Some time ago I came to the realization that the really small lapses of integrity are in some ways the most serious. Back in my days as a hotel valet and doorman at the Omni (now Hilton) Netherland Plaza Hotel in Cincinnati, I used to get a lot of flack for declaring all of my tips as income. The other employees tried to convince me that either:
- The law didn't require full disclosure, only 10%. I checked that with the IRS. They laughed.
- It wasn't really a big deal, after all it's the IRS and it's not that much money to the government.
I'm reminded of that concept on a regular basis. I go back to the back room at work to the candy bin for an afternoon snack. It's stocked with a variety of mini candy bars for $0.15 each. Sometimes I get back there and find I've only got a dime. The temptation is to throw the dime in and take the candy, but then I realize that I'm saying that I'm willing to compromise my integrity - and God's standards - for a nickel.
What brought me back to this was comments from Virusdoc on a colleague's ease at cheating his way out of a pricey toy he was tired of and this powerful post from a blog I discovered via New Wineskins, Tent Pegs.
First from VirusDoc:
"I rubbed a high powered magnet against it until it destroyed the hard drive," he replied. It was too big and heavy and I was tired of it. Since I bought a replacement plan on it, the store paid for my new mini."Me too.Flabbergasted, I tried to contain my moral approbation and remove myself from the conversation as quickly as possible. .... How cheap is this guy's word? I now know that he is more than willing to lie, cheat, and steal if it is to his own advantage and if he can do it in a manner that leaves no incriminating evidence. I'd like to think my word is worth more than that.
This from Tent Pegs:
When ... he was told by the little girl how much they cost he exploded. It was about twice what he paid for that service back home in the US. He was abusive and insistent about the evil being perpetuated on him. It got so bad that I got hold of his belt (he was a lot bigger than I) and pulled him away from the counter and out of the shop. "Congratulations," I told him. "You just sold that girl's soul for twelve pounds [about $20 then]. I will never be able to talk to her about Jesus because she is going to associate me with the huge, red faced, angry American who berated and belittled her over something she could not control or change. I hope you feel better, but she doesn't, I don't, and Jesus doesn't since He now has to find someone else to reach her with the gospel of peace."Wow.
Wow! I too have had to evaluate my own integrity.
I think the main problem is that many people do not have a reconciled relationship between God and themselves and the world in undestanding that their life and actions are a testimony to who they are inside. They just exist without any thought of what their actions do to others.
Remember 1 Timothy 4:15-16
It is as simple as getting too much change from the store - how many people look at that and go "well, it was their fault for not counting correctly - I just made out" or going back and give it to them because it is the right thing to do - what if the roles were reversed - that is the whole point of treating others as you wish to be treated.
The way to win others over on this however - is to make sure that your integrity does not become a self-righteous flag in the face of the world, but a guiding light that others will want to follow through your example...
Truly a good thought-provoking article.
It's way too easy to compromise on the little things because no thought is given to the consequences of them. Being minor, they are cast off.
I'll be thinking and praying on this for a while. Thank you for a great article.
What struck me was the idea, from the tent pegs article, that our rash anger destroys our, and perhaps other's, opportunity to share the gospel wiht an individual. I hadn't thought of this as 'selling our the gospel' before nad it's convicting.