FORWARD! Undeniable Integrity

by Jason Lovelady

I will never forget my first job interview in Nashville, Tennessee.

I had learned over the years how to tell with a certain degree of accuracy how well an interview is going, and I knew this time I was doing well. I was answering the district controller's questions with ease, I was confident in my abilities and I knew that she was impressed.

Toward the end of the interview the district controller introduced me to the general manager. The first question he asked me focused on my work experience for Worldwide Church of God.

This surprised me because my church work experience was not as relevant to the position I was applying for as some of my other work experience. I answered the question as succinctly as I could and was ready to move on to the next question.

But the general manager was not ready to move on. He asked follow-up question after follow-up question. Then he started asking about Ambassador College. By now I was concerned, and I knew the district controller was losing interest in the interview. I tried to think of a creative way that I could get the general manager to move on to something else before the district controller lost interest completely.

About that time, I noticed that the general manager was beginning to smile a little bit. It turned out that he was an Ambassador College graduate and attended the UCG congregation in Nashville.

The farthest thing from my mind at the time was the possibility that he might have been a member of the Church. How embarrassing it would have been if I had tried to stretch the truth about my Ambassador College education or my Worldwide Church of God work experience.

That experience got me thinking about the subject of integrity. Do I act differently at work than I do at church? Would I be embarrassed if my work or my school or my home behavior was on display in front of everyone at church?

There are many ways to define integrity. It can be defined as what we do when no one is watching, being honest and undivided or living out in private what we profess to believe in public.

Integrity involves consistently applying godly values to every facet of our lives. There should not be an area of our life where this does not apply.

One of my favorite quotes on integrity is by Mahatma Gandhi: "A man cannot do right in one department of life whilst he is occupied in doing wrong in any other department. Life is one indivisible whole."

There are many excellent examples in the Bible of men and women of integrity. One of the best examples is that of Job.

Job was a righteous man. In fact, God calls Job blameless, a man of integrity. As the story of Job unfolds, Job loses everything—his family, his possessions, his wealth, his friends and his health.

Left alone with nothing and utterly destitute, it is at this point in Job's life that he zealously states: "As long as my breath is in me, and the breath of God in my nostrils, my lips will not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. Far be it from me that I should say you are right; till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go" (Job 27:3-6).

Satan did all he could to entice Job to curse God. Yet despite all the sufferings that he experienced, Job would not sacrifice his integrity for anyone or anything.

Do we guard our integrity with the same fervor as Job? Do we strive to be men and women of integrity no matter the circumstance, the situation, the hardship or the trial? Do we seek God's help and character so we can say with the same conviction as Job, "Till I die I will not put away my integrity"? UN