Josh Hatcher's Blog
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Shining Bright Part 2 – Integrity
Christmas time brings out the best in people. People often call it the “Christmas Spirit”. We should really try to emulate those qualities we see at Christmas time all year round. It’s not really a Christmas Spirit, but a Christ-like Spirit.
Throughout the month of December, Open Arms will be looking at what it means to “be a light”. Join Josh Hatcher on his blogging journey through the virtues behind illuminating the world around us.
Integrity
We’ve heard it a million times. “I will never go to church. Christians are all just hypocrites!”
Because there is a measure of truth in the statement, it is a stinging indictment on the lack of integrity that is present in the lives of people that call themselves Christians.
There are forces in the world that love to ignore Christians until they make a mistake, and then throw stones at them. A look at the cable news on any given day will have it’s share of sex abuse and embezzlement cases with a Christian leader at the center.
But I think that those high profile cases sometimes blind us to our own lack of integrity.
What if the people we come into contact with saw something different in us. What if they saw that we had integrity? What if we were always honest, and if we worked hard, and if we were the same person in the lunch room or on the work floor as we are at home and at church, without any false faces?
They would see that we are people of integrity. And that integrity would shine like a beacon. We would be known as trustworthy, as honest, as dependable.
INTEGRITY comes from the root word INTEGER, which is a mathematical word referring to a whole number.
The word integrity carries a connotation of wholeness, or complete-ness.
We should try to be whole. Try to be complete.
And that complete person should be the same all the time, constant, never changing.
Is there a side of us that we do not want people to know? Are there things about us that we would rather keep hidden? Do the people we come in contact with see the real us, or the front that we’ve become so good at putting up?
If we walk in integrity, than we are something fresh and vibrant in our world. We will stand out. We will attract attention, and we should be sure to direct that attention to the source of the joy in us: Christ Himself.
Throughout the month of December, Open Arms will be looking at what it means to “be a light”. Join Josh Hatcher on his blogging journey through the virtues behind illuminating the world around us.
Integrity
We’ve heard it a million times. “I will never go to church. Christians are all just hypocrites!”
Because there is a measure of truth in the statement, it is a stinging indictment on the lack of integrity that is present in the lives of people that call themselves Christians.
There are forces in the world that love to ignore Christians until they make a mistake, and then throw stones at them. A look at the cable news on any given day will have it’s share of sex abuse and embezzlement cases with a Christian leader at the center.
But I think that those high profile cases sometimes blind us to our own lack of integrity.
What if the people we come into contact with saw something different in us. What if they saw that we had integrity? What if we were always honest, and if we worked hard, and if we were the same person in the lunch room or on the work floor as we are at home and at church, without any false faces?
They would see that we are people of integrity. And that integrity would shine like a beacon. We would be known as trustworthy, as honest, as dependable.
INTEGRITY comes from the root word INTEGER, which is a mathematical word referring to a whole number.
The word integrity carries a connotation of wholeness, or complete-ness.
We should try to be whole. Try to be complete.
And that complete person should be the same all the time, constant, never changing.
Is there a side of us that we do not want people to know? Are there things about us that we would rather keep hidden? Do the people we come in contact with see the real us, or the front that we’ve become so good at putting up?
If we walk in integrity, than we are something fresh and vibrant in our world. We will stand out. We will attract attention, and we should be sure to direct that attention to the source of the joy in us: Christ Himself.
:: posted by joshhatcher, 3:30 PM
