Integrity is Internal Consistency

To be a person of integrity means to be whole and undivided. It is the quality of having internal consistency, lack of corruption, being honest; thus the reality of one's life matches the claims one makes of one’s life. Integrity of life is purity of heart. “Blessed are those with a pure heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). The obvious opposite of integrity in the Gospels is hypocrisy. Read Matthew 23, and see how Jesus campaigns against hypocrisy. He utters, “woe to you teachers of the Law and Pharisees…” seven times. For Jesus being spiritual is to be whole and undivided.

Integrity of being a leader, or having authority in some capacity, is to have that internal consistency, which in other words, objectivity in the measures and scales used while dealing with people of different strata, like, economic class, religious and caste identities, people of varied sexes and sexual orientations, individuals and groups of varied ethnicity and languages, etc.

Failure and loss tests one’s integrity. A good example of a person of integrity is Job of the Old Testament. Job, even when he lost everything, held on to his internal consistency of a good man, “he still holds fast to his integrity even after you provoked me to ruin him without reason” (Job: 2: 3); even to the extent of even his wife asking him, “Do you still hold on to your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job 2: 9).

Integrity at the point of failure and loss may be difficult, but at prosperity and with power it is even more tough. There is a statement which is misattributed to Abraham Lincoln, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” It was actually said by orator and lawyer Robert G. Ingersoll during an 1883 speech praising Lincoln. Ingersoll originally stated: "If you want to find out what a man is to the bottom, give him power. Any man can stand adversity — only a great man can stand prosperity. It is the glory of Abraham Lincoln that he never abused power only on the side of mercy." Power did not make Lincoln a person of divided mind. Abraham, when he was still a boy, had seen slaves being sold in the market square. He had told himself that if he had any power to do something about it, he would abolish slavery. After many adversaries and failures he became the 16th president of the United States. The power did not change him; he worked towards the abolition of slavery. In 1863 he signed the historical Emancipation Proclamation, abolishing slavery.

Jesus is the clear example of integrity even when he had excuses and power to be otherwise. Examine the temptations of Jesus (Matthew 4: 1-11); devil chooses the most opportune time: Jesus had fasted for 40 days; he was hungry, weak, lonely, and emotionally spent. The devil came repeatedly to him, reminding Him of his power as the Son of God, asked him to turn stones into bread, throw himself off from the highest point of the temple, and the devil further tempted Jesus with more power saying, kneel and worship him, and all these will be yours. In adversity and in power Jesus proved himself to be a person of integrity.

From the retreat talks by Fr John Kusumalayan, OP.

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