Job 27:1-6, “Moreover Job continued his discourse, and said: ‘As God lives, who has taken away my justice, and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter, as long as my breath is in me, and the breath of God is 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; my heart shall not reproach me as long as I live.”
Integrity is not situational. If you can claim integrity and
denounce it depending on the situation, like putting on and taking off a coat
or a pair of socks, then you have no integrity. If integrity is absent in one’s
life, then nothing is permanent, nothing is consistent, nothing is stable, and
everything becomes fluid, negotiable, and flexible to the point that if God
doesn’t give me what I want when I want it, I’ll find someone who will. Your
love, loyalty, and affection are not hostages to be used as leverage against
God to get what you want, nor are any of us in a position to demand ransom from
Him in exchange for our fealty, fidelity, or devotion.
When we begin to place conditions on our obedience and
faithfulness, when we begin demanding things in return for our service, we are
proven to be nothing more than hirelings and mercenaries, selling our loyalty
to the highest bidder for as long as the checks clear. If we are motivated by
anything other than love and a sincere desire to serve God, whether money,
fame, or the acceptance of the godless, the question isn’t if but rather when
the offer to compromise and betray the truth will be made.
Men don’t unwittingly begin to teach another gospel. They
choose to dismiss what the gospel says while attempting to rationalize their
betrayal of truth. If I keep insisting on sanctification, righteousness,
holiness, prayer, fasting, study of the Word, and intimacy with God, I will
never grow my church or my ministry. Nowadays, people want something new,
fresh, and instant. They’re unwilling to take the time to press in, to grow, or
build up their most holy faith. They need something immediate, instantly
gratifying, something that moves at the speed of their busy lives.
If I keep calling sin what it is and not attempt to soften
the blow of what it means to be in rebellion toward God, the handful of people
who have expressed displeasure at being convicted will end up leaving, then
what will I have?
Either trust God or don’t. Either cling to your integrity and
stand on the truth of Scripture or do as so many others have and take liberties
where the Word offers none, and twist the gospel to suit men’s lukewarm state
rather than admonishing them to awaken from their slumber and pursue God
purposefully and with pure intentions. Just make sure you understand one thing:
when God gives someone over to uncleanness, when men exchange the truth of God
for the lie and worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator, it is
no less than the manifest wrath of God upon them.
That’s what Paul tells the Romans within the first chapter of
his epistle. The suppression of truth in unrighteousness isn’t liberty, or a
new way of solving an old problem; it is the wrath of God being revealed
against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men. Judgment begins in the
house of God for a reason. If you haven’t noticed, the house of God has been
under His judgment for some time now.
In the physical Job had every reason to be angry, bitter, and
disillusioned. It’s not as though he’d forgotten the man he’d been, the
children he’d buried, or the fortune that had disappeared overnight. Even so,
he declared with all the force he could muster that his lips would not speak
wickedness, nor his tongue utter deceit. When we commit our ways to the Lord,
what is happening around us, or even to us, cannot sway or affect our
commitment to Him. The devil can’t make us be disloyal to God, nor can he make
us speak wickedness or utter deceit. He facilitates the environment for us to
make that choice, putting his finger on the scale as heavily as he is allowed
to, but ultimately, the choice is still ours as individuals.
Adversity tests integrity. Seeing the dreams, plans, and
aspirations you’ve worked toward your entire life implode within the blink of
an eye isn’t easy; it’s not something one receives with a smile on their lips
and gladness in their eyes, but it’s those moments that define us, mature us,
and grow us in ways nothing else can.
More often than not, integrity comes at a price. There is a
cost attached to it, whether that cost is losing friends, being shunned by
family, or being seen in a negative light by those around you. It’s far easier
to capitulate, to give in, to go with the flow, and be just another face in the
crowd than it is to stand firm in your convictions and refuse to be swayed.
Job knew full well he could put an end to this entire drama
by acquiescing and telling his friends they were right, or at least that they’d
made some valid points. He could have been the peacemaker, but doing so would
have come at the cost of his integrity, and admitting to something he knew
himself to be innocent of, and that was something he was unwilling to do, and
rightly so.
The sad reality is that the squeaky wheel often gets the
grease. It’s those who are loud, brash, and hyperbolic who often get their way
because they’re willing to talk over anyone trying to make a valid point or insist
upon facts and evidence rather than feelings or emotions. Yes, we should always
strive to reason together, but for that to occur, both parties must be reasonable
and willing to consider the possibility that they are wrong. Job’s friends would
not. They would rather believe that their friend was a man of such wickedness
as to deserve worse than he was experiencing than allow for the possibility that
they’d erred in their judgment.
Job’s integrity was built upon the foundation of having had a
protracted relationship with God. Our integrity, likewise, must be rooted in
God’s Word, and what it says, rather than our own machinations or vain imaginings.
It is the only sort of integrity that will weather the storms, that will remain
steadfast and unmoved, because it is tethered in the truth of He who abides.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea, Jr.
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