Integrity - Private

Integrity Tonight, we’re going to look at integrity. But before I ask you if you have integrity in your life, let’s look at the definition of integrity, according to dictionary.com: - adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty So someone who has integrity is someone who adheres to moral and ethical principles, someone who is sound of moral character. But that would assume that to have integrity, someone would need to have moral and ethical principles and moral character to begin with, doesn’t it? Our hope as counselors is that through your parents’ teachings and through our time spent here at church, you would have moral and ethical principles and moral character. Some of you, if presented with a moral or ethical dilemma, would be able to tell right from wrong, right? But knowing is only half the battle, and today, we’re going to look at someone in the Bible who went beyond knowing, and practiced the doing. The meaning of integrity Let’s turn to Daniel 1:8-16 for a Biblical definition of integrity. First, notice Daniel’s attitude when he was challenged on his decision. His reply to the steward speaks volumes: “Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king’s delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants.”

Daniel was pretty sure of himself, wasn’t he? When he was questioned about his choice not to eat the king’s delicacies, he said, “Test me, and let the results be the judge.” With this kind of attitude, there is power in Daniel’s integrity – he chooses to live by God’s words, not just because he’s been told to, but because he is convinced, he is convicted, that God’s way is the better way. Now let’s look at Daniel’s choice. He and his friends had been captured by Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, to serve in the king’s courts. The king wants to feed his servants with the best foods, so that they will be strong and healthy. The king had appointed a daily provision of his delicacies and the wine which he drank. To some of us, a king’s delicacies sounds like a great feast, and we wouldn’t hesitate even one second before devouring the whole course. But what did Daniel choose? Look carefully at the word describing Daniel’s his feeling toward the king’s food: “Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine.” The other part of Daniel’s integrity lies in a strong conviction that what goes against God is not just something kind of bad, but he strongly feels it is something that will “defile” him. What’s the definition of “defile”? According to dictionary.com: - to make foul, dirty, or unclean; pollute; taint; debase - to violate the chastity of I’d heard this phrase once that illustrates well the meaning of “defile” – “99% pure, 1% sewer, I will not drink.” Daniel didn’t just think that the king’s food is a little bit bad – he believed that it would make him foul, dirty, unclean. Like I said earlier, most of you know the difference between right and wrong on many moral and ethical issues, but how many of you feel strongly about the right and wrong?

God tells us to love one another. Do you think making fun of each other and putting each other down is a good way to love one another? Do you think God smiles and the angels rejoice when we put each other down? How strongly do you feel about doing the right thing? Or put another way – how strongly do you feel about doing the wrong thing? Do you feel dirty? Defiled? Knowing what the right thing is And just how would Daniel have known what the right thing is? The Bible doesn’t tell us explicitly, but we see in chapter 1 of Daniel that the king took young men who showed aptitude in every kind of learning, were well informed, and were quick to understand. I would assume that his parents raised him well. And I would also venture that he knew God’s teachings well, because it was obvious from his actions that he knew what God decreed. It’s hard to do the right thing if you don’t know what the right thing is, isn’t it? We spend week after week studying God’s Word, learning about what God wants us to do – so that when the day comes and we are challenged, we will know what the right thing is. Consistently doing the right thing And how often does Daniel do the right thing? Just once in a while? Or all the time? Let’s turn to Daniel 6:10-24 to see Daniel’s consistency in doing the right thing. The background to the passage – the men in charge didn’t like how powerful Daniel was becoming, and plotted to get rid of him. They convinced the king to issue an edict that anyone who prays to any god or man, except the king, should be thrown into the lion’s den. So what does Daniel do? The Bible tells us that when he got home, he got on his knees and prayed, three times a day, just as he had done before. In the New King James version,

it says that he did this three times a day “as was his custom since early days”. The key to being able to do the right thing when you are challenged? A strong history of having done the right thing. It’s hard to be able to take a stand for what’s right if you’ve never done it before. But if you do it all the time, taking a stand in the little things, when you face big challenges, it will be easy to keep choosing to do the right thing. Suppose that you’re at school, and the question of evolution and creation comes up. At church, it’s easy to say that you believe God created the world, because you’re surrounded by people who would most likely agree with you and support you. But at school, you state that you believe God created the world, and even though they’re not in your face and openly challenging you, the other students give you a look like they’re saying, “You still believe in THAT stuff??” What do you do? Do you back down and shut your mouth? Change your position? Or do you stand firm in your belief (without being a zealous fanatic, of course)? How hard is it to be consistent in your integrity? Doing the right thing when no one is looking But what about when no one’s looking? In the example we looked at in chapter 6, Daniel goes home to his upper room and prayed. He’s not out in public where everyone can see him – he’s on his own, in his room, alone. And he still chooses to do what is right. How hard is it to choose to do the right thing, when you think no one is looking? Ask yourself this hard question, and be honest. We’ll start with the simple stuff. You have a lot of homework, and you know you’re supposed to be working on it. Your parents generally trust your judgment and leave you to do your thing in your own room. Do you use your time

well? Do you choose to do your work, or do you choose to spend your time unwisely? How about we move on to the harder stuff? Like when you are alone at home, when you know that your parents (and siblings) are out and you know they won’t be back for another two hours, where is your integrity? You know there’s stuff you’re not supposed to watch on TV, sites you shouldn’t visit on the web. Where’s your integrity? When the temptation rises, do you choose to walk away, or do you choose to defile yourself? It is difficult to stand up for your beliefs and principles in these times, especially if you’re not used to standing up for them in easier circumstances, isn’t it? Or suppose you’ve been assigned to a task. You’ve been asked to clean the ROCK room and the baptistry on Friday night. Being smart, you want to wait until everyone leaves before you start cleaning, otherwise it’ll be a never-ending job. (Those of you that are smarter will leave right away after the meeting ends so you don’t have to do any cleaning, but… shame on you!!) So now everyone’s left the room, you’re on your own, cleaning up.. do you do the best you can, or do you say, “Hey, no one’s here, no one’s looking, I’ll just push the chairs around so it looks neat and go home? It doesn’t matter, anyway.” How easy is it to settle for “good enough” when no one’s watching? Or suppose you’ve been assigned to lead worship or teach in KFC. How easy would it be to think, “Hey, it’s just a bunch of little kids, they don’t know any different, let’s just pick some random songs…” or, “OK, it’s my turn to teach again… no one pays attention anyways, um, let’s just talk about five loaves and two fish again, and then we’ll spend the rest of the time playing games.” When you think no one that knows any better is watching, do you still strive to do your very best, or do you settle for “good enough”?

And on that note, we’ll break for small groups..