Integrity: Living What You Believe

Transcript

Week 3 of the series Core: Built Different. Transcribed from the service recording and lightly edited for readability.

Welcome: Core, Built Different, Week 3

All right, here we go: Core: Built Different. These last few weeks we've been trying to dig in so we can strengthen our spiritual core. Before I get started, let's do the declaration statement, and then we're going to jump straight in.

Declaration Statement

Read it with me:

I am a Christ chaser. I am here to be transformed. I am here to hear the voice of God. God, clear my mind and open my heart to receive Your word. Jesus, do not let me leave the same way I came. I am ready to be changed. Amen.

Psalm 15

The scripture this morning is Psalm 15. We're going to focus on verses 1 and 2, but I'm going to read a little more than that:

Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken.

Identity, Intimacy, Integrity

So here we are, week three. We're going to talk about integrity: living what you believe. All of this is a build-up.

In week one we talked about your identity. We have to figure out who we are. A lot of us define ourselves by what we do: our career, what we studied in school, what we like to do, our hobbies. But the reality is, if we don't define ourselves by how God defines us, we're going to find ourselves in a world of trouble. So we have to define ourselves simply this way: I am a child of God. And if I define myself as a child of God, certain things should come out of that.

Last week we talked about intimacy with the Creator, which means putting ourselves in proximity to God, so that what He has rubs off on me. And if I put myself close enough to God that what He has rubs off on me, now we can look at this thing called integrity: simply letting my actions follow my words.

Don't Compartmentalize Your Life

I don't know about you, but the way I was raised, and I don't know if it was right or wrong, we compartmentalized things. You can't act like that at church. At home, you act a certain way. When you go to school, you can't act a fool. I might let you clown a little bit at the house, and with your cousins you can talk a little crazy, but at school you can't act like that. When you get on that job, you sure can't act a certain way. When you get to church, you can't act a certain way.

So what we end up doing is compartmentalizing our lives. I'm like this over here, and like this over there, and like this somewhere else. Wherever we go, we're a different person, and then we wonder why we don't know who we are.

But if I define myself solely as a child of God, I can still go to all those places, and that's how I should act wherever I go. As a child of God, how do I act at school? At church? At work? On the football field? On a golf course? At the restaurant with my partners, sipping on a little something? We have to be true to who we are. And who are we? Children of God.

What Does Walking With God Look Like?

I have to be honest with y'all: I asked myself, "Can I actually talk about this integrity thing?" But here's what I realized. David asks a question in this scripture: what does the life of someone who genuinely walks with God look like?

And the answer isn't what you'd think. He didn't say the person who attends the most church services. He didn't say the person who sings the loudest, or the one who knows the most scripture, or the one who gives the most money. In verse 2 he says: the one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart.

Let's break that down. Whose walk is blameless: that's your walk, how you live. Who does what is righteous: that's your work, what you do. Who speaks the truth from their heart: that's your word, what comes out of your heart and out of your mouth. Look at this: integrity touches everything.

The Hebrew word translated "blameless" is tamim. It carries the idea of being complete, sound, whole, having integrity. What it doesn't mean is sinless perfection. David is talking about somebody whose behavior matches their belief. That's integrity. Integrity means your walk matches your word. Christianity isn't just something we believe. It's something we live.

Integrity Closes the Gap

Here's the thing: integrity closes the gap between what I say and what I do. If I say I believe in God, my actions should carry that out.

That doesn't mean I've arrived. Sanctification is a process. We never fully arrive, but we're trying to live out what we say we believe. James 1:22 says, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." If I read from Genesis to Revelation and it was just a good book, we've got problems. But if I read it and begin to change my actions based on what I've read, now we're moving.

And even if I don't change my actions right away, hopefully something is pricking me: "You know what, this ain't quite right. Let me rethink what I'm doing." We should be moving in a certain direction. The sign in the corner of the room says what? Christ chaser. We're going in the direction of Christ. As long as we're going in the direction of Christ, as long as we're getting better, we're going to be all right.

Tested When Obedience Becomes Inconvenient

Integrity is tested when obedience becomes inconvenient. As long as everything is cool and copacetic and going the way we want it to, it's easy to do the right thing. But when you get squeezed, when you're put under pressure, what are you going to do?

The Hard Drive Story

This happened to me, and I still remember it vividly. I was starting my computer business and had a few clients. One client needed a new hard drive in his computer. "Cool, I'll get you a hard drive." So I went and got him the top-of-the-line hard drive.

I was about to put it in his computer when one of my graphic designers called and said his computer had just crashed and he needed a new hard drive. So I gave him the hard drive I'd bought for my client, and I put another one in my client's computer. It wasn't top of the line, and it wasn't the best, but it was better than what he had. I gave him his computer back, bam, he paid me.

About a week went by, and I just couldn't feel right. I had to go back to him. I said, "You know what? I did you dirty. I didn't give you the hard drive I said I would. I gave you another one. Here's your money back."

When I got squeezed, I was trying to make it work. I could justify it. I could have gotten away with it. Nobody would have known. But living a life of integrity means it doesn't matter who's looking or who's paying attention. When you get squeezed, what's going to come out? Who are you when doing the right thing is hard?

That's what the psalm says later: you keep your word even when it hurts. And sometimes it's tough. Sometimes the lie feels way better than the truth. Sometimes we lie because it's easy and we think we'll get away with it. We won't have to argue. We won't have to deal with it all. If I tell you the truth, I'm going to have to go through some stuff and explain my stupidity: "How are you that old and still doing stupid stuff?" But who are you?

Your Faith Travels With You

The other thing is that integrity means your faith travels with you. Your Christianity shouldn't stay in the parking lot when you leave. It has to go with you: to work, to school, into your relationships, your business, your finances, social media, and especially the group chat.

Light Shines in the Darkness

Jesus says in Matthew 5:16, "Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

You know the funny thing about light? It's only really important in the darkness. That's when you go looking for a light. As soon as the lights go out, we're looking for candles, looking for flashlights. Light is meant to shine in the darkness.

But when we go into some of these dark places, we want to be in the dark with them. "I don't want to stand out. I don't want anybody to see me. I'm just going to fit in." Put that light on dim. But the funny part is, even when your light is on dim, there's more light than there is in the darkness. They still see you.

Some of you have been in places you had no business being, and people said, "No, you've got to go, because we can't do what we're trying to do with you here." "Derrick, it's time for you to go on to the house." Why? Because people see your life. You can't hide it under a bushel. You're different. What does it say? Built different. You were built different.

Built in Private Before Seen in Public

All right, let's dig in. Let's see if we can build up some of our core strength and get these six-packs going. Integrity is built in private before it is seen in public.

One of the temptations we have is to act Christian. That's a big temptation. When I go to church, I want to fit in, so I want to act like the church folks. "Now that I go to church, I've got to act a certain way, because that's how church folks are supposed to act." So we start acting instead of becoming.

In Matthew 23:27–28, Jesus compares the religious leaders to whitewashed tombs: beautiful on the outside but corrupt on the inside. A lot of us have mastered the appearance. We can put on the suit. We can put on the hat. We can dress it up and play the part. But now it's time to change. We have to dig a little deeper.

Your private life reveals your priorities. Who are you when nobody's watching? You can fake it for so long. But we've seen it on TV time and time again. You see stories on the news and you think, "How did y'all get caught doing this? Didn't you see everybody else get caught? Why were you still doing it?" You thought you were going to get away with it. But what you do in private will somehow come to light, especially if we don't get this thing in check, re-evaluate ourselves, and get back into the right place.

When nobody's watching and the microphone goes off, when nobody can trace your steps or see what's going on behind closed doors, that's who you are. And at some point, it's going to come out.

Private Compromises, Public Consequences

Why? Because private compromises eventually produce public consequences. We've been talking about seeds, and seeds produce fruit. If I squeeze an orange, what do I expect to come out? Orange juice. When you're squeezed, what comes out of you?

We think small compromises don't matter. But that small compromise sticks around, and next thing you know it's become part of who you are. "I'm just going to do this one time. Nobody's going to know. I'm just a little curious." But then it's over and over and over. It gradually wears you down. It weakens you. And then it comes out publicly.

Think about all the politicians and public figures whose stories come out in the news. Do you think they ever thought it would come out? Some of them paid good money to keep it hidden for a long time. But eventually there are certain things you can't hold on to. Somebody's going to tell it. Back in the day there was a code in the streets. Now people will tell on you quick. You thought it was private, but now it's public. And with these cell phones, people are recording you doing foolishness, and it comes out.

Your Character Must Support Your Calling

Here's the thing: if your character cannot support your calling, eventually something collapses. In Luke 6:43 Jesus says, "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit." What happens inside starts producing something outside.

What you planted, you're going to harvest. But we act like that doesn't happen. "Nobody saw me planting any weeds." They don't have to see you planting weeds. When it sprouts, it's going to be weeds. I can tell y'all I'm planting peaches all day long, but when the marijuana plants come up, you're like, "Oh, that boy." A lie can only go so long. It's going to come out.

Practice Privately for Public Pressure

But there's a good side to this too, the flip side: what you practice privately prepares you for public pressure. When you're reading your Bible in that closet, it's preparing you for public pressure. When you're praying and nobody sees you praying, it's preparing you for public pressure.

Look at Joseph. Potiphar's wife kept coming at him. Kept coming. But he says something we've got to get to. In Genesis 39:9 he says, "How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" He didn't say anything about "that's my boss's wife." He said, "I cannot sin against God. I'm not trying to mess up my relationship with the Creator of the universe."

What did we talk about last week? Intimacy with God. Putting that yoke on. If that yoke is on me, I'm connected, and I don't want to break my connection with the Creator of the universe for a quick fix, for temporary pleasure. I'm not going to lie to you: it is pleasurable. You might have some fun. You might enjoy yourself. But it's temporary.

That's why, when Jesus was talking to the woman at the well, He said, "I can give you water so you won't thirst anymore." And she said, "Where's that?" She'd been through what this world has. She had found pleasure in many things, but those things weren't satisfying her anymore. She needed the water He was talking about.

I know some of you are reading your word and thinking, "This stuff ain't sinking in. It doesn't make sense. I don't think it's helping me." Just keep reading. Keep praying. Keep seeking God's face. Keep going honestly to the throne of grace: "God, I'm mad because of what I'm going through. God, I'm reading Your word and it doesn't make sense. Make it make sense to me."

What you do in private is going to work itself out, because God is preparing you to take you to the place He has for you. And that happens in private too. That's what's crazy: the stuff you hide is in private, but the stuff you do for God is in private too. It's what you're doing in private that's shaping your life, and you don't even realize it. It all happens in the dirt. And hopefully what's going on under the soil is connecting us to God.

Integrity Produces Visible Fruit

All right, here we go. Integrity produces visible fruit. Jesus says in Luke 6:44, "Each tree is recognized by its own fruit." Nobody walks up to an apple tree and says, "Are you an apple tree?" They see the fruit hanging and they already know.

Integrity Produces Truth

Integrity produces truth. Psalm 15:2 talks about speaking the truth from the heart. That's a curious play on words. Where do we usually speak from? Our mouth. But it says to speak from your heart, because that's where it all starts. Is your heart right?

When our heart is right, we don't have to swear on Grandma's grave. We don't have to swear on the Bible. We don't have to swear on anything. Jesus said, "Let your yes be yes and your no be no." You don't have to add anything to it. Just be real.

The streets say, "Real recognize real." And it does. People know. You've met people and known right off the top that they were lying. You didn't even think about it: "That dude ain't telling the truth." But here's the flip side: people know the same thing about you.

Integrity Produces Righteousness

Integrity produces righteousness. Righteousness isn't just avoiding bad behavior. Righteousness is choosing to follow God.

One of the most powerful things humans have is the ability to choose. That's the most powerful thing you have in your life. Unfortunately, the society we live in wants to blame everything on something: we've got a diagnosis for everything and a reason for everything. But the most powerful thing is choice.

When you got baptized, that was a choice. When you gave your life to God, that was a choice. When we wake up each morning, we choose our behavior: am I going to do what I want to do, or what God wants me to do? That's a choice. And once we've said, from week one, "I'm a child of God," when we find ourselves doing things counter to what we say we believe, those are choices.

But the cool thing is, we can choose every day. Every morning we get another opportunity to make a different choice. "God, which one do You want me to do today? Cool, I'm going to do that. Which one next? I'm going to do that." The more we choose to follow God, the more it builds up our righteousness.

And when we choose to do what God wants, it shouldn't be because somebody's going to find out or because God's going to be mad at me. We should choose it for the sole purpose of pleasing the Creator of the universe.

Integrity Produces Influence

Integrity produces influence. Matthew 5:16 becomes more powerful now: "Let your light shine before others." Jesus already knows people are going to be watching, so He says, let it shine. Not because Christianity should be a performance for people, but because Christianity should become visible.

Think about this. A lot of us work with people who don't know our faith. Let's say they find out through the grapevine that you're a Christian. Would they be shocked? Or would they say, "Oh, that's what it is. I knew there was something different about you"? Or would they say, "Nah. I've got to go to their church, because their church must have a smoking section"?

Jesus knows people are going to be watching. And if they're watching and observing, what do they see? We live in a really skeptical society. We're skeptical of politicians, of corruption, of church folks. We're just skeptical. But when somebody sees authentic behavior, they fall in love with it.

I think that's why so many people fell in love with Jesus: He was authentic. He told the people not to stone that woman. He kept telling people to stop sinning. He kicked over tables. And yet everywhere He went, somebody was looking for Him. Every time He tried to get away, He turned around and people were still looking for Him. Why? Because He was authentic. He spoke the truth in love.

And here's the awesome part: He gave us that same ability. He said we'd do greater works than He did. I think we sometimes forget that we can do the things Jesus did, because He's living through us. As the world begins to see authentic love lived out through believers, this world will change. I'm not talking about being perfect. I'm talking about authentically seeking after Christ, authentically seeking to live a life that pleases God. And as we do that, not only will we benefit, but others will too.

Identity, Intimacy, Integrity

So let's not keep trying to look the part. I know we all want to know when to stand, when to sit, when to clap, all the words to the song. A lot of us want to pray real good in public. But you can practice all those things and still be disconnected from the Creator of the universe.

That's why it was so important that we started with identity: we have to know who we are. Then, after you know who you are, we need intimacy, because you have to know how to connect with the One who created you and gave you life. And integrity is, "Now how do I demonstrate both? How do I demonstrate who I am and that I'm connected to the Creator of the universe?"

Core Work Is Tough Work

The reason this is called Core is because it's tough work. Getting your core right is hard. I've been trying to get my six-pack back for a long time. It isn't coming as fast as it used to when I was young, but I'm working on it. Why? Because I want to be healthy enough to keep delivering the gospel, to run around with these children, to run around with grandchildren when they come, to do everything I need to do.

But I also have to get this core right with this word, because I don't want to be one of those preachers on TV who fell off. I know it's possible. I'm not oblivious. I can get caught up in the hype and all the stuff.

People think it's crazy that I don't want to be called pastor. I want people around me who feel comfortable calling me to the carpet, so I don't get to the point where I fall. When everybody has to call you pastor, who's going to say, "Derrick, sit down. Let me talk to you real quick"? If I step out of integrity, I need people with integrity to call me to the carpet, so we can keep this train moving.

This is built different. We're not going to build this the same way it's always been built. We've got to go back to the basics.

Weekly Challenge

All right, here's the weekly challenge.

Reflect: Where is the biggest gap between what I say I believe and how I'm actively living? Is there an area in my private life that doesn't match my public profession?

Act: Choose one area this week where your behavior needs to catch up with your beliefs. Don't try to fix everything at once. Identify it, find the scriptures that address it, and make one concrete change. If necessary, bring someone trustworthy into that area for accountability.

Accountability

This one is big. Accountability is huge. If you're serious about this thing, you've got to have people in your life who will at least ask you, "Hey, did you do what you said you were going to do?"

Here's what I've found: we like to lie to ourselves. "I'm going to get up in the morning and work out." Then you wake up: "I'm tired, man. I need thirty more minutes of sleep." One of the people we lie to most is ourselves. And not only do we lie to ourselves, we let ourselves off the hook a lot easier. If it were somebody else, we'd say, "Oh no, bro, get up, come on. I'm coming to your house, and I'm going to lay on the horn until you get up." But you won't lay on the horn for yourself.

So ask somebody to help you with this. We need help. If not, we're going to lie to ourselves and convince ourselves it's okay to skip this day, okay to go one more day. Next thing you know, it's three months later and nothing has changed.

Prayer

All right, here we go. Pray with me:

God, make me whole. Remove the gaps between what I say and how I live. Give me integrity when people are watching and when nobody is watching. Strengthen my character so it can support the calling You have placed on my life.

That's something else we have to realize: He has placed a calling on each and every one of our lives, so we have to get our character ready.

Let my words, choices, relationships, and actions reflect the faith I profess. Help me not just to look the part, but to live the life. In Jesus' name, amen.

Closing Prayer

Most gracious and heavenly Father, I come before You today saying thank You. Father God, I know this word is challenging. It was challenging for me, and hopefully it was challenging for others, because we really want our lives to match what we say we believe. It might not be an easy process, but we know we can do all things through You. If Your Son was able to go to the cross and die for our sins, we should be able to make our lives match what we say we believe. Father God, I love You and praise You for all You're doing and all You're willing to do. It's in the precious and powerful name of Jesus Christ, Your Son and our Savior, that I ask it all. Amen.