Holding On to Our Integrity

“Then his wife said to him,’ Do you still persist in your integrity?  

Curse God and die.’ But Job said to her…’Shall we receive the good at the hand of God,

and not the bad?’”

Job 2:9-10

The words above introduce us to an individual whose name gets raised in casual conversation. Many times in our culture, we will speak of difficult persons or situations as being ones which would “test the patience of Job.” There is much in the book bearing his name that highlights the long-suffering nature of that man.  In our text, though, the trait in the man that draws attention is not patience, but integrity; an attribute which evoked both praise and dismay from onlookers.

Just prior to that scene, God and Satan had been talking about Job.  God pointed to Job as a man of remarkable faith. Satan challenged that idea, arguing that the man was faithful only because he had been blessed with children and great wealth.  God lets Satan test his theory yet even when subsequent events take away all of the man’s blessings there is no change in his basic character. 

Thus God points to Job again and says to Satan “He still persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.” This time, the Adversary suggests the reason for such integrity is that Job hasn’t suffered enough. “Stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh,” Satan says “and he will curse you to your face.” When Job is then afflicted with some kind of skin disease that leaves him in agony, Job’s wife asks “Do you still persist in your integrity?  “Curse God, and die.”  Yet once more Job is unwilling to do that and says in response “Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?”

In many ways those two scenes and the events which follows are ones which raise questions about the presence of God in the midst of difficult times.  The book as a whole is a classic study of that question, but this post focuses on Job’s response to his most recent form of suffering.  For however we understand God’s presence amidst life’s difficulties, what is clear here is that Job remained a man of integrity.  That in the face of great loss he held true to what he believed.  

That’s the very definition of integrity from the standpoint of Scripture; being a person of principle who knows what she or he believes and then acts upon it.  Many of the Biblical examples of such a trait come amidst extremely painful circumstances.  Such times can test us as well. Yet our integrity also gets challenged in smaller ways.  When there’s no particular crisis, but our values or standards are put to the test even so.    

Years ago, while still living in North Carolina I received a notice from the Mecklenburg County Tax Administrator’s Office.  We had purchased a new house six months earlier so that mailing brought the first official notice of our home’s value.  When I looked at the number shown on the form I was surprised as it was roughly half of what we had paid. Since I was pretty sure we had not been that naive as to our home’s value, I called the office and was told how they had calculated it and assured that someone would be out the following January to correct it.

Yet then in a hushed voice the person in the tax office said to me “You don’t ever call to tell us your house is worth more than what we show.  If you do, your taxes will go up!”  I must admit that her words echoed a passing temptation I had felt upon opening the letter. There was a part of me upon seeing that lower value which said I should just leave matter alone for the savings in property taxes would be significant.  Yet my own sense of integrity was at stake in that moment and I’d like to think not just because one day I would want to make a blog post about the experience!  

Many of the challenges to our integrity come in those less dramatic kinds of ways.  When the person at check-out gives you more change than you deserve or when you are given credit for an idea of another at work  Or when we agree to mow a neighbor’s yard weekly while they’re out of town for a month and realize that they won’t know if you cut it every week or only once. Perhaps you can think of another scenario where one or more of your key values faced temptation.

For all of us there will be times when our integrity can be tested yet whether in major moments or small ones, the example of Job urges us to hold fast to our convictions.  Not to think that if we hold onto our standards that we will never be tempted to put them aside either. Such self-confidence sets us up for disappointment. No, the model of Job urges persistence throughout our life, proclaiming that integrity is always worth our best effort.

Faithful one, how sorely I can be tempted to act in ways that are inconsistent with your calling and my core values.  Help me to resist.  Amen.