“Integrity In ALL Things, Public & Private”

Tuesday, August 09, 2016

A psychology professor did a series of experiments in efforts to better understand typical human behavior in matters requiring integrity.

He began by conducting a non-scientific experiment in several dorms on a college campus. In the communal refrigerators of some of the dorms, he placed a six-pack of Coke. In other dorm fridges, he left a plate with six $1 bills on it. The Cokes and dollars were nearly equivalent in value, yet within 72 hours, all of the sodas had disappeared but none of the dollar bills had been touched. The students could have easily grabbed a buck and then used it to get a Coke at a nearby machine. But they didn’t. Why? Because taking a dollar – money in its raw form – feels like stealing, while taking a Coke – a step removed from the money – feels more okay. The professor, in his conclusions drawn from the experiment, compared this to the way many people wouldn’t think twice about taking a ream of paper from work, but wouldn’t dream of grabbing $3.50 from the office’s petty cash box.

He followed this informal trial with a whole series of more scientific trials (which you can read about in this article) which led him to determine that we are more likely to do something which is against our values (in Christians' cases, the truth of God's word) if there are more steps involved in the process between the commission of the act/sin and the consequences we believe we'll receive for it.

Does that land close to home for you? Are there things in your life that you know, "I shouldn't do that," but you find yourself doing it again and again because it seems the consequences are so far removed from the sin?

Solomon noted that this is common human tendency: "Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil." (Eccl. 8:11)  We have a real tendency to sacrifice our integrity when it seems it will cost us nothing to do so.

And yet, as disciples of Jesus, we must overcome this tendency. Because we understand that every sin does have immediate consequences—it breaks the heart of God and rejects the sacrifice of Christ (Heb. 10:29ff). He is aware of our every move and thought (Heb. 13:5), and he feels the sting of every sin. And as his children, we would do especially well to remember that there is an immediate reason to resist sin every time we possibly can. We would do well to remember that every decision—no matter how insignificant the theft of a soda may seem—matters before God our Maker and Judge.

Every decision is an opportunity to either hurt him and then justify ourselves... or to live for his glory, even when he alone will see it!

- Dan Lankford, minister

(A note of special thanks is due to my own father, Jarell Lankford, for his absolute integrity shown to us in all matters like this. For a long time, I couldn't understand why he NEVER used company vehicles for personal purposes, NEVER printed personal documents on the church copier, and NEVER kept someone's tools more than one day past its usefulness to him. I understand now. And I appreciate your example, dad.)

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