What Does the Bible Say About Integrity?

Following a message on humility, Erwin continues his "Uprising" series based on his book of the same name..  "We began a great quest...for honor...a journey that all of us need to take...that will lead us to this virtue of courage...Without courage, you will never unleash your full potential or realize your dreams."  Sometimes it seems like there are courageous people and then there are the rest of us.  The courageous people seem to have this natural DNA where they don't experience or feel fear.  But if we study courage, we began to realize that courage is simply the absence of self.  It is an extension of humility.  Last week we learned humility leads us to courage.

As for integrity, it's not as compelling or as highly viewed as other traits.  It's easy to be successful without integrity, right?  Sometimes, integrity even seems like a liability!  It can slow us down and hold us up.  What we will discover in our study is that, without integrity, we cannot withstand the test of time.  We won't have resilience.  We won't be able to make it through tests and trials without spoiling our soul.

The root word of "integrity" is the Latin word "integer" which means "whole" or "complete".   The mathematical application of the word is a number that is not expressed as a fraction or as a decimal.  It is a whole number.  Integers form the foundation and the baseline for all other mathematical thought.  They connect with all other functions.  Therefore, integrity can be associated with the concept of connectivity; the need to connect or to "integrate".   Think about the importance of integrity on a ship or on a plane.  What if either lacked integrity!?!  "You might as well go ahead and send your last text message" because when these vessels, which hold and connect everyone on board, lose integrity, they lose their ability to protect you.  The integrity of the engines, the hulls, the steering, the controls and the communication are all of vital importance.

So, we can see the need for integrity is virtually all around us.  In fact, we trust that most places have maintained their necessary level of integrity.  When they do not, we hear about them, such as the fertilizer plant in Texas which experienced a chemical compromise and the plant exploded with such intensity, it could be felt 50 miles away.  Thirty five people died when integrity gave way.  Two brothers decided that, because of their lack of integrity and their distrust of the integrity of others, they would place bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.  Hundreds were injured.  We know about the lost integrity of the ground beneath an entire community in China.  When the ground finally gave way, a landslide decimated the town and killed thousands of people.  We know how important it is to maintain integrity.

One individual who walked the journey and held integrity was David; King David from the Bible.  David was our Maximus.  He was the William Wallace of Braveheart.  "David was Peter Parker, Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent all wrapped up in one".  Yet David was an incredibly flawed person.  He stole another man's wife and sent that man to his death in battle.  But integrity is not about being faultless; it is about being "falseless".   It is not about attaining perfection; it's about discovering intention.  Lets go back in the life of David, back when he was a teenager.  David had the job of looking after sheep, which was not the job for future kings.  His brothers were far more noble in their careers as soldiers.

We read in the bible that, one day, the army in which his brothers served was faced with battling the Philistines.  These two armies decided to have their best warriors fight to determine victory.  But the Philistines had a secret weapon named Goliath.  David showed up on the battlefield delivering cheese and he heard the taunting of Goliath.  David was shocked and asked "Is there no one to step up against him?"  Showing great selflessness, David said "I'll take care of it!"  This was condescending, naive and insulting to the soldiers.  His own brothers dismissed him, but David was confident.  He tells the king that he is qualified to fight Goliath.  He talks about how he went after lions and bears who had taken his sheep.  He killed the wild beasts and declares that Goliath will end up the same way.  He says the Lord who delivered him from danger in the lonely field would also hand him victory over Goliath.  This was an amazing sell because David's resume that he presents is one he built when no one was looking!!  In what was probably and unbelievable response, Saul tells David to "Go, and may the Lord be with you".  We all know what happened next.  But see, David let's us know in this passage that, what we do in secret forms our character.

1 Samuel 16, right before the passages about Goliath, we read about the prophet Samuel going to the house of Jesse looking for the the future king.  Jesse's hearty sons parade in front of Samuel, one by one, but none of them are chosen by the Lord.  Samuel himself thought a number of times that he was looking at the future king because of their physique, but each time the Lord whispered "No".  This reminds Erwin of the times when he was young and when he got picked last on the football team.  Sometimes, when we see someone tall and good-looking, there can be this form of judgement.  But the Lord doesn't look at the things people look at.  Rather, the Lord looks at the heart.  Samuel turned down each sons in succession and finally asked a question he shouldn't have had to ask!!  "Are these all the sons you have?"  What kind of father would leave out one of his sons!?!  Most dads would bring ALL their sons, right?  It is almost as if Jesse assumed David could not possibly be the one to be chosen.  When Samuel learns of the other son, he tells no one to sit down until David arrives.  Finally, David comes and he is described as being healthy and vibrant.  This story of David describes integrity as a key virtue of those whom God chooses to do His work.  It is integrity of the heart.

In Psalms 78:70-72, we read,  He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; 71 from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance.  72 
And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.

Proverbs 28:3 says "Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those who do evil, who speak cordially with their neighbors but harbor malice in their hearts."

When you pursue the virtue of integrity, you'll find the unexpected virtue of courage and you'll find that nothing can take it either away.  Your integrity becomes your armor.  Everything God creates was meant to be integrated.  The entire universe is integrated.  When you think about things like aerosols destroying the ozone, we realize that we as humans are actually affecting everything around us.  But this only matters if life matters.  If life doesn't matter, lets just destroy everything!  Something inside us knows we are supposed to protect the innocent and unprotected species.  We know we are supposed to protect doves and beetles, oceans and atmospheres.  Have you ever noticed that everything else around seems to have more integrity than humans.  A baboon has more integrity because it is true to itself.  Whatever it does is the true nature of a a baboon!  Gravity is consistently gravity.  It is mathematically a feature of integrity.  There is not a single antelope who wakes up and decides it never wants to an antelope again.  If an antelope decided it wanted to be the hunter one day, then it would be a very short-lived dream.

One day, Erwin went grocery shopping with his wife, Kim.  While she shopped for the household, he wandered to gather his own.  Eight bags of popcorn and two cases of diet root beer later, he found himself in the produce section.  "Did you know there is a section in Pavillion (the grocery store) that is filled with fruits and vegetables!!   I know!  It is amazing!".  While mulling around the fruit section, Erwin gathered some bananas and started thinking...  When you buy a banana, you are technically just buying banana peels, right?  If the universe had no integrity, there might not be a banana in the peels.  We buy peels knowing there is a high probability that a banana is inside, but we don't know 100%.  There is an element of "faith" the banana even exists.  We assume it's not a cantaloupe.  Most of us have never even thought about whether or not there is a banana inside because we have such "faith".  Have you ever gone to the store and bought a watermelon.  You might have only bought a watermelon rine, but you had faith that there was watermelon inside.  We might thump the watermelon to determine the ripeness, but regardless, we assume it's watermelon.   Why?  Because everything God creates has integrity!   BUT there is this squirrely species called humans.  While humans might be consistently inconsistent, often integrity comes into question.  This is because God gave us free will.


We were created to be in relationship with God and others.  God gave us guiding principles consistent with creation, a creation He created with love.  If our hearts are out of alignment with Him, our hearts are out of alignment with others.  When Jesus was asked what the most important commands God gave us were, He said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind...(and) Love your neighbor as yourself".

Have you ever felt that you were not the same person everywhere?  You might think you're a different person at church, a different person at home and a different person at work.  Because of this, you then feel  like you are not in harmony, you're disconnected and not integrated.   For instance, have you ever been around people who bring out the worst in you and you didn't like it?  See, when we become unintegrated, it is because of something internal in us.  We might say, "I am really a kind person, but not when there is pressure.  We might "Always tell the truth", but only when the truth works to our advantage.  We might maintain healthy relationships, but only as long as the relationships serve us.  Like bananas, we have layers within us.  We might like our outer layer; our looks, our health, our physique, our status, our success, our home.  But we might not like our second layer; our consistently living by the truths of Christ.  See, when the pressure cookers of life come, which are called relationships, employment, finances etc and we start attributing our behavior to what's going on around us, it is reflective of our integrity; our ability to maintain ourselves in who God meant for us to be.  There are no such things as white lies.  We choose to lie or to not lie.  We might be patient until what we want doesn't happen. Our third layer, the core of who we are, can often be affected by the outer layers.  Our fruit can be refreshing and nourishing to us and others.  On the other hand, it can become bitter, violent and deceptive.  We can deliberately choose the quality of our hearts by choosing to live as God tells us to.

Often, religion can cause us to create an external shell.  We might be afraid to be transparent, because it can sometimes expose imperfections.  But Jesus came to change us and to give us integrity of the heart and change us from the inside out.  God wants to give us a new heart.  He wants to make in us a new creation.  There was a death on the cross which was meant to realign us with our God in order to cement our own personal integrity.

How Can We Be a Free People and Not Be Free?

Fifteen years ago, Erwin McManus began putting together the material to write his book "Uprising".  How amazing it is that there are so many people who live in a free world but who are not free.  Their decisions in life have bound them and they have kept them from living the life that they dreamed of living.  These decisions have also kept them from living life to the fullest as God desires for all of us.

"Uprising" is not about people rising up in a traditional sense.  It's about an internal uprising.  Jesus was born a slave to the Roman empire and He grew up walking among a people who knew nothing except bondage because of their generational history.  We seem to forget that Jesus was not born into a world of freedom.  When Jesus begin to work and speak of freedom, His disciples heard His words in the context of a group who had never known freedom.  Jesus would offer them words like, "He who the Son sets free is free indeed."

Many knew about the coming Messiah and many thought that Jesus would show up, rally the people and and lead an army to free them from slavery.  They yearned for this to happen.  They wanted a practical revolution.  They wanted Him to declare with a clarion call a revolt against an evil empire and to bring an end to Caesar's rule and all of his gods.  They didn't realized that the only blood Jesus intended to shed was His own!!

Psalm 119:32 says, "For I run in the path of your commands for you have set my heart free."

Some words are just not supposed to live together such as "jumbo shrimp",  "government efficiency" or "Lakers and playoffs" (jokes Erwin).  Two words in the passage above that do not mix are "command and freedom".  We know the meanings of both of these words.  We run away from "commands" right?  Why would we "run in the path of His commands"?  We have long thought of God as the eternal killjoy of our freedom.  We often think He is trying to control and contain us.  But what He wants is to give us a freedom we cannot imagine.  Jesus knows something about freedom that we often don't realize.

True freedom is an internal experience, not an external one.

Have you ever felt you were a prisoner in your own world?  So many people live in a world of unimaginable bondage because of their choices.  Only when it's too late do they realize bad choices steal from us our freedom.  Ironically, the choices we make IN our freedom are exactly the choices which COST us our freedom!  Have you ever wondered why you are where you are?  Someone recently said to Erwin, "I never thought I would be that guy!"  How did this happen to me?  How did I get here?  Erwin can tell all of us without uncertainty that our life is the reflection of our character.  So often we try to achieve greatness through our talents.  But talent is so often elusive.  In a room full of highly talented people, we become just average, right?



That innate talent you have is a gift to you, not a gift from you.  Those high cheek bones, that dimpled chin and those swimming blue eyes are from your parents!  The future that may be elusive to you; the life that your soul longs for is not built on your talent, your intelligence or your looks.  It's built on your character.  You have control over the person you choose to become.  "Over the next three months, we are going to talk about how to build your future based on your character."  Erwin is going to teach how to make the choices to set our hearts free!

Jesus gives us a path and an outline, but it is not an easy one.  What we are talking about is a move from a self-centered life to a Christ-centered life; from a self indulgence life to a life where we choose honor and nobility. But this journey comes at a cost and a sacrifice.  If we choose this journey, we will discover what it means to live.  Jesus models this for us, as is referenced in Philippians 2:3,4;

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.  Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of others.

This is a revolution of the soul where we turn all the values we've come to know upside down.  Treat others of greater value.  Have the same mindset of Christ Jesus.  He made Himself nothing by making Himself obedient to death, even to death on a cross!  This is a revolution that began 2000 years ago and was started by the most amazing person ever to live.  If Jesus chose to serve, who among us is greater than He, sent from heaven, who chose to wash our feet?

In 6th grade, Erwin loved mythology.  One particular story he was drawn to was that of Narcissus, who was  a hunter and the most beautiful creature ever to live.  Because of his inherent sense of loveliness, no one could match his beauty.  Jealous of anyone more attractive than she, the god Nemesis' retaliated against Narcissus by taking him out to a pond and showed him his own reflection.  When Narcissus saw his own reflection, he fell in love.  Never had he seen such beauty and he was drawn so intensely to it that he dove into the water and drowned.  There is another version to the ending that describes how he stared at himself for so long that he turned into a flower out of pity from the gods.


How many mirrors do we have in our homes?  Have you ever been to a gym and seen all the mirrors there?  Ho many times do you see a mirror and feel an obligation to stop and pause?   There is a little bit of narcissism in all of us.  But when we move to a life of service, it moves us away from ourselves and moves us to the model-life of Jesus and it is there where we find freedom.

Twenty years ago today, Erwin became the pastor of his church.  Interestingly, he never intended to become a pastor.  He was volunteering in a church in East L.A. and the church's pastor approached him and suggested he pursue becoming that church's pastor.  Erwin turned it down, but the question kept coming back again and again.  At one point, he asked his wife about it and she said "No!"  Erwin was confused.  Finally, after endless conversations for a year or so, 150 people unanimously voted Erwin to take the position.  The ministry is a unique way of moving from a self-centered life to a service-centered life because it is so tangible.  It is a deliberate move and there is an obligation involved.  But we can all make clear and deliberate choices to be in active service of others.

Soon later Erwin accepted the pastoral position, a group from his church went whitewater rafting on some 3 and 4 rated whitewater.  Many people bonded and went through the experience together.  They all jumped in the raft and, although it started out very peaceful, the roaring of the river soon came upon them.  All of the sudden, the river was moving violently and aggressively.  "Row, row, row!" the guide was shouting.  Although they had been given instructions, they were all just frantically flailing their oars.  The raft ahead of them hit a gigantic boulder and flipped everyone out.  Then the second raft ahead of them hit the same boulder and it flipped too!  Erwin's raft then seemed to accelerate towards this same boulder.  Just before they hit, a gigantic guy in their raft screamed that he couldn't swim.  Erwin grabbed the ropes as tight as he could to brace himself.  The raft hit the rock and the giant guy landed on Erwin, squashing him.  Erwin sunk deep into the river and when he came up for air, found himself lost in the violent rapids.  Desperate, he was able to cling to some rocks and claw his way back to dry ground.  As he looked around, he then realized that only the men had been thrown from the raft!  All the ladies were still floating down inside.  It was only after his harrowing ordeal that Erwin began listening to the guide's instructions about the safety guidelines (which had previously been explained when Erwin wasn't listening).  Fortunately, Erwin did hear enough to know to lift his legs in front of him which allowed him to float safely down river.

We cannot go on the quest for a life like Jesus' until we expressly want to truly live.  If we surrender to the ordinary, mundane, common life, we might as well keep our heads down and wait until we die.  But if there is a thread within us; a tiny desire that suggests we were NEVER CREATED TO ACCEPT AN AVERAGE AND ORDINARY LIFE, THEN THIS QUEST IS THE JOURNEY FOR US!!!  Jesus promised us a life of abundance but we must choose to pursue it with Him.  We were not meant to conform or to be the backdrop of someone else's story . We all want to be heroes, don't we?  "I want to live!"

"I choose freedom!" declares Erwin.  Within our freedom, we can make freedom-taking choices. Galations 5:13 says "you...were called to be free."   Your soul longs to be free.  "Do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh, rather serve one another humbly in love."

There is a freedom only Jesus can bring us through service.  There is freedom when we empty ourselves and allow God free reign over us.  Jesus tells us about true power in Him.  He tells the Jewish people that when a roman soldier comes and smacks them, looking for justification to kill them, turn the other cheek.  When the roman soldier comes in the cold of the night and demands their coat while mocking them, give the soldier a coat AND a shirt.  Let them know that their greed can never over power our generosity.  When the soldiers show up at the place of work and turns them into "their donkey or their horse" to carry a horse's pack to carry for a mile (this was the maximum legal distance a soldier could demand someone carry a pack), Jesus told them to "carry it for two".  Don't ever let a human being turn you into a slave.  Hate is never more powerful than love.

Erwin used to be a lumberjack.  "I used to be a lot of things...It's the gift of not being able to do anything well."  He and his friends were going into the mountains in Virginia because the state had set aside some acreage that they needed to be cleared.  The friends went up to earn some money.  They took the three hour drive there and worked from sunrise to sunset cutting and loading trees, thinking they would make a killing.  They felt they were going to be rich.  For some reason, though, none of the other lumberjacks even showed up.  But, as the boys were leaving, they couldn't get the trucks out of the mud.  Their tires sunk in the ground because it had rained recently and the ground had grown soft.  Ohhhhh, "so that's why the other lumberjacks didn't show!"  The other lumberjacks knew not to go after a rain.  Erwin and his friends learned the hard way.  It took them forever to completely unload the timber.  And, it was only then that they could move their trucks.  Essentially, at the end of the day, they had nothing to show for all their work.

Jesus humbled Himself so that, in His emptiness, God would raise Him to be the name above all names.  This is miraculously what He longs to do in us.  We have to unload all of the timber of our lives, so that we can get out of being stuck in the mud.  We have to unpack all that we have packed into our soul.  All of this stuff that's been replacing biblical truth has gotten us stuck in our lives!  You've got to be willing to unload it all and leave it all behind.  Otherwise, we will remain in the same place.  If you have been wondering on a faith journey and you seem to keep coming back to the same place, IT IS TIME TO BREAK THE CHAINS AND BE FREE.  It is serious, intense and deliberate!