integrity: who are you when no one is watching?

‘To live a congruent and internally consistent life is difficult. This is integrity!’ (Parker Palmer)


‘When Jesus is Lord of our beliefs, opinions, ambitions, standards, values, and lifestyle, then we are integrated Christians.  Then Integrity marks our life.  Only when he is Lord do we become whole.” (John Stott)


One of the most important characteristics of Christian discipleship is consistency/integrity; putting into practice what we actually profess to believe; to both talk and walk in the way of Jesus.


Integrity in its simplest form simply means wholeness of person; a person who is undivided.  It means that there is no separation between what is going on inside of me, and what I am expressing outside of me. There is no separation of my inner and outer life.  A person of integrity is unshakeable; they stand by their principles regardless of external pressures or consequences. A person of integrity realises there are moral absolutes, even in a world of relative values.  


A person of true integrity possesses a unity of life and character.  It is important to recognise however that the Bible underscores the reality that no one (except Jesus Christ) is sinless, so integrity for the disciple does not mean sinlessness or perfection, but sincere striving, and single-hearted devotion to God.  Integrity to the disciple means a life marked by love, compassion, mercy, justice, and honouring God's call above everything else.  It means that we are the same on Sunday as we are throughout the week; that we practice what we preach! 


So how can we live a life of integrity?


We must accept God's call to live in his will and to actively walk in the path of Christ: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”(James 1:22).   We must strive to live the kind of life that Jesus lived, even if no one is watching. It is that simple, and it is that difficult. 


So who are you when no one is looking? 


Grace & peace,


Jen