY, on a cold snowy morning there were only a few of us that made it to the building for worship services while there was tens of thousands of people in Denver Colorado who paid 100’s of dollars each for the privilege of sitting on a snow covered seat and watching 22 guys beat each other up as they fight over an oblong ball on a frozen snow covered field.
And in the name of entertainment these spectators will be saying, "Boy, am I having fun. This is really great.
I’m freezing to death, but I’m having a wonderful time."
All in the name of entertainment!

Here’s the second world value – earthly possessions.
John calls it "the ambition to buy everything that appeals to you."
We are a culture obsessed with buying things, getting more and more things.
And we love to show off our possessions, our cars, our homes, our clothing, our jewelry.
We love to show those things off because We believe these things say that we are someone important.

AND, the third one is prestige.
John calls it "the pride that come from wealth and importance." We come up with little labels that brand us as successful people. "I’m a CEO," or "I’m an Executive Vice President.
I am someone who is really, really important."

That’s why Paul writes in Romans 12:2,
"2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

So we begin here. We choose for ourselves.
"Where am I going to get my values?"
I have only two basic choices.
I’m either going to get them from the Word of God or I’m going to get them from the world.
Those are the choices that I have.

Secondly, we need to determine what is important.
Job 34:4 says, "Let us choose what is right; let us know among ourselves what is good."
I want to give each of us a homework assignment.
When we go home, get out a piece of paper and pen, and write down the 10 most important things in our life.
Prioritize them. What’s the most important?
What’s the second most important?
The third most important, and so on.
Make a list of our values in life.

Now it is important for us to do that for a couple of reasons.

1. Most of our values we didn’t choose.
You just assimilated them. You got them from your parents. You got them from what you read, or whatever.
So, it is important for you to firm them up.
"I’m going to determine now what’s really important for me. I’m not going to let someone else decide that, but I am going to decide what’s really important for me." AND,

2. most of us never think about what’s important in life until it is too late. As long as we are just cruising through life and everything is falling into place, we never stop and ask the tough questions.

We never really ask ourselves, "What are my values?
What’s really important to me?" until we are bankrupt.
Or until we go through a divorce. Or until a loved one dies.
Then we stop and ask, "Am I living the way I ought to?
Are the really important things the things that I consider important in my life?"

It’s often not until tragedy comes that we begin to ask those kinds of questions. So what I’m encouraging you to do, is to do that before the pain, and save yourself some pain, because the pain will come but you will be better prepared for it if you have already determined what’s really important to you.
So make a list.
"Here are the things that are really important to me."

Now how are you going to decide what is really important and what is not? The key here is perspective.
Now by perspective I mean, look at it and ask, "How long is this going to last?"

If it is going to last for a long time, if it is going to last for eternity, then it is really important.
If it is going to last 30 years it is kind of important.
If it is going to last 10 years it’s kind of important, but not as important as 30 years.
And if it is only going to last for a short time, then it is not very important at all.

Now when you use that standard and compare it to what the world says are values, then notice what you come up with.
Here are the 3 valuable things according to the world:
The first is pleasure.
Listen to Hebrews 11:25. "25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin."
Did you know sin was fun? I thought so.
Yes, sin is fun, and if it weren’t fun, no one would do it. Right?

1. The pleasures of sin are real. They’re described in Scripture.
But how long does it last?
A short time. Therefore it is not very valuable.
The pleasures of sin last a short time.
The pain of sin lasts a long, long time.
So when you consider the first worldly value, it doesn’t last very long.

2. What about possessions?
Paul writes in 1^st Timothy 6:7, "7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world."
Have you ever seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul?
And when a millionaire dies and someone asks, "How much did he leave?"
The answer is always, "He left it all."
He didn’t take anything with him because what you accumulate in life is only going to be yours for the span of your lifetime.
You didn’t bring anything into this world.
You’re not going to take anything out of this world.

So how valuable are possessions?
Not very valuable, because they’re not going to last very long.

3. What about prestige?
In Mark 10:31, Jesus tells us that many people who seem to be important now will be the least important then. When? In eternity.
The King James version says, "The first shall be last, and the last shall be first."
In other words, there is going to be a reversal in order.
People who are in front of the line who really appear to be important now,
are not going to be very important at all in eternity.

And the people who don’t appear to be very important at all, are going to be extremely important in heaven.
So how important is power, position, and prestige in this life?
Not very important because they are not going to last very long. In fact, 1^st John 2:17 sums it up saying,
"17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."

WITH THIS IN MIND
I’m going to look at the list of 10 things that I consider important and then ask myself, "Does my life match up?
Am I living in accordance with my God given values?"

Now that is an extremely important question, and we need to be honest with ourselves here because the Gallup poll says,
"The #1 cause of stress in our lives today is not the lack of money, and it’s not the breaking down of relationships, it’s the inconsistencies in life.
It’s saying one thing and doing something else.
It’s constant conflict inside."

Ephesians 4:17 tells us that "you must no longer walk
as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds."
That’s no life for you...Get rid of it.
Then take on an entirely new way of life – a God fashioned life renewed from the inside and working out into your conduct as God reproduces His character in you."

We’re talking about a new life here.
A life centered around Christ.
But many of us find it hard in our extremely busy lives to also have time for what God wants us to do.

So, Paul wrote in Philippians 4:13,
"I can do everything God asks me to do with the help of Christ who gives me strength and power." With the strength and power of Jesus Christ, you can.

Paul writes to Timothy in 1^st Timothy 4:16 and tells him
to "keep a close watch on all that you do and think.
Stay true to what is right and God will bless you,
and He will use you to help other people."

I will close this morning with this story:
While on summer vacation at his grandparent’s farm, Sammy accidentally shoots his grandma’s pet duck with his slingshot. In a panic, he hid it behind a pile of wood. Unknown to him, his sister Marie saw the entire thing.
The next day, Grandma called on Marie to wash the dishes. However, instead of coming to help, Marie said, “Sammy said he wanted to help in the kitchen today, Grandma.” Sammy was surprised because he said no such thing.
Marie walked up to him and whispered, “Remember the duck?”
It was then that he realized Marie saw what had happened.
This went on for several days until one day, Sammy couldn’t take it anymore!
He went to Grandma and told her about everything that had happened.
Instead of scolding him, his Grandma hugged him and said, “I knew all along. I was waiting to see how long before you tell me so Marie will stop blackmailing you.”

The Moral:
Be honest about your mistakes.
There will be others who will have no qualms about using this information against you.
The more mistakes you make in secret, the heavier the burden on your conscience will be, and the easier it will for other people to take advantage of you.