[This article is part of the “spiritual leadership today” study/discussion going on this year. For all articles in the series, click the Spiritual Leadership tab at the top of the page. To have them delivered, subscribe to The Brook Letter]
So if a leader is convinced: “I need to have integrity, I want to build integrity in my life,” how does that happen? Our tendency is to think that integrity is established if a leader avoids the big, ugly stuff: no robbery, no sexual scandal, no cocaine use. But looking for disqualifying characteristics is only the crudest way of thinking of integrity. Integrity is a quality of life, and a process of living. It is a commitment to a whole-life process of constructing and reconstructing character, all with a background of humility in which the leader acknowledges just how far he or she falls short. Integrity is a task that is never finished.
The pursuit of integrity includes a growing coherence between public and private life. A leader who is one person in public and a completely different person in private is leading a disjointed life. If public persona contradicts private personhood then there is a danger, in a worst case scenario, that private corruption can be masked by the image of public life. It is almost too painful to recount how many times across the ages leaders have ridden a wave of public ascendancy and influence, all the while hiding a complete lack of character. Sometimes the farce is exposed, and oftentimes not.
Coherence of public and private does not mean that a leader can have no private life or that honesty and transparency requires that every detail of a leader’s private life be announced in public. Everyone needs a private life, and the fine details of personal struggles need to be shared with appropriate circles of confidants even though not broadcast far and wide. For all the complexities of balancing privacy and openness, the basic principle remains the same: those in positions of spiritual leadership cannot be one thing in public and an entirely different thing in private.
The pursuit of integrity includes a growing coherence within the leader himself or herself. Lack of integrity is often rooted in a splitting within a person of belief from behavior or intellect from will. It is the split person who can preach against sexual immorality while carrying on serial affairs. Those crises of integrity are what grab the headlines, but here is a frightening thought. A leader can be split in far subtler and less scandalous ways, but have just as profound a lack of integrity. Greed is hard to quantify, but it has been a serious compromise of the integrity of many leaders, including those in spiritual leadership. Greed can dress itself in the sanctimonious clothing of vision and godly ambition. But when greed is the driving energy of leadership, purer motives are choked out. The reason Jesus said one cannot serve God and mammon at the same time, is that integrity is sacrificed in the process. Divided allegiances mean no allegiance. Leaders who split who they are at the core of personality are living in a continual crisis of integrity and it is only a matter of time before the person or the leadership falls apart.
Integrity does not mean sinlessness. A far-from-perfect man was called by God to do one simple thing: be a shepherd. What he did with his skills was coherent with who he was in heart: “And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.”
What do you think? (comment below)
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We are not perfect people who never sin. Independent from our position in the church, business of family.
It is a matter of honeste to confess my sins/problems to my brothers and sisters and with the support of their prayers to make an effort to change rather than to “play” a role of a perfect leader and hide my faults.
People actually accept a leader who has some faults to fight with rather than someone who is perfect.
Awesome article!
I am giving this web address because it is SO timely to the content of this article. Please take a moment to view the video. http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110412/ts_yblog_thelookout/is-the-president-of-the-czech-republic-a-pen-stealer (just copy and paste this address into your browser)
They have added a little humor in the music they chose but I in no way want to make light of a very serious subject but this incident was real and it really illustrates your point that it isn’t enough to just avoid the “big, ugly stuff” in life. Every decision needs to be weighed through the filter of integrity.
Every day we must follow the process be born again
Impact: Integrity is a quality of life, and a process of living. It is a commitment to a whole-life process of constructing and reconstructing character, all with a background of humility… Integrity is a task that is never finished.
Mel,
I appreciate your focus on the word ‘coherence’. Too often, integrity is considered unintentionally as something that is put on when viewed by others while in public view. We want to be a leaders with integrity who desire to be seen as operating above board. But this is a complete misunderstanding of integrity. Integrity flows from our life within. That’s why Jesus pointedly says: “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Luke 6:45).
Integrity is the consequence of a growing coherence between our inner life with God and our outer life with others. None of us are perfect, but all of us – especially leaders – should be moving toward ever-increasing coherence – or integrity – as God transforms us from the inside out.
I thought I’d share an old post from my blog about the importance of solitude in developing that sort of coherence: http://ow.ly/4AbJ7
Not only is this article right on target, but also superbly worded! Thank you Mel. This is challenging, yet very helpful to understand authentic integrity.
The issue of coherence begins in the heart and mind. The fault line that eventually shows up in the outer world begins in the inner. Good stuff Mel! Thanks
Integrity integrates all of life together. When any part of my life is out of alignment, all of my life is effected. Sin constantly keeps me out of alignment, the fruit of the Spirit integrated into my life brings back that alignment.
I appreciated the recognition that integrity issues are not just the public affairs, but the inner motives like greed as well. I was reminded of Stephen Covey’s habit: Private victories precede public victories. Conversely, private defeats precede public defeats. Every day is a battle, and thank God Jesus ultimately won/wins the war for us. But today’s another battle — to serve or be served, to grow or to stagnate.
Thanks for extending the thoughts, Richard.
I have a concern about viewing integrity as a “pursuit” – so I particulary like how Matt Erickson reframed the discussion, “Integrity is the consequence of a growing coherence between our inner life with God and our outer life with others.” In my observance of & interctions with others who live with integrity and in my own life experiences, coherence and integration of beliefs, values, and behaviour are the essence of a way of “being” – Matt used the phrase “flows from our life within.”
Having integrity as a leader is not about wanting others to view us a certain way, to gain their trust or achieve a specific goal or to appear “perfect” or “better than”; it is about how we live our lives. People will judge whether our words and behaviour match at any one time, but what will really matter is what they see over time. Are we growing in the Spirit? Are we producing good fruit? Are we shepherding or leading with Christ as our master Shepherd?
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