Only Integrity Can Bring Credibility

Last night I presented the youth group with a topic for discussion that led to some pretty powerful insights. (I love talking with teens. They are passionate and idealistic, and not nearly as jaded as a lot of us older folks). The topic of discussion is whether or not the church as a corporate entity should engage in the legal battle over the right to gay marriage. It is a difficult topic, to be sure, and one that has various peripheral side issues as well. We established that Scripture is very clear on the sinfulness of homosexuality, so that wasn't the issue. The question was concerning how the church should respond. It was a fantastic discussion with a lot of amazing thoughts and observations. But one of the points that was made has really stuck with me. Paraphrased, it was pointed out that it is hard for the church to have any credibility in this discussion because it is obvious by the divorce rate among evangelical Christians that we don't take God's plan for marriage very seriously, either. OUCH. TRUE.

Which brings me to this thought: as Believers, to have any credibility in our engagement with unbelievers, there has to be true integrity in our lives. It seems like such a given, but yet it perhaps is truly the core issue that we need to confront. There is no shortage of Truth being taught and preached, but there is a drastic shortage of people who are taking that Truth and living their lives by it. There is perhaps no greater obstacle to the Message of the Gospel than those who claim to have been changed by that Gospel and yet show very little evidence of that change. Oh, they perhaps have stopped drinking, or smoking, or all of those terribly evil things that hellbound sinners do, yet they remain spiteful, unforgiving, unloving, legalistic, etc... In essence, all they have done is trade one type of sin for another. Sin that is less obvious, easier to hide, and much easier to spiritualize and justify. Unbelievers see this (and they always do) and conclude that this great message of "being changed from the inside out" is purely farcical. New Believers see and experience this, and are driven from the church out of hurt and disillusionment. Certainly there is room for humanity, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about good old (or bad) hypocrisy in it's purest form. We say one thing but we do another. We present an image of what we want people to see, but we are something different. There are those who refuse to admit weakness or failure out of pride, or out of fear that those elements of humanity will weaken the integrity of the gospel. But here's the amazing thing: the reality of the power of the gospel is actually strengthened in our humanity. Jesus spoke of this truth when He told the Pharisees in Matthew 9:12-13, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." The Pharisees worked excruciatingly hard to cover and disguise any weakness or failure. Those things that they couldn't cover, they chose to ignore. They couldn't see that the power of the Gospel is only effective in those who recognize their own great need for it. Paul was talking about the same concept when he wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:7, "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us." The power of God is not to disguise our humanity, but to transform it.

Somewhere along the line, we began to mistake surface perfection (or close-to-perfection) for deep spirituality. As it has been wisely pointed out before however, that "if not smoking, drinking, gambling, or doing all those things that Christians aren't supposed to do makes someone spiritual, then my dog is the most spiritual person I know!". My own dog Roxy does none of those "unChristian" things, is super obedient, and "heals" on command. I'm positive she's saved. But I digress...

Here's my point: Whether or not the church should vocally oppose the legalization of gay marriage is one thing, but what can't be ignored is the fact that we are so adamant that gay people wanting to get married is destroying the sanctity of marriage, but yet practically ignoring the fact that the divorce rate among evangelicals is as high or slightly higher than secular culture! So, I ask, who is really the most destructive to the Biblical sanctity of marriage, those who are unregenerate and aren't held to Biblical standards, or those who claim to believe those Biblical standards but refuse to live by them?

If we as Believers want Unbelievers to take anything we say seriously, there MUST be a deep spiritual integrity. There MUST be true Spirit-driven love in our lives. There MUST be a uncompromising commitment to the WHOLE Truth of the Word of God, not just those things that pander to our flesh, whether it is flesh that manifests itself in carnality, or flesh that disguises itself as spirituality.

I am encouraged by what I am seeing in our body at Calvary Bullhead, and elsewhere within the Church. There is a movement to move beyond the trappings of mere religion and instead focus our energy on what is truly needful and most important. There is a willingness and a desire to become more open and transparent with each other and to live with each other as a family. Of course there are those who are uncomfortable with that, and will continue to disguise and spiritualize their own humanity and shortcomings, but there will always be those people. I have come to the conclusion that I can't worry about them. All I can do is pray for them and continue to love them and to keep moving in this direction. And that it what I pray, that the Body of Christ will continue to hold to the Truth of the Word of God, and to walk in true integrity.

To be sure, we must speak the Truth, but if we are not allowing the Truth to first change us, how can we expect it to change anything else?

I love you all.