Proverbs 11:3   

The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.

Mark Sanford. Ever heard of him? Conservative. Governor. South Carolina. He was a possible presidential contender until the news came out about his yearlong affair with a former television reporter from Argentina. It turns out Sanford was living two lives.

The liberal columnist Maureen Dowd described the duplicity. She wrote, “Mark is the self-righteous, Bible-thumping prig who pressed for Bill Clinton’s impeachment; Marco (Sanford’s other side) was the un-self-conscious Lothario, canoodling with [his lover] in Buenos Aires, throwing caution to the e-winds about their ‘soulmate feel’, her tan lines, her curves…. Mark is the conservative railing against sinners; Marco sins liberally. Mark opposes gay marriages as a threat to traditional marriage. Marco thinks nothing of risking his own traditional marriage and celebrates transgressive relationships.” I hate it when I agree with Maureen Dowd. 

Integrity describes 360-degree wholeness. Wherever you turn—towards God, marriage, work, relationships, community, etc.—there is a consistency, not perfection, but a pattern of obedience. That’s why it is so devastating when professing Christians fall in such a hard and public way. Satan laughs. The world mocks. And God mourns. We lose our biblical foundation from which to speak with authority. Thank God for his grace to restore…but also plead with him for his grace to resist the temptation in the first place!

Dear God, I pray with fear and trembling. I am frail and always one stupid step away from destroying my integrity and witness for you. I am thankful for your grace, but, O God, put within me the fear of the consequences you place on sin. Keep me from being destroyed by duplicity.

In Jesus’ name.

Amen.