Integrity

As everyone knows, Al Gore is the high priest of the temple of Global Warming. By that I mean that he is the leading spokesman, the loudest voice, the one you think of first when you think of the topic. Most know, however, about the other side of the story. While Mr. Gore travels about the country in private jets and large SUVs to warn us about our "carbon footprint", his house is consuming 20 times the national average of natural gas and more energy in one month than the average American household in one year. There is a term for this: "Inconsistency". That is, while on one hand Mr. Gore is stumping to get all of us to save the planet by decreasing our consumption of fossil fuels, he continues a consumption of fossil fuels far beyond the average person he is chiding. "Oh," he says, "it's okay. You see, I'm paying other people to plant trees and such to offset my carbon footprint." But, Mr. Vice President, wouldn't it be more productive to decrease your own consumption and pay someone to plant trees?" You see, Mr. Gore is inconsistent. He preaches one thing but lives another. The upshot is one has to wonder if he actually believes what he preaches. Personally, it seems to me that until Mr. Gore levels the house he owns (not sells -- that would just mean someone else would consume all that energy), moves into a "green" home, travels in "green" transportation, and shows up at his speaking engagements in a Prius or, better yet, an electric car, I'm going to be hard-pressed to believe his yells of "Fire!" He is inconsistent, and for me it destroys his message.

There is a portion of American Christianity that is hard at work trying to convince the rest of American Christianity that the primary job of the Church is to feed the poor. Okay, that's limited, but they're really interested in the social gospel, not the Gospel. They will point to passages like this: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God ... But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full" (Luke 6:20, 24). They ignore the fact that this does not say, "Help feed the poor" and use it to point out that poor people are important and rich people are ... wrong. The main problem is that the vast majority of those who are arguing that the poor are heaven-bound simply because they're poor and the rich are damned (no, sorry, they don't make that argument -- that would be too judgmental, too consistent) losers are themselves not poor nor willing to head that way. Indeed, they are generally middle-class Americans, among the richest people on the planet. Now, if they genuinely believed that poor folk were inheritors of the kingdom of God, why is it that they aren't striving to become poor folk? They're perfectly happy urging others to surrender their worldly goods so these poor folk will no longer be poor (which, if you believed that the poor would inherit the kingdom of God, would be a bad thing, right?), but they don't actually plan to become one of the walking poor themselves. They are inconsistent, and for me it destroys their message.

Every good Christian knows this fabulous verse. In fact, likely all I have to tell you is the reference and you'll be able to quote it: Romans 8:28. That's right. "God works all things together for good to those who love Him." Great verse. Wonderful promise. It's not a contract; it's a promise. God does it. It doesn't require anything of you. God does it. How easy can it be? And yet, every good Christian would likely have to admit if he was to be honest that when unpleasant events occur, our first response is not "Wow! I wonder what good God is going to work this into! I can hardly wait to see!" We know that we are commanded to "Count it all joy when you fall into various trials" (James 1:2) , but we don't, do we? Some better than others, for sure, but as a whole we're just not so good at this. You see, we are inconsistent, and for me it destroys the message.

"Consistency" is the concept I've been waving, but there is another term, a better term. If you took basic math in high school, you learned the term, "integer". An integer is a whole number. It has no fractions, no decimals. It is one number. It isn't a part of another number. If you take the number 1.5, for instance, it's midway between 1 and 2. It is, in a sense, part of two numbers. Integers are whole numbers in themselves. The word is also the source of our word and concept, "integrity". Integrity is technically "The quality or condition of being whole or undivided." You have integrity when your entire life is whole ... undivided. When your life and your beliefs and your words all line up, you are a whole, you are consistent, you have integrity. That's why there's no plural for the word. It references only one.

What about you? Are you a person of integrity? Does your life match what you say you believe? Does your life match what you say? Are you consistent in what you preach and what you do? If not, are you aiming for it? Are you aware that a lack of integrity goes a long way to destroying the message? Something to think about.