Main Idea: God’s power is our inner resource to resist the pressure to compromise our character.

Introduction: George Galatis was an engineer at Millstone Nuclear Power Station in Waterford, Connecticut, when he discovered something was wrong. Spent fuel-rod pools threatened to release radioactivity throughout the plant. The pools were not designed to serve as nuclear dumps. Federal guidelines required the Millstone plant to move only one-third of the rods into the pools, but Galatis found all of the hot fuel had been dumped into them. On other occasions, alarms would sound as the fuel was unloaded just 65 hours after a shutdown, far sooner than the mandated period of 250 hours. Supervisors winked at the routine violations, knowing they were saving millions in shortcuts. Fearing the violations could threaten thousands of lives, Galatis told his colleague George Betancourt they should contact the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Betancourt agreed but was concerned for his colleague's future. "You do that," he said, "and you're dog meat."

When Galatis urged plant managers to stop the hazardous practices, they refused. Since many of his supervisors were churchgoers, he was baffled. "This was not splitting hairs," Galatis says. "These were not technical issues. These were moral issues." Galatis warned his supervisors what could happen: eventual shutdown, decommissioning of the plants, and criminal investigations.

But after two years, nothing had changed—except the workplace atmosphere in which Galatis found himself. When he sat down in the cafeteria, coworkers left. When he entered a meeting, the room fell silent. Coworkers spread rumors that he was an alcoholic, and his performance evaluation suffered. Galatis began an intense search for God's guidance. He awoke at 4 a.m. to pray and read Scripture. During lunch breaks, he drove to a secluded place to pray and search the Bible. It was during one of these prayer times that Galatis believed God whispered to him, "Will you die for me?"

Though he feared for his safety, Galatis realized there were many ways of dying: his livelihood, his reputation, and his family were at stake. Previous whistleblowers' families had brooked intense emotional strain. Northeast Utilities, owner of the nuclear plants, would likely hire one of the nation's top law firms to fight him. How many men in their mid 40s can lose high-paying jobs and start a second career? After months of prayer and study, he concluded that no matter how much he was badgered, God would not allow him to be devastated. He decided to contact the NRC. They offered him no refuge.

When Galatis further petitioned the NRC to suspend Millstone's license, his cause became public and the pressure on him increased. Coworkers confronted him in the hallways and in his office. Some called him a fool; others said he was a troublemaker. He was subtly intimidated and harassed for months, and coworkers often told him, "Shut up and keep your job."

After four years of battling Millstone and co-worker pressure, Galatis finally obtained a severance agreement and left. The NRC never suspended Millstone's license, but three reactors were shut down for repairs at a cost of over $1 billion. A criminal investigation was launched. Millstone reactor 1 will never reopen. The Millstone 2 and 3 plants did not reopen until years later. Galatis is now 47 and attends Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, with hopes of becoming a pastor. (Adam Bowles, "A Cry in the Nuclear Wilderness," Christianity Today, Vol. 44, no. 11 (10-2-00), p. 66)

Helen Keller said, "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved." (Leadership, Vol. 17, No. 4) That statement is one George Galatis learned. It is one that the psalmist was learning in Psalm 141. For him, the outward pressures to compromise his character were growing greater by the minute. With a sense of urgency and almost panic he pleads with God to strengthen him within to enable him to withstand the outward pressures to sell out.

How you as a believer deal with the pressures of life tells you many things about your character. Crisis, pressure and temptation to yield do not necessarily make your character, but it does reveal it. John Maxwell says, "Adversity is a crossroads that makes a person choose one of two paths: character or compromise. Every time he chooses character he becomes stronger, even if that choice brings negative consequences." (The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, p. 4)

The question is, "Where does the power come from to choose character over compromise?" The answer is it comes from within! I believe that everything rises or falls on our character and character develops from the inside out. If you are the person you should be on the inside you will become the person you want to be on the outside.

How did the psalmist resist the pressure to compromise his character? Three things are found in these verses that can guide us: First, he admitted to God that the pressure was greater than he could withstand. Second, he analyzed the areas where the pressure was the greatest. Thirdly, he was willing to accept the correction he needed from resources he could trust.

The setting for this psalm is one with the tone of panic and urgency. It may have been that the writer has been to the Temple and is reflecting on the circumstances of his life. He has observed all the ceremonies and offerings of incense but rather than that bringing comfort to him, it is a place where he is confronted with the realities and threats that are all around him. So in a panic he petitions God to respond to him quickly as he pleads with God over and over. What you sense is the writer recognized that the threats of evil people are greater than he alone can endure. He fears the lust of "evil things," "acts of wickedness: (141:4), "those who do evil things" (141:5), "the wicked" (141:5) and those who would plot his ruin (141:8-10). Simply put, the pressure to join "the other side" is greater than he bargained for and he told God he couldn’t handle it.

My favorite Trey Stafford story is when he and Jenna found out they were having triplets. He called me up and without telling me what was going on he said, "Bruce, where does it say that God won’t put on you more than you can handle?" I said, "Trey, that’s not exactly what it says. You’re thinking of I Corinthians 10:13 that says, "But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can't stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it." It talks about temptation." He said, "Well, Jenna and I are having triplets!" I said, "Oh my, you need Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"

It is hard for us to admit that there are things we are powerless to control. That is especially true when it comes to the pressure to compromise our character. You and I imagine that even though the card your co-worker sent you was sexually inappropriate, you know it won’t lead anywhere. You think that visiting that website just to see what’s out there won’t bother you. You convince yourself that being alone at their house with the person you are dating won’t cause you to compromise your values. You really believe that chatting on line with a person who is not your spouse won’t hurt because, "Well, your spouse just doesn’t understand you." Or "They have problems that only I can understand" You get the picture? You think you can handle it.

If you feel the pressure to compromise is greater than you can handle, you have got to admit that to God. He will give you the strength to endure it and make a way for you to win. But you have got to stop denying the fact that you can beat it by yourself. Christ’s presence in you is your resource to withstand the pressure!

One of the reasons we do not withstand the pressures to compromise our character is we are reluctant to reflect on exactly where the pressure is the greatest. The psalmist locates three areas for him where he feels the pressure the strongest: his integrity, priorities and his values.

Pressure to compromise my integrity (141:3): Admittedly, there is nothing here that immediately addresses the issue of integrity. Yet if you follow what the writer says I think you’ll see the connection. He asks God to help him control his speech. One translation says, "Set a guard…." and "keep watch…" over his mouth and lips. He is aware that his speech can get him into a position where his integrity or character would be compromised. Isn’t this true for us? James writes of how powerful the tongue is, calling it a flame of fire that has the ability to ruin your whole life. He says, "It can turn the entire course of your life into a blazing flame of destruction, for it is set on fire by hell itself" (James 3:3-6 NLT). Jesus said, " The words you say now reflect your fate then; either you will be justified by them or you will be condemned." (Matthew 12:37)

Our speech is an indication of our character. Our words can elevate us or can destroy us. John Lennon’s son Julian said about his father, "I felt he was a hypocrite. Dad could talk about peace and love out loud to the world, but he could never show it to the people who supposedly meant the most to him: his wife and son. How can you talk about peace and love and have a family in bits and pieces-no communication, adultery, divorce? You can't do it, not if you're being true and honest with yourself."

(Julian Lennon (35), who was abandoned by his father, Beatle John Lennon, at the age of five; quoted in Servant, (Summer 1998), p. 9) Julian knew that no matter how much John sang, "All you need is love," what he really needed was integrity to live what he said.

One person said, "Integrity is like virginity—once you lose it it’s gone for good." (Andrew Entwistle, Captain, U.S. Army, in a letter to the editors of Newsweek (6/17/96), responding to an article on Navy Admiral Jeremy Boorda's suicide. Leadership, Vol. 17, no. 4.) Analyze your speech to see if you risk losing your integrity.

Pressure to compromise my priorities (141:4): The writer is concerned that his desires are going to get out of control and cause him to want what he knows God prohibits. He has set his priorities earlier on things that please God but now those priorities are being challenged by other desires. So he pleads for God to help him control his desires.

I John 2:15-17 warns us that the lust for things opposite to God’s priorities will destroy us. John says, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." I was amazed at the frenzy that was created by the New York Powerball Lottery. The almost $300 million in prize money made the lead story for almost two weeks before three of four winners were announced last week. People clogged the roads to New York trying to be the one in the 80 million to 1 odds of winning the jackpot. The gentleman from Kentucky a Mr. Edwards who won has stated that he will probably buy a Rolls-Royce he has had his eye on. "I'm not one to take a lot of money and splurge on mansions and this and that, but I am sure buying that Rolls,'" he said. Kentucky corrections officials said Edwards was convicted of robbery in 1981 and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was paroled and returned to prison several times before serving out his sentence in 1997. He also has a conviction for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The money doesn’t change your character. If you were a jerk before, you’ll be a bigger jerk with 300 million dollars.

Just when you thought it was safe—let’s talk about Gary Condit and Chandra Levy. Regardless of a direct mail letter, going on primetime with Connie Chung, and posing with your wife on the cover of People magazine. The fact that you compromised your priorities of fidelity and honor to yourself, family, constituents and country won’t go away. The words, "I hope you will understand that I am not perfect and I have made my fair share of mistakes" will not repair the damage! Take a long look. Is the pressure to compromise the priorities upon which you have built your life getting more than you can bear?

Pressure to compromise my values (Psalm 141:4): The writer pleads for God to help him not give in to the desire to "participate in acts of wickedness" or "share in the delicacies" of evil people. The word that is used for men or people is the word used to describe influential, powerful people. You get the sense that the writer is like Icarus, the figure in Greek mythology whose father made him a set of wings to escape a prison. As he flew the wax that held the feathers to the frame of the wings began to melt. He fell to his death in the ocean. Whenever a person "crashes and burns" after being a person of influence and power we say they flew "too close to the sun." The psalmist knows he is in danger of "flying too close to the sun."

Your values are those core commitments that guide you even if the circumstances have changed when you made that commitment. Keeping our values is not easy when we are pressured by the finer things that come to persons who have power and influence.

I have been somewhat disillusioned about the greatness of Thomas Jefferson after reading the bestselling biography of John Adams by David McCullough. Jefferson, much to my dismay, was a self-serving individual of the first degree. For example, when John Adams and Abigail were the first to live in the White House the country was so poor that they barely survived the privations of living there. Jefferson, it’s next occupant, on the other hand, installed a French chef and had a wine bill of over $2,500 a year! When Adams’s son John Quincy, then a senator during the Jefferson administration, became discouraged by such inconsistencies and hypocrisies in the president, his father told him, "Patience and perseverance will carry you with honor through all difficulties. Virtuous and studious from your youth, beyond any other instance I know, I have great confidence in your success in the service of your country, however dark your prospects may be at present. Such talents and such learning as you possess, with a character so perfectly fair and a good humor so universally acknowledged, it is impossible for you to fail."(p.587-588)

Adams knew that his son’s values had to survive the pressure! Are you being pressured to compromise your values?

Integrity, priorities, values—three areas where the pressure may be the greatest for you to sell out rather than stand strong!

III. What do we do if we admit the pressures are more than we can bear and then analyze where the heat is the hottest? We need to accept the correction from resources your can trust. (Psalm 141:5) The writer says that it would be better to be corrected by those who were godly than courted by those who are evil. He says that their correction is doing him a favor and brings healing to him. He recognized that any hope he has to get away from the pressure lies in the caution and correction he receives from those who walk close to God.

Paul calls this admonishing. He says, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom…"(Col. 3:16) To admonish someone is to care so deeply about them that you are willing to risk a relationship to save them from possible ruin to themselves. What are primary sources for correction and admonishment?

First is God’s Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit, if we are alert and will listen, will confront us. Another resource the Spirit will use is God’s Word, the Bible. II Tim. 3:16 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." A third resource is other people and that includes believers and unbelievers. God puts people into our path who can get our attention and steer us in the direction we should go.

However, the struggle is will we listen? We want to listen to those resources who will agree with us and blindly continue on our path until it is too late. Steve Benglass, a psychologist at Harvard Medical School, said that people who refuse correction at the expense of their character are destined for one or more of the four A’s: arrogance, painful feelings of aloneness, destructive adventure-seeking, or adultery. That first "A," arrogance, is what will prevent us from listening to correction that can save our life. To whom do you need to listen?

Conclusion: Where is the pressure causing cracks in your character? Can you admit that you are not handling it? Are you willing to analyze the places where your integrity, priorities and values are beginning to weaken? Will you stop the arrogance and accept your needed correction?

Let me close with four things that might help us resist the pressure to compromise our character:

• Search for cracks: Take a look, a long, hard look where you may be cracking under pressure.
• Look for patterns: Is there something that keeps coming back?
• Face the music: That means do whatever you have to do to repair the cracks.
• Rebuild: It’s time to put the past in the past and build a new future.

John Maxwell tells the story of a man who took his young daughter to a carnival, and she immediately ran over to a booth and asked for cotton candy. As the attendant handed her a huge ball of it, the father asked, ‘Sweetheart, are you sure you can eat all that?" "Don’t worry, Dad," she answered, "I’m a lot bigger on the inside than on the outside." That’s what real character is—being bigger on the inside.

Sunday, September 2, 2001

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org