It has been said that the only gospel some folks will ever read is that message of Christ which they see manifesting in us; in professing Christians. The apostle Paul, writing to the church in Corinth put it this way, You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (2 Corinthians 3:2-3). In another place Paul put it this way; Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:17-18) That progressive transformation into Christ like believers comes about through the study and application of God’s Holy Word.
King Solomon, the wisest human ever to live, gave believers this advice: Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name, in the sight of God and man. (Proverbs 3:3-4) The binding of our faith around our necks is the outward expression of our faith that serves as a witness to those with whom we impact socially in the acts of daily living. It’s more than just a cross on a gold chain hanging down our necks, it’s the “golden rule” and the love that Christ displayed on that cross, lived out in our lives on a daily basis. The binding of the faith in our hearts is emblematic of the genuine, invisible relationship we have with the triune God of creation and our salvation. Without that heart bound, vertically oriented faith in God, whatever we profess openly with words, deeds or symbols (such as a cross hanging around the neck), the horizontal relationship we display to others becomes a sham.
Integrity means wholeness and is synonymous with uprightness, honesty, reliability, honor and consistency. The English word comes from the Latin expression integritas. That is also the root of the English word “integer” meaning a whole number (I.e. one) as opposed to a fraction (I.e. one fourth). To have integrity then is to first of all be a whole person. The greatest example of that wholeness or completeness was found in the Lord Jesus Christ during His 33 years on earth. Dr Luke said of Him, And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men. (Luke 2:52) In other words He developed human intelligence, physical well being, and spiritual excellence and He acquired a cadre of close friends. Jesus was the epitome of balance and wholeness, the elements of integrity, and we should strive to be likewise.
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