After a lively discussion about the merits (and from my view, disgustingness) of bananas, we continued our Habits of the Heart discussion. Integrity was the topic for the day, and though we didn't have enough time to cover everything (honestly, we could've had hours and still not covered everything!), we did get a start.
We defined integrity as living your life by adhering to moral and ethical standards- and our Venn Diagram showed us that it requires us to have unity between our beliefs, our words, AND our actions.
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We have tons of people (past and present) who've modeled this for us- everyone from Mrs. O and Jammin' Jenny to Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr to Jesus. There are lots of people who try to live their lives according to the beliefs they hold as important. Obviously, Jesus is the only one our list who has lived a life of perfect integrity (as he's the only one who never sinned at all), but even though he's the perfect role model, he's certainly not our only role model.
In fact, there are plenty of other people with integrity in the bible for us to look at as well. So why is living a life of integrity important? Why not just do what makes us feel good, what's easiest, or what won't get us in trouble?
Today we explored the story of David and Uriah (and Bathsheba), as a great example of two men with very different takes on the importance of integrity. Any guesses which one of those two held fast to our topic of the day? :) (Click the link if you need a refresher on the story). David's series of bad choices (not going to war with his people as a king should have, sleeping with another man's wife, scheming to try to hide his adultery, and eventually murdering a strong, upright man) didn't just hurt him and Bathsheba. His lack of integrity continued on to the future, a shadow that was cast over a man who had once been very strong and upright himself! And we see as the story continues, David was unable to properly deal with some very horrible family drama (rape, murder, etc.) because of the baggage that he held from his previous lack of integrity. And this is where we learn the first of our two questions about the importance of integrity:
Are you living in such a way that you're able to speak up against a wrong? Or are you living in such a way that your hypocrisy silences your voice?
When we live according to our own pleasures and whims, rather than making sure our actions align with our morals and faith, we often lose the ability to call out another's wrongs- either because we see ourselves in the same position and worry that speaking up will force us to change something we don't want to change, or because they simply won't listen to us. "Do as I say and not as I do" never has been very effective!
"Do as I say, not as I do" is the flip side of "walking the walk"- and Shane Claiborne has a thing or two to say about that! As we discussed, Shane is someone I find very inspiring because he HAS aligned is life with his priorities (even if I'm not sure I'd live out my priorities in the same way as him). And in this video, he asked our second question:
Where does your trail of crumbs lead?
Do we have the integrity to answer our critics (or even just the curious) in the same way that Jesus answered John the Baptist's disciples: "What do you see?" Does how we order our time, money, and life choices reflect Christ's priorities and values? Would you be able to tell we're Christians by something other than words? Jesus doesn't answer, "Yes, I AM the messiah." He SHOWS his Godliness.
We finished by working in two sets of groups to brainstorm answers to the following questions: What does God call us to do? (feed the hungry, don't gossip, love our neighbor as ourselves, forgive 70 times 7, etc.) and What are some concrete examples of how to live those calls in our day-to-day lives? (inviting someone over for dinner, changing the subject, lovingly confronting a friend who's stolen from us to get them help- while continuing the friendship, etc.). Obviously we could have continued the discussion for much longer, but it gives us a start to think about what integrity in our Christian morals might look like. I hope that you'll continue the discussion with your friends and family, and hopefully even set aside some alone time to think through your potential pitfalls BEFORE they happen.
Living a life of integrity can be hard. If it weren't, more people would do it. But the reverberations of a life aligned with God's plan for the world are enormous and wide-reaching. Do you think Mother Theresa had any idea how her life of integrity would impact the world? Probably not. But she stood fast regardless, and that is why we know her, respect her, and try to emulate her devotion to Christ and His call.
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Our closing prayer: May God give you perspective on the things that frustrate you. May your heart of compassion grow for those who suffer in unimaginable ways. May you pray as passionately for them as you do for yourself. May God protect you from a small, selfish mindset. May He fill you up with thanksgiving and joy for the freedoms you enjoy. May he renew your resolve to be a grateful, humble soul. And may He use you tomorrow in ways that surprise and bless you. (from Susie Larson)
5 Minutes of God Time: I Believe by JJ Heller (actual "5 Minutes" song, due to internet complications) Live Like That by Sidewalk Prophets (intended "5 Minutes" song)
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