Integrity

I've been pondering lately the importance personal integrity and how little I have thought about it. I am realizing the important role community plays in this aspect of life, particularly in the body of Christ. While I realize the potential danger in trying to live up to the expectations of others, here are my observations/thoughts on the matter.

It's much easier to let things slide when you're more or less on your own. In fact, it's often a matter of ignorance or, at least, routine. There are the obvious short comings and habitual sins that we become accustomed to--you know, things we know aren't good for us but become callous towards. There are other patterns that develop, however, that we are unable or unwilling to realize without the help of others. I have found that these negative aspects of my life are rarely brought to my attention verbally or directly, but rather through relationship and exposure to community at large (conviction by proximity, so to speak).


This is not a matter of comparing oneself to others. Perhaps nothing can be more damaging to relationships and self perception in general than measuring ourselves against others. Such evaluation/comparison inevitably leads to: 1. Feeling worthless (or at least inadequate), 2. Feeling superior (at least I'm not like that guy), or 3. A ridiculous cycle of self consciousness, jealousy and a feeling of isolation in the midst of community.

That being said, without relationships and and communal involvement, stagnation is quite often inevitable. I am challenged and encouraged by interactions with the people at my church. It isn't a matter of feeling a need to be like so and so in this way, or not be like so and so this way, but rather the experience of reciprocal learning as we walk through life together. Being around people I admire and relate to challenges me to be a better man. It forces me to examine my own integrity by addressing the question: Do I believe and act in the same way I present myself and, thus, how I am perceived? In many areas I know I do not, but community forces the issue for me. This is a good thing.

*Disclaimer: This post is not about worrying how we are perceived by others, but rather about how living in community helps us address and develop integrity.

**Final Disclaimer: Please don't hate me for writing this post. I know I don't write as clearly as Jackson and others. Man. I need to be more like them...well, at least I didn't write Left Behind.