Integrity

Introduction

Ever since he was 17, all he wanted to do was be in the Navy. In fact, he wanted to be in the Navy so much that he dropped out of high school, lied about his age, and enlisted. His career in the Navy began slowly, but through a series of events and training, he ascended through the ranks of the Navy. He was awarded numerous commendations and meritorious service awards for his duty in Vietnam, which included combat operations. He eventually was promoted to the rank of Admiral and became the commander of NATO forces in Southern Europe. And soon afterward became the nation’s top Navy officer serving on the Joint Chief of Staffs, an elite group which provide strategy, advice, and recommendations to the president regarding the military. And on May 16, 1996, Admiral Jeremy Boorda died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Here was a man at the top of his profession. What happened? Everything had fallen into place for this man. Why would he take his life? Married with four children, Admiral Boorda on the day of his death was described as in good spirits.

Boorda was scheduled to meet on May 16 with the Washington bureau chief of Newsweek magazine. Boorda had no idea what the meeting was about. A reporter wants to do a story about the Navy’s highest ranking officer or about the Navy or about a thousand other things. Such meetings are not uncommon.

The meeting was scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on May 16th. At 12:30, Admiral Boorda was having lunch with Rear Admiral Kendell Pease who told Boorda the subject of the interview. Questions had been raised about Boorda’s tour of duty in Vietnam and his medals. Boorda wore a combat “V” decoration—a medal which the Newsweek reporter wanted to verify that Boorda had actually earned. Boorda left his lunch with Admiral Pease, went home, wrote two notes, and then killed himself.

One of the notes basically said that he could not bring reproach on the Navy. The highest ranking officer in the Navy claimed a citation which was not his. He wore a medal which didn’t belong to him. We may think that such is not a big deal. But a man who had built his reputation and life upon values such as honesty, truthfulness, and consistency had lost the one thing he could not afford to lose—his integrity.

Andrew Entwistle, a Captain in the U.S. Army responded to Boorda’s suicide in an open letter to Newsweek with these words: “Integrity is like virginity—once you lose it, it’s gone for good. No officer should ever be in a position where he or she fears the truth.”

Christian ethics reflect the truthfulness and consistency of God especially when no one is looking. We will look at integrity today.

Definition

The definition of integrity is fairly simple; it is the living that is difficult. Integrity means soundness; firm adherence to a code of moral values; it means to be undivided. It is synonymous with honesty. It is the opposite of duplicity. When a person has integrity there is an absence of dishonesty or hypocrisy. Honesty and consistency mark the person of integrity. A person of integrity is one who has established a system of values against which all of life is judged. For us as Christians, this system of values is determined by a careful study of God’s word. Integrity is not what we do as much as what we are. And what we are determines what we do.

Integrity is rarely seen until it is challenged. Most of us can be truthful until we are required to be truthful when the truth may hurt us. When the challenge is presented, that is when our words determine if we are people of integrity. Job was presented with some special challenges in his life. Having lost his wealth, his health, his status, and burying 10 children, Job must decide if he will remain faithful to God. The question for Job is this: “Is God worthy of honor without the things which please us?” And Job answers that question in 27:5: “till I die, I will not deny my integrity.” Job was determined to maintain his character in the face of terrible trials and difficulties.

Back in the early 1800s, a Frenchman sculpted the Statue of Liberty. This was well before the days of airplanes or helicopters. Yet, if you take a helicopter ride over the top of the Statue of Liberty you will find that the hair on top of the statue is completely detailed. When the art work was done only the artist and a few others would have seen the top of the statue. But the artist was a man of integrity. He created the sculpture complete—no shortcuts, no fakery, complete. A person of integrity remains true to his values. His values do not change because someone will not see every part of his work. His values do not change according to the situation. His values remain constant and fixed. While temptation may come, a person of integrity does not give in. Money cannot make him change his values. Pleasure cannot. Prestige cannot. Position cannot. Loss cannot.

Elements of Integrity

Foundational to integrity is honesty. Telling the truth to others as well as to ourselves is the basis of integrity. While we understand being truthful to others, we may not understand being truthful with ourselves. By that I mean to accept responsibility for actions rather than blaming others. Marilyn Vos Savant, a local columnist in the Sunday Parade and purportedly the person with one of the highest IQ’s in the world was once asked, “What is the most powerful concept and what makes it powerful?” Her answer: “Truth. It is so powerful because whether we like it or not, there isn’t a darn thing we can do about it.”

How does honesty express itself daily? Returning change when given too much. Not having your children lie for you when you don’t want to talk on the phone. Not taking another’s answers because you don’t know one.

A person of integrity is honest even if the situation may be to his detriment. Why? Because we belong to Jesus. Because we are trying to imitate Jesus in our lives. Samuel Goldwyn, founder of the MGM studios, once told a young associate, “I want you to tell me exactly what you think, even if it costs you your job.” People of integrity are honest, even if it hurts.

Along with honesty, integrity includes consistency. This is the idea of treating people the same and living the same no matter what. Our personality doesn’t change from day to day. We don’t put on our best behavior on Sunday and then proceed to be mean and grouchy the rest of the week. Susan Yates in the book What Really Matters at Home relays the story of several years ago when she was a young mother out with her five kids. She was in a bad mood. She was tired, so tired in fact that she told her kids to stay out of her way. She wasn’t in any mood to put up with anything. Then she said they pulled into a gas station and she just outdid herself with politeness and courtesy as the young man filled her tank with fuel. One of her children said, “Mommy, you weren’t tired at him.” Good point.

Does our language and vocabulary change from assembly to home? Do we treat our family the way we treat our friends? Do you speak to co-workers differently than the cleaning lady? Without consistency our integrity slips and fades.

If we are going to be people of integrity, we are going to hold on to our values no matter the cost. To be a person of integrity means to set aside my personal likes and dislikes and to obey God. To be a person of integrity means to set aside control and make obedience in faith more important than anything else. A person of integrity doesn’t look at the externals and make decisions based on benefits, but looks at God’s values and makes decisions based on obedience. You see, we ask the wrong questions of ourselves. Will it help me? Will I enjoy it? What are the benefits to me and my family? Wrong questions. Does this please God? Am I doing this for God or for me? Right questions.

It was a Tuesday morning. It was cold, almost icy. The dawn brought a war of words unknown to most of us. The verbal battle was between clear-thinking engineers and technicians who were saying “no” on one side of the disagreement and influential executives and image-conscious bureaucrats who were saying “yes” on the other. The argument was over whether the space shuttle Challenger should be launched that morning—January 28, 1986.

Against the strong advice of experts who knew the temperature had dropped too low for the launch to be considered safe, the countdown continued right up to lift off. Seventy seconds later the Challenger’s crew of seven perished in a mammoth explosion. Debris rained into the sea for a full hour. Technicians pinpointed the cause of the explosion as a faulty seal that allowed the volatile fuel to leak and ignite. But it wasn’t a faulty O-ring. It was a breakdown of integrity both in the construction of the shuttle and in the character of those who refused to listen.

Can someone call you a person of integrity? Jesus held on to his integrity even though it eventually cost him his life. It was that integrity which brought him to the cross and which kept him on that cross. He set aside his personal likes and dislikes and obeyed God. Our response is one of thankfulness and a pledge to do the same, so that just like Jesus we can honor God with our lives.

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