Truth, Integrity & Jesus

Mickey Anders tells a story about a salesman who finally got his chance to make the Really Big Sale. He was going into the final interview on the biggest contract he had ever written.  As he was ushered into the office of the executive buyer, an assistant brought her coffee and left. The atmosphere was cordial, and he knew he was giving his best presentation ever.   

Then the assistant tapped on the door, re-entered the office and spoke briefly with the executive.  She stood and said, "I apologize, but I have to tend to a matter.  I'll just be a minute or two." And she followed her assistant out of the room.

The sales representative looked around the beautifully appointed office.  He saw her family pictures on her desk.  Then he noticed a contract on her desk.  She had evidently been studying a bid from a competitor. Leaning forward, he could see the column of figures, but it was obscured by a diet soda can.

He was tempted to move the can and see the bottom line of his competitor's bid.  What harm possibly could there be in reading her private information?  After all, she had left it out in plain sight, almost.  After wrestling with himself a while, he finally decided to take a peek.

As he lifted the soda can, he discovered that the can wasn't filled with soda at all.  Instead it was a bottomless can filled with 1,000 BBs which gushed out, and ran all over the desk and cascaded onto the carpet.  His attempt to short-cut the competition was exposed.

As a culture, we have a problem with the truth!  Beyond that, we really have an integrity problem!  In fact, in many ways it’s so bad that we actually come to expect it. 

Politicians spin the truth.  Salesmen wheel and deal to get you to look the other way from the truth.  Family members and friends massage the truth to their advantage. 

You get the point.     

And we are all guilty to one degree or another.

But it shouldn’t be that way for Christians and it doesn’t have to be!

Jesus addressed this very subject in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:33-37.  He knew that many in His day, like many people in our own, tried to back up their truth claims by “swearing.”  We swear on Bibles.  They made vows in God’s name.  It was the same concept. 

But Jesus had a different standard. 

The standard for His followers was absolute integrity and honesty!  They wouldn’t need to “swear” by anything because their word could be trusted.  Their integrity would be unimpeachable.

What would this really look like in our world?  Here are a few suggestions:

• We would be people of our word.  We wouldn’t lie and we wouldn’t even deceive by omitting the truth.
• We would be people you can count on to keep our commitments.
• We would be people who confess quickly when we are wrong and repent with sincerity.
• And we would be people who commit to speaking and acting in the Jesus way in the small things as well as the BIG.

And one thing is for sure . . . we will never have to worry about experiencing a BB moment like that salesman did!

Making the Most of Every Opportunity

Imagine being in the 6^th grade with all of the adjustments and problems of growing up and at the same time having to deal with the fact that your Mom abandoned you and your Dad and you just found out you are probably going to have to have major surgery soon . . .

That is the story of one of Abby’s (our oldest daughter) friends from school.  I remember dealing with name calling and all the other harassment that happens to kids at that age, but I didn’t have to go through anything that significant!  Imagine all the questions you would ask yourself.  Imagine all the emotions from sadness to anger and everything in between that you would go through. 

As a Dad and a Father I cannot even begin to think of all the questions and emotions I would be going through if I were in the same position.  The weight is unbelievable!

As far as we know they are not Christians and are not connected to a church in any meaningful way.  This means they have no connection to the eternal kind of hope that we have as Christians.  It also means that they have no spiritual family to hold their hands and walk with them through this most difficult time.

Sadly, the likelihood that they will just get up one morning and decide to go to a church on their own is next to zero.  It’s not because they are against the church or angry with God.  It’s just that they would never think that the church has any real help to offer them.  Their attitude towards the church would be the same as their attitude about the Lion’s Club.  They just don’t see any helpful connection to where they are living.

As followers of Jesus we know that isn’t so, but what are we to do?  I am sure all of us know situations like this with people we work with, go to school with, live nearby, etc.  It’s everywhere.  What are we to do?

Jesus said we are to be “salt” to a world that is tasteless and “light” to a world that is dark (Matthew 5:13-16).  Paul said this to the Colossian church, “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity” (Colossians 4:5). 

Abby is making every opportunity to try to be a witness for Christ with her friend, but there is a rare opportunity coming up that she hopes to take advantage of:

The Power Team will be visiting our church Tuesday May 20^th at 6:30.  It’s going to be quite a show as men do all kinds of feats of strength to entertain the crowd, but also to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  This will be an opportunity that will plant and water lots of seeds amongst people who would never otherwise come to a church. 

We hope to make the most of this opportunity and challenge you to do the same!  Abby’s friend and her Dad are just one of those families we are inviting.  How about you?

Don’t say anyone’s NO for them.  Invite early and invite often and let’s see what God will do!