Lately I have heard a great deal of comments about integrity and authenticity. Many people use the words interchangably and insist that they are the same. Some blame power and isolation as the cause of corruption.
Power in and of itself does not corupt, but it reveals the corruption of one's character. Absolute power reveals the depth of one's corruption.
Fear reveals the level of consistency in one's life. If one acts without fear is one who knows that the person they are in private is the same person they are in public. But, just because someone is authentic, does not make them fearless unless they are consistent.
If one consistently admits to a certain set of values and then acts inconsistently with those values in private and publicly - they lack integrity. They also act in fear that their actions will one day demand an account.
Character and action moving in consistency with one another in public and in private without fear equals integrity.
If you were handed a great deal of power, how would it affect the way you acted out? In other words, if you knew there was nobody who could touch you for your actions, how would you live?
A man of integrity with absolute power, I believe, would rap a towel arround his waist and serve those who are willing to be served.
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Thoughts, some profound, and others that are not-so-deep. Some are responses from the pastor of a church community in downtown Colorado Springs to questions texted to him during the weekly service.
2 comments:
Observed character traits seem to be a reasonably good predictor - over time - of a persons behavior in trait-relevant situations. While past observation is a good predictor of future behavior, exceptions do occur and these exceptions may not indicate poor character. For example, misconstruing a single lapse in behavior as poor character may be too judgmental. Judged over time, character and authenticity seem to reflect a certain level of probability. An authentic person is a person whose character matches their actions in almost every trait-relevant situation. Praise God, since by surrounding ourselves to His love, character traits are malleable. Improvement in moral character is possible - such changes are usually not immediate, taking both time and effort.
This brings me to a question concerning judgment. If a person’s consistent demonstrated actions are dishonest, should we judge that person’s character to be dishonest or should we maintain a non-judgmental attitude toward the person?
We can judge a person's character to be dishonest without becoming judgemental. A judgemental attitude would say, "I'm not like that!" A non judgemental attitude would lift the person in prayer realizing the Holy Spirit can convict and bring a person to repentence.
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