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sermonette: Integrity and Judging

Integrity Depends on the Quality of One's Values
John W. Ritenbaugh
Given 01-Sep-07; Sermon #845s; 17 minutes

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Well, good afternoon to all of you. Good to be with you once again. Evelyn and I watched the 1952 movie Shane about a month ago. Its central theme is typical Western movie genre one. It involves a local war that erupted between a grizzled old rancher who was a longtime resident and a group of younger farmers who recently had moved into the area following the American Civil War. The argument was over the use of the land in a beautiful broad valley. The rancher resented the farmers sectioning off their partial parcels by putting in fences, and he wanted everything to be open so that his cattle could roam and feed and drink wherever they wanted. On the other hand, the farmers wanted to protect their crops from destruction by the cattle and to use and preserve the water in the valley and ponds for future dry periods of weather. The movie expressed two related themes. One was that despite some measure of reluctance on both sides to war against each other, neither could change the course of their character. Each side felt that it was right in its cause because their personal security and future was at stake. And thus they were inexorably drawn to a showdown. Now, the author chose to make the grizzled old rancher to be the bad guy in this fight. He believed very strongly that he had a more deeply rooted vested interest in the land use since he was among the very first to settle the valley, to develop it, and to build its little town while wresting it away from the Indians. Now, the farmers, they had a strong legal position backed by the United States government. Now, their problem was that the closest arm of that government, things like a court, a judge, or even a marshal, were so far away they were virtually nonexistent. Now, it was into this tense mess that Shane rode, a former gunslinger. And he was sincerely trying to escape his past. He was literally just actually passing through, looking for a home, a place to put down roots, and to be accepted as a solid member of the community. And so he tried to keep himself clear of the fight. But he was inexorably drawn toward it because of his sympathetic feelings for the badly outgunned farmers, and his sympathies gradually sided him against the pushy rancher. Following the climactic movie-ending gunfight, as Shane is about to mount his horse and move out of the area, he has a fairly long soliloquy while speaking with a young boy who witnessed the gunfight. So from his own experiences, he cautions the boy that a man can never escape his past, that what he himself is, his reputation, his character precedes him wherever he goes in life, because he himself is carrying it. And he briefly states that one cannot change the past. In fact, a person's past is such a vital, unchanging part of him that it is in reality a right-now thing. And therefore he cautions the boy that it is essential to a person's conduct that a person's conduct always be at the highest level, even when one is young. Now he says, then if that is done, the past will never come back to haunt the present and the future. Now, those are not Shane's exact words, but he was lecturing the boy that he should aim for integrity at all times because, as Shane had just witnessed within himself as the valley feud unwound, as an adult, it is all but impossible for a person to change what he is. Now, in Proverbs 20, and in verse 11, Proverbs 20 and in verse 11, it says, "Even a child is known by his doings, whether his works be pure and whether they be right." Now, the Soncino commentary on this particular verse speaks of the unchanging nature of character set early in life by stating, quote, "From his early years, the human being reveals traits which remain with him throughout his life," end quote. Now, there is a modern proverb that states this truth, that the child is the father of the adult. Now, Shane's soliloquy speaks of integrity, even in a child, as a shield that protects one from the worst of many attacks, injuries, and assorted difficulties later in life. The term integrity speaks of wholeness, soundness, and unity of conduct. Now, Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, says this, quote, "Integrity is basing one's actions on an internally consistent framework of principles. One is said to have integrity to the extent that everything he does and believes is based on the same core set of values," end quote. So integrity indicates harmony, unity with a way. But the term all by itself doesn't point to the quality of the values of that way. For example, before God calls us, we are all perfectly integrated into Satan's values and his way. And as far as God is concerned, with that integrity, we are all dead men walking. It's an evil integrity, because the values just aren't consistent with God's values. Now, conversion involves becoming integrated with God's values and God's way. And when this occurs is when integrity really becomes a shield, even to the point of eternal death. Now, why can this be? It's because the sovereign Almighty God, who judges and decides on the basis of one's conduct in life, as He compares this person's life and works to His values—this is what we are going to be judged against, not the world's brand of integrity, but God's. Now, if you want proof of this, you can see it in Romans 14:9-12 and also Revelation 20, verses 12 to 13. Now, are you aware that integrity as a shield is one of the major issues in the book of Job? I want you to turn to Job, the first chapter. Job 1 and verse 1 says this: "There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God and eschewed evil." Well, Job's three friends never heard that definition, that evaluation of Job's character. And so they were unaware, and so they had to judge Job from their knowledge and experience with him. And it's very clear in the book that they did not believe God's assessment of Job. They evaluated him from their point of view and the integrity that they perceived was the right one to have. And as you know from the book, they believed that he had committed serious sins, and that the trial that he was going through was evidence of his bad character. Through the entire book, they presented arguments on various thoughts regarding this. Now, we are going to look at one of Job's brief defenses of himself in Job, the 27th chapter, and verses 1 through 6. Job 27 and verses 1 through 6: "Moreover, Job continued his parable and said, 'As God lives, who has taken away my judgment, and the Almighty who has vexed my soul; all the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils, my lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. God forbid that I should justify you till I die. I will not remove my integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast and will not let it go. My heart shall not reproach me as long as I live.'" Now, people read this and then they wrongly judged Job, concluding that he was self-righteous. Now, there undoubtedly was some measure of truth to that, but it is not the issue in the story of the book of Job. The entire story is not here, but Job was indeed telling the truth, and in his case, Job was not being punished for the sin of self-righteousness. In fact, he was not being punished at all—he was being refined. Now, the series of stunning setbacks that he was suffering through were, in reality, an arranged trial brought on by God as a refinement of his understanding. And it's something that we need to understand. In Job, the 42nd chapter, Job 42, in verses 7 through 9—now we find in the first six verses here that he repented, but in verse 7 it says, "And it was so, that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, 'My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me the thing that is right, as My servant Job has. Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering, and My servant Job shall pray for you, for him I will accept, lest I deal with you after your folly, in that you have not spoken of Me the thing which is right, like My servant Job.'" And so Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did according as the Lord commanded them, and the Lord also accepted Job. Now, Job was justified in his conduct and his arguments. His integrity in relation to God protected him. And in the suffering, or through the suffering, he had to come to fully understand that God has every right to bring difficulties, chastenings, or discipline for the purpose of His creation of us in His image. God doesn't have to answer to us. Now, there is a very practical, everyday application lesson available to us to be gleaned from an overview of the entire book, and most particularly from these three verses that we just read. And it is: don't be like Job's three friends. Be very cautious in your judgments. Did not Jesus warn us to not judge, that we be not judged? Yes, we must evaluate, but this book shows us that it's very easy to take one step beyond and bring on ourselves the condemnation of God, as happened with Eliphaz and his friends, who became accusers without having all the facts to make an accurate judgment. Our evaluation, which we are allowed to do—we are allowed to evaluate someone's conduct—but our evaluation of them is for the purpose that we will be guided so as not to allow ourselves to fall into the snare of equal or greater spiritual pollution, of which critical condemnation is one. Evaluation is for encouragement of those caught in a weakness, and for prayer for them, that they might be enabled to overcome. So the lesson is that arriving at a truly correct evaluation of the integrity of the lives of those called of God is rarely as simple as it might seem, because factors are working that are almost always completely beyond our precise knowing. And therefore Jesus warns to be very cautious, because in your judgments you might be just about to step on a spiritual landmine that will blow you to kingdom come.