Proverbs 19:1

Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.

[Proverbs 19:1]

Integrity is the quality of holding together under pressure, in all circumstances, as a whole. A building’s integrity lies in its ability to stay upright and undeformed through wind and storm and weight and age. A plan’s integrity lies in its parts all cohering to each other, not clashing or striving counterproductively. A man’s integrity lies in his ability to make all parts of his life accord with each other, to not give way to expedience and the pressure of life. Often, it seems a remarkably foolhardy course.

Integrity, moreover, is a trait exclusive to the righteous. The basic design of man was good at the start (Gen. 2). All men, on this earth, maintain not only the amoral elements of that nature but the moral apprehension of His nature and His law which was built into that nature’s very core (Rom. 1:18-25). All sin is inconsistent with the ideal nature of man (Eph. 5:11); all sin is inconsistent with the definition of humanity (Gen. 1:26) as God’s image.

The wicked man, therefore, is characterized by his inconsistency with God’s design for his nature. He can at best have only local integrity, standing up for a principle of disintegration or for a principle whose Origin he denies—and merely local integrity is a mockery of virtue. No, integrity, consistency of character and nature, reaches its fullness only in the righteous man, in proportion to his righteousness. Christ, therefore, is the only man to have walked in complete integrity in this life; we who follow Him walk only in an image of integrity, until we reach to heavenly perfection.

Integrity’s simplest demonstration is what a man does when the wrong choice will apparently get him no punishment. Does he sin or hold righteousness? When God alone watches, we are apt to think ourselves alone, and when we think ourselves alone, we have an odd tendency to start prioritizing self-advancement over righteousness (perhaps a revelation to us of how much force other’s perception has for us, compared to our actual morals). Integrity requires holding to God’s law regardless of this temptation.

Expediency is the ancient foe of integrity. Government operations provide manifold examples of this. Expediency is the foundation for countless judicial abdications and countless acts of tyranny. It would be faster to do it the wrong way, and in this particular case it seems not so bad, seems to have no ill effects. So we do it the wrong way, and we wonder why we’re having issues a decade later. Government, however, is not the only place men claim necessity and expediency; it merely displays that human tendency.

We are often presented with a choice: do the right thing and suffer or fail; do the wrong thing and succeed. I could confess my sin and deal with that strife, or I could hide it (nobody will ever know, and even I will forget that ‘damned spot’ in time). I could offer better terms to the other guy, or I could take advantage of his naivete. I could stand up for principle and lose prestige, position, social power, money, and more, or I could buckle under to the guy with the power, bite my tongue, say ‘Later’ on the regular. Done once, it becomes a greater temptation; done again, it starts to become a habit. Like all sins, it is addictive.

This proverb reminds us of the truth: expediency’s temptation is a false choice. The sin may get us what we desire, but the sin still leaves us worse off. What we desired will turn to ash in our mouths; what we lost will turn out to be peace, happiness, joy, and right relationship. All our advancement will be under our feet a treacherous bog, for we will know that it and we are both made of sin and viciousness. Relationships, accomplishments, rewards, all of them will be stained and rotted by the sin which was made part of their pursuit, the sin which we have ingrained in ourselves in that pursuit.

In the end: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33).

God bless.

Written by Colson Potter