Trust Me

The Psalmist says, repeatedly, “I have walked in my integrity.” The Proverbs equate a righteous person with one who “walks in his integrity.” The results of such a posture is happiness and respect from your children. It is connected with trusting in God, protection from those who would destroy you, and is better than riches.

So what is integrity? CS Lewis supposedly pens the often quoted line that integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching. That sounds pretty good until you realize that it begs the question: what is “the right thing?” Would not a dishonorable person believe everything they do is right? In further research I discover that Mr. Lewis never wrote the quote often attributed to him. Here is something he did write,

“We might think that, provided you did the right thing, it did not matter how or why you did it—whether you did it willingly or unwillingly, sulkily or cheerfully, through fear of public opinion or for its own sake. But the truth is that right actions done for the wrong reason do not help to build the internal quality or character called a ‘virtue’, and it is this quality or character that really matters.”
from Mere Christianity (Book 3, Chapter 2 – The ‘Cardinal Virtues’)

Thank goodness, the sanity of CS Lewis is re-established in my mind.

If a liar says, “I always lie,” does he speak truthfully? The answer is unknowable because if he always lies, then the statement is false because he is telling the truth when he claims that he always lies.

I am thinking that Truth is not something you know but some One you know. When we ask God to search us and know us with the end in mind that God will vindicate us or sort out the lies from the truth, then we touch on personal integrity. We are promised that we will or shall know the truth and that knowledge will bring freedom. What a marvelous thing! Sadly, it is an event that is only promised after we die. For now “we know in part.” Paul write in I Cor 4:5 that we should judge nothing “before its time.” By that he means “the end of the world.”

The person of integrity is cautious about stating his or her case. Can you imagine a presidential candidate speaking with such caution? Would it not be refreshing to hear Donald Trump say, “Well, my position on that question is evolving? Right now, this is what I conclude, if new facts immerge my position will need to change to accommodate that new reality. After all, a president can only make decisions based on the best set of facts available at the time.”

I am far more interested in personal development than petty politics. I am not responsible for Mr. Trump’s character development but I am responsible to “work out my own salvation in fear and trembling.”

At my worst, lies will spew from my mouth like a huge leak in the Hoover Dam. At my best, telling the truth is difficult because such is so elusive and at best partially known. Here is my process. I gather all the relevant facts, I double check them to make sure that I am not selecting only the facts that support a lie, I present those facts to God, and pray that He will grant me knowledge of new, as yet to arise, facts. I formulate an assertion based on those facts, he I speak “my version of the truth” with trepidation.

Even in this statement, trust me, there is enough BS to fertilize a thousand acres. I hope Trump hasn’t gained trademark protection for the phrase “trust me” or else I might be sued.