Main Idea: When our life is turned inside out, it is the quality of our integrity that shows.

One week ago today at approximately 5:00 a.m. a bus veered off I-55 near Terrell, overturned and cost the lives of 14 people. The bus was traveling south and had left Chicago late Saturday. The reason for the crash is still under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board with much speculation as to the cause of the crash. However, the one area of concern is the fact that the roof of the bus came off as it turned over. Here is what the AP article said, "The NTSB said the bus roof, which came off during the accident, is an area of concern. Past NTSB documents have raised questions about bus integrity, "with roof supports getting smaller as bus windows get larger." (Jonesboro Sun, 10/12/04, p. 1a). When the bus turned inside out the integrity, the quality, of the internal structure was exposed.

That’s what we are going to talk about today as we continue our series of messages called "The Quest for Character." We talked about humility, gratitude and faithfulness. Today we talk about integrity. The writer of Proverbs 10:9 says, "People with integrity have firm footing, but those who follow crooked paths will slip and fall." What I want us to see today is when our life is turned inside out it is the quality of our integrity that shows.

What are we talking about when we say "integrity"? Well, when the bus crashed the "integrity" of the internal structure is now questioned. Integrity in that sense refers to the soundness, quality or completeness of the structural design. We use it to refer to someone’s character as being unimpaired, complete and undivided. It comes from the word "integer, "which means to be complete or indivisible. If someone has integrity, then we would say they are a person who doesn’t say two things at the same time. They don’t say one thing and then do something else.

The word used for integrity in Proverbs 10:9 meant something that was undivided, complete, finished or firm. In the New Testament when Jesus was referred to as having integrity it meant something that was not concealed. In other words, you saw someone or something for what it really was. When the Jewish leaders tried to get Jesus to say something wrong they said what they knew to be true about him. "We know you are a man of integrity." They were saying that Jesus was a person who was truthful and that what he was on the inside came through clearly on the outside. His integrity was complete or undivided.

Now you and I can see that if integrity means that what is on the inside comes through on the outside, then we need a lot of work. The reason is that most of us don’t want what is on the inside exposed. We like for people to think that who we really are is what they see on the outside--that we are not thinking what we are thinking, don’t have the motives that we really have and are not the person that we really are. We don’t want people to know what we are really like if our life was turned inside out! We don’t want to admit that when it comes to the integrity of our life that the quality is pretty weak.

God’s goal for a believer is to make the inside of you just like the inside of Jesus. He does this so that when you face life situations that turn your life inside out people see that you are like Jesus. God works from the inside out rather than the outside in. The "make over" that God is concerned with is what you and I are inside. This is a process that takes time but once it begins it is absolutely liberating! The reason is that we don’t have to worry about pretending and faking because who we are is like Jesus. Erwin McManus says, "When we build our lives on truth and live by that which we know to be true, we begin to live from the inside out." (Uprising, p. 71)

What exposes our integrity? Essentially, life situations that give us the chance to show what we really are inside. This morning I want us to look at some people in the Bible who were identified as having integrity. I also want us to see the life situations they faced that exposed their integrity. I believe you’ll find yourself in some of these people and their circumstances. You may not like what you see but may our prayer be, "Change me from the inside out, and they’ll see Christ in me." (Song by Sarah Groves)

Let’s start with Job. In Job 27:5 Job says, "I’ll not deny my integrity even if it costs me my life" (MsgB). What was the life situation that caused Job to say this? Job was struggling with pain that seemed unfair. The whole story of Job was that Job was a very good and righteous man that God allowed to suffer some very hard things. His children were killed by a natural disaster, thieves came and stole his livestock and he himself experienced great physical pain. The challenge of the entire book was that bad stuff is supposed to happen to bad people so why did bad things happen to a good man like Job.

Through all of this Job remained on the outside the same man he was in the inside. God said about him that even though all these bad things had happened, he still "maintains his integrity" (Job 2:3). His wife, through her own grief, asked him, "Are you still holding on to your integrity?" (Job 2:9). His "friends" come and try to tell him that the reason all this has happened to him is because he has sinned and he just won’t admit it. In response to their accusations he says, "There is no way I’ll ever agree to your accusations. I’ll not deny my integrity even if it costs me my life" (Job 27:5 MsgB).

When we encounter pain that seems unfair, it turns us inside out. It can be an illness, a death, a divorce, a child, a job—any number of things can hit us that create pain. You ask, "What did I do to ever deserve this?’ Many times the answer is absolutely nothing. Yet it will be the pain that seems unfair that will expose the integrity of our faith in God. Job never gave in to the accusation that he was wrong but in the end he discovered through the mystery of pain that seemed unfair that God was God and he was not God. For some of us it may take pain that seems unfair to get us to a place where we decide if we really believe! Pain that seems unfair exposes the integrity of our faith.

Another person known for his integrity is David. The writer of Psalm 78:72 said about David as king of Israel, "And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them" (NIV). In a variety of ways David was known for "the integrity of his heart." When he is offering a gift of thanks to God he tells God that he is doing this with the "integrity of my heart." After David died, God tells his son Solomon that he is to rule like David his father, "with integrity of heart" (I Kings 9:4). What was the life situation that turned David’s life inside out exposing his integrity? It was his struggle with power that could be abused.

You wonder how David could be a man of integrity when he used his power as king to commit adultery with a woman named Bathsheba and manipulated the murder of her husband. It was in the fact that when he was confronted with his sin he was broken by what he had done. David knew that he had failed the test of integrity and he was a changed man. David would choose thereafter to be true to what his heart knew as right.

Power is something that is given to us that unfortunately can be abused. It’s not the fact that we have power that’s wrong; it’s what we do with that power that challenges us. What you do with the power you have in your business, your family, your relationships, your responsibilities will expose the integrity of your heart. Power exposes whether or not God can trust us with an opportunity to do what is right. Power than can be abused exposes the integrity of our heart.

In the book of Nehemiah we find another person that the Bible mentions as having integrity. In Nehemiah 7:2 we discover a man named Hananiah. Nehemiah says, "I put in charge of Jerusalem…Hananiah, the commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most men do." Nehemiah’s job was to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem after they had been torn down by the Babylonians. He did this with threats coming at him from those who opposed Jerusalem being rebuilt. In order to keep the city strong against all opposition he had to have people of strong character in areas of leadership. He put in charge a man named Hananiah who was known to have two key characteristics: integrity and an extraordinary fear of God. What was the life situation that exposed Hananiah’s integrity? His integrity was exposed as he faced pressures that could weaken his courage.

Hananiah faced the pressure of people who wanted the work of Nehemiah to fail. The fear of attack was so great that they had to have some do the manual labor while others looked for an attack. Some even worked with one hand building the wall and other hand holding their weapon. Throughout this time of intense pressure that turned Hananiah’s life inside out he never wavered in his integrity and his fear of God. He never weakened under pressure because when you fear God you fear nothing else.

Erwin McManus says, "Courage is the ultimate expression of integrity…Courage is what integrity looks like when facing the forces of darkness and evil." (Uprising, p. 75) When pressures turn your life inside out, what is it that is seen? Is it courage? The pressures to weaken your integrity can come in any direction. Your boss, your friends, your family, the devil, your desires all can come together and pressure you to not be a person of courage. If you fear God then you really have nothing else to fear. When pressures come that can weaken your courage, it’s your integrity that everyone sees!

Another person that demonstrated integrity is a woman named Deborah. Deborah was a leader of the nation of Israel in one of the darkest times of its history. It was very unusual for a woman to be given such leadership responsibility as Deborah had. Yet she showed a tremendous amount of integrity when problems threatened the security of her people. What was Deborah’s life situation that exposed her integrity? It was the nations that had overrun the people of Israel, destroying their ability to simply live life and depriving them of their freedom. When no one else seems to be willing to do anything about it, she invites a man named Barak to join her in correcting the situation. So Judges chapter four records the story of Deborah and Barak leading an army of 10,000 men to overthrow their enemies.

In Judges 5 Deborah writes a song that describes what things were like under those oppressed them: "The roads were abandoned" (v. 6), people "took to winding paths" out of fear, "village life in Israel ceased" (v 7) and the people had no weapons (v. 8). She says this was the way it was "until I, Deborah, arose, arose a mother in Israel" (v. 7). When problems grew to a point that they threatened the security of her people, Deborah said, "Enough!" Her integrity showed when she decided to do something about the problems that threatened those under her responsibility!

What are the problems that threaten the security of those under your responsibility? There are problems that threaten the security of your marriage, your children, your business, your community and your faith. The question is: Are you and I going to sit by and do nothing? We each face a moment of truth when these things confront us. Erwin McManus says, "It’s when we face a moment of truth that our integrity is tested and proven genuine or not." (Uprising, p. 72) Problems that threaten our security and the security of those for whom we are responsible bring us to a moment of truth where we discover the true quality of our integrity.

There’s one last person of integrity that I want us to see and that is Jesus. The verse from Mark’s Gospel recalls the Jewish leaders coming to Jesus and using the truth about him to trick him. They say, "Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are; but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth" (12:14 NIV). What this tells us about Jesus was that when people tried to corrupt his devotion to God it was his integrity that repelled them! They knew, you see, what he was like inside. That he was not influenced by the persuasion or position of people and that he would speak or teach the truth regardless of the circumstance or consequence.

Of all the life situations that reveal our integrity it will be people who will try to corrupt our devotion to God that tests us the most. Pain, power, pressures and problems all may involve people but it will be those face-to-face confrontations with people that truly test our integrity. Will we be influenced by the persuasion of people and the position of people to corrupt our devotion to our integrity and ultimately our devotion to God? When we lack integrity we struggle with being several people at the same time. We know we should be devoted to what we know to be true but that devotion gets corrupted by the attempts of people to manipulate us from the truth. What person is trying to corrupt your devotion to your integrity? My challenge to you is to live as a person who is true to their integrity.

"People with integrity have firm footing, but those who follow crooked paths will slip and fall." Unless we are solid in our integrity then we risk losing our grip when life turns us inside out. Pain, power, pressures, problems and people can create life situations that reveal the quality of our integrity. The truth is we never really know when they are coming.

In the fall of 1992, a popular American yachtsman named Michael Plant began a solo crossing of the North Atlantic from the United States to France. His midsized sailboat, named the Coyote, was equipped with every high-tech device, material and design that would make his voyage a success. His sailboat was state of the art. Plant was an expert sailor who had everything to help him succeed—the best of expertise, experience and equipment. Everyone assumed, including Michael Plant himself, that nothing could go wrong. Yet something did go wrong and eleven days into the voyage all radio contact with Plant was lost.

Everyone assumed that he would show up, that someone of his ability and with his ship that he couldn’t fail. Finally, a search was launched and the Coyote was found floating upside down with no sign of Plant.

There were many ironies about the incident: Why he didn’t he use his raft, why he didn’t register his signal with the Coast Guard, why a short distress signal was ignored, but the biggest irony of all was why his sailboat was found upside down. Sailboats are designed to right themselves when wind and waves push them to one side or another. So why was Plant’s sailboat upside down?

It was this: Sailboats are designed to have more weight below the waterline than above it. An 8,000 lb weight was bolted to the hull on the inside of the Coyote to keep it from capsizing. What no one knows is why the 8000 lb ballast broke away. But when investigators got to the boat, it was gone. Without any weight below the waterline, the first wave that hit Michael Plant and the Coyote was a deathblow. Why? There was no weight belong the waterline to insure stability. (The Life God Blesses by Gordon MacDonald, p. 1-4)

Integrity, my friends, is the weight below the waterline of your life that keeps you from sinking. Without it, when life turns you inside out you are toast. With it and whatever life situations come, you stay afloat. McManus writes, "Perhaps the most amazing thing about integrity is when you still choose to do what’s right, when you are all alone, no one sees you, and no one will know what you do. It’s a wonderful thing when you look inside your own heart and like what you see." (Uprising, p. 83) When our life is turned inside out, it is the quality of our integrity that shows.

Sunday, October 17, 2004

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org