What do you do when your integrity is challenged?

What do you do when your Integrity is Challenged?

For those who read last week’s blog, welcome back!  For those who are visiting for the first time, thank you for visiting.  Since posting the introductory blog last week, I’m been overwhelmed by the amount of people who have taken the time to read it.  To say it exceeded my expectations, would be an understatement.  I am truly grateful for those who read last week’s post.  With that gratitude, another emotion has also crept in.  It is the total feeling of unworthiness to be addressing the topic of ethics.  There are many of you reading this right now who are far better qualified than me to write on this subject, yet here I am, sitting at my computer feeling the urge to continue writing on the topic.  Why me?  Maybe God has a sense of humor after all to consider using someone like me that has failed so many times in his life, or maybe God thinks that it is because of the lessons I’ve learned through those past failures that qualifies me to write about it, so I can try and help others to not go down that same road.  This way, the focus will never be on me, but I will always be able to point to the Source of ethical living and remind people of what He can do in their lives.

This week, we are going to start seeing what the Book of Proverbs says about ethics in general and business ethics in particular.

Proverbs 1:10-15, “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, “come with us,…we shall find all kinds of precious possessions, we shall fill our houses with spoil, cast in your lot with us, let us all have one purse”.

Some of you may be thinking, “Oh no!  I thought you said this wasn’t going to be preachy or overtly religious.  Here you are on your first actual blog, and you already are talking about sinners.” 

All I ask is that you please don’t bail on me yet.  Let me explain.  A practical definition of “sinner” is  someone who crosses the boundary of an established standard, code or law, whether that law is moral, civil, social or business, so to cross that boundary would make one a sinner.   I’m not going to dwell on the word “sinners” in this post.  I’m more concerned with how we react when we are enticed to cross an established boundary, when we know that doing so is wrong. 

There are actions, deeds, activities that cross established boundaries of what is right that virtually every man alive knows that in doing so is wrong.  The basic tenets of the Ten Commandments are written on the hearts of all men whether they believe in them or not.  For example, I do not know of any civilized society who does not regard murder as wrong.  Yet there are actions or deeds that some people believe to be wrong while other people do not.  It may be from having a religious upbringing or belonging to a church that has established more restrictive boundaries for some.  For the person who regards certain things to be wrong if he does them, while others do not, it would still be wrong for him to do whatever that deed or action may be.   James 4:17 says, “…to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”

How does this have an application in a business sense, in particular with regards to business ethics?  Think of it this way, there are deeds, activities, actions, etc. that are done daily in offices across the country that a large number of business people do, and do regularly, and probably don’t even think there is anything wrong with doing it.  Here are some examples. 

·        Your child needs some copies done for a school report.  You make copies on the office copier after hours.

·        You regularly check your status on Facebook throughout the workday while on company time.

·        You count the mileage going to your child’s soccer game as business mileage.

·        You stretch the truth with a customer.   For the record, a stretched truth is still a lie.

·        You spread office gossip.

I could go on and on.  I’m sure there are many more you could name, but suffice it to say, I think you get the picture.

To put this verse in a business setting, it could read something like this, “if business associates entice you to do something you know is wrong, regardless of what it is, simply don’t go along with it.”  Sounds easy enough doesn’t it? 

Why then, is it so hard?  First of all, you have to deal with the interoffice peer pressure.  It’s hard when everyone around you is saying “come with us.” “Cast your lot with us”.  You know, it’s that “one for all, all for one” mentality.  No one likes the feeling of being the outcast in an office, one who appears that he does not have fun like everyone else, because he chooses to not participate in joining the crowd, but chooses rather to march to the beat of a different drummer.   Deep down, we all want to be accepted.  Too often this kind of person fears getting labeled a “goody two shoes” or worse.  Besides if it is done by the majority of your co-workers, is it wrong?  I’m not debating that.  I’m simply saying if it is wrong for you, then you should not succumb and go along with it.  You need to rise above the “peer pressure.”

Secondly, it is hard not to give in and follow the crowd, when the enticement however small may profit you in some way, “we shall fill our houses with spoil:” as the verse says.  This appeals to us humans on so many different levels.  This desire for gain feeds our greed.  The writer tells “his son” in verse 15 to “not walk in the way with them.” Walk away from it. Take a stand for right.  Don’t get drawn in, regardless of the consequences.    

In today’s culture, maintaining your personal integrity is not always easy, and it may keep you from being the most popular, but it will give you a life of inner peace.

I realize this has been rather long, and my goal was to make them shorter, but I do have one final thought on today’s topic.   In your efforts to maintain your integrity, you need to always be on guard against becoming judgmental of others who do not hold to the same standards you do, and start thinking you are better than they are, because, trust me, you aren’t. 

Doing what is right should be our goal.  Becoming self-righteous is not.  There is a fine line between living with conviction and being self-righteous.  We will explore the difference in the weeks ahead.