Spiritual Excellence & Integrity

(1 Samuel 13:13-15 & The Book of Daniel)

This teaching is inspired by and patterned after the lives of two outstanding men of excellence and integrity in The Bible—King David and Daniel. 

KING DAVID

King David was known as a “man after God's own heart” and yet he sinned miserably.  Most of you are familiar with the story of his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, and his futile attempts to cover up his sin which led to another sin—the premeditated plan to have Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, murdered.

How can an adulterer and a murderer be called a “man after God’s own heart?”  I believe it is because when David failed, he repented and turned back to God (Psalm 51).  I love the fact that this man who failed grievously could still be called a man after God's own heart.  This is good news for all of us who want to honor and please the Lord and yet fail in our Christian walk.  All of us fail, but it is important that we put the concepts of failure and success in proper perspective.  Winston Churchill, for example, once said “Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.”  Benjamin Franklin said, “I didn’t fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong.”  And, a Chinese proverb says, “Failure is not falling down, but refusing to get up.”

DANIEL

Now, let us examine the life of Daniel, who was a man who refused to live as a passive victim of circumstance.  If it hadn't been for the hostile takeover of Judah by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel's life would have been quite predictable.  He would have attended a great school.  He would have married a godly woman and he would have occupied a prominent place in the temple.  But life didn't turn out the way Daniel planned.  Has this happened to you?  If so, God has “good news” for you.  He has a BETTER PLAN for your life than the one you have mapped out for yourself!

But back to Daniel.  Instead of seeing his dream life unfold, Daniel was forced to spend his life serving a Babylonian king.  And yet, he chose to honor God and refused to eat the king's defiled food.  Daniel's courage and initiative found great favor with King Nebuchadnezzar. 

I have an important question to ask.  What do you do when your plans flop and you end up in Babylon?  Do you find ways to persevere, to endure, and to grow?  Or do you allow your circumstances to embitter and defeat you to the extent that you betray your deepest commitments?  Each one of us needs to make a resolution to become spiritually resilient like Daniel.

Impossible challenges will undoubtedly come my way and your way.  How we respond to the challenges of life will, very often, determine their outcome.  Daniel 2 records great examples of three different, difficult circumstances with three different responses and three different outcomes.  King Nebuchadnezzar was having terrible dreams to the extent that he could no longer sleep.  So, he summoned the brightest and best-educated magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers of the day to not only explain his dream but also to tell him what he had dreamt.  The advisors looked amongst themselves for answers, but they could not provide Nebuchadnezzar with a sufficient answer.  The king became angry and ordered that all the well-educated people in Babylon be executed.  I don’t know about you, but I’m glad that I wasn’t one of the king’s advisors! 

Men were dispatched to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death.  In spite of his fear, Daniel went to the king and asked for time so that he might interpret the dream for him.  He was aware that this God-sized challenge demanded God-sized solutions.  Daniel did not summon wise men, nor did he look to himself for answers.  He called upon the Creator in his time of distress.  In the words of Corrie Ten Boom, "When you face an impossible challenge in life, if you look around, you'll be distressed.  If you look within, you'll be depressed.  But if you look up, you'll be at rest."

I am not God.  You are not God. When you believe that you can control your circumstances, when you fool yourself into believing that the world revolves around your own needs, the result is self-preoccupation, anxiety, inadequacy, and fear.  Nebuchadnezzar was a king who said to himself, “I am God.”  Even those around him encouraged his thinking.  They said, “Oh king, live forever,” and, “Be eternal, king.  May you never die.”  However, Daniel warned King Nebuchadnezzar that his spiritual foundation was weak.  He interpreted the king's dream, telling him that soon a large stone would crash down on his statue, shattering its feet of clay and bringing its head of gold to the ground.  Daniel placed his hope in the Kingdom of God, not in his own personal kingdom on earth.  His life was filled with humility instead of self-preoccupation—with confidence instead of anxiety—with a sense of efficiency in his God instead of personal inadequacy—and a spirit of courage, not timidity and fear.

Daniel's life provides an opportunity to take a closer look at our own lives.

Let us take a simple test.  As you read the following questions, answer them honestly:

If you had been faced with the decree that Daniel was faced with, would you have altered your praying pattern for 30 days to prevent “rocking the boat?”  Depending on your answer, why or why not?

If someone were to check out your work, your personal life and even your Christian disciplines of prayer, Bible study, church attendance, etc., would there be enough evidence to convict you of godliness?

Have you distinguished yourself because of your exceptional qualities?  If not, what can you do to initiate positive change?

What about your spiritual life?  Are you stronger today than you were one year ago … and are you ready to face bigger tests of your faith?  If not, why?

What about your conduct at home, at work, and in the world?  Can it be said of you that you are a person of excellence and integrity and that there is no corruption in you?  In everything that you do, do you do it heartily as unto the Lord and not unto men? (Colossians 3:23)

Can your friends and family honestly say that you are a trustworthy person?

Have you been negligent in your duties or your responsibilities?  If so, why?

If you are employed, or if you have been assigned tasks at church, can your boss or overseer say without hesitation that you are a person of excellence and integrity and that your work is a reflection of these qualities?  

If Jesus were to personally assess and judge the quality of your daily work, your speech and how you spend your spare time, would He find you to be a person of excellence and integrity?  Is this a matter of importance or unimportance to you?

If your spiritual life isn't remotely close to what it should be, and you’re not progressing but remaining stagnant or, worse still, you are sliding backwards, I've got good news for you.  You are not godly enough to suffer for being a Christian (2 Timothy 3:12).  Here’s more good news.  If you’re inconsistent in your quiet time and your spiritual disciplines, you will avoid the pit of persecution and trial.  On the other hand, if you want to be ready for whatever test God allows to come your way, but you aren't there now, I suggest that you do the following: 

Repent and turn from sin and “dead works” (Hebrews 6:1; 9:14);

Begin to eliminate even small compromises in your life (Daniel 1);

Begin to apply the truth of God in your life; obey His commands (Daniel 1);

Concentrate on interior character development as a priority (Daniel 6:3-4);

Be faithful in the small tests so you'll be ready for the big tests (Daniel 6:10-21).

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What about your attitudes which are equally important?  Have you evaluated them lately?  Do you find yourself complaining about the way things are because they aren’t as you had hoped they would be? 

Do you dwell on an obstacle rather than the solution?  Would you like to cultivate the "excellent spirit" for which Daniel was noted (v. 6:3)?  Read the following verses:  Proverbs 12:25; 15:15; Romans 12:9-12; Philippians 2:1-4, 13-15.

Do you think that your attitude depends on circumstances, or have you decided to have "an excellent spirit" no matter what happens?  It might seem that with the persecution and imprisonment Paul was experiencing (Philippians 1), he had the right to have a negative attitude.  However, according to Philippians 2:13; 4:11, we can be content in our circumstances without allowing them to destroy our positive outlook.  Philippians 2:13:  “For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”  Philippians 4:11:  “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”

What is the purpose of maintaining such an attitude (vv. 14-15)?  The answer is, our focus should be turned outward, not inward.  Starting today, join me in making a commitment to speak encouraging words to those you will see or talk to this week, regardless of what pressures or problems you may be facing.  Remember, if you are a Christian... “It is God who is at work in you...for His good pleasure” —Philippians 2:13 (NASB).

Daniel's example remains a challenge to us today.  Would you like this said of you some day?  "You are a person who has distinguished yourself because of your exceptional qualities, your extraordinary spirit, wisdom and gifting!  No one can find any corruption in you, because you are trustworthy and are never corrupt or negligent."  How did Daniel develop such exceptional qualities?  Obviously it was not age and experience alone.  We all know older people who have never distinguished themselves.

What specifically developed Daniel?  The answer is Integrity!  Certainly Daniel had gifts from God, and God's sovereign call was on his life.  Beyond that, I have to agree with Dr. J. Robert (Bobby) Clinton, Professor of Leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary.  Dr. Clinton states that there are three major "inner-life" tests for an emerging leader.  He refers to them as the integrity check, the obedience check and the word check.  According to Dr. Clinton:  “The God-given capacity to lead has two parts: giftedness and character.  Integrity is the heart of character.”  A person isn't born with integrity; it is developed! 

THE INTEGRITY CHECK

At the heart of Biblical qualification for leadership lies the foundation stone of integrity.  Integrity is the uncompromising adherence to a code of moral, artistic, or other values that reveals itself in sincerity, honesty and candor, and is void of deception or artificiality (Webster, Merriam Co.).

A perfect example of integrity’s development is seen in Daniel 6:6-10.  Daniel faced an integrity check that could have cost him his life.  To paraphrase, Daniel was a youth away from home and parental influence.  He was forced to decide if the convictions he grew up with were his own.  In this case, the inner conviction was a religious one that involved food.  He was under pressure to compromise his convictions, but he stuck to them because he had integrity.

Because character has many facets, there are a variety of integrity checks. Here are a few: 

the test of VALUES;

the test of TEMPTATION;

the test of PERSECUTION;

the test of LOYALTY;

the test of HONESTY.

Daniel faced all of these tests and continued to face them.  Scripture has a lot to say about integrity: 

It was said about men God used—As for you, if you walk before Me in integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe My decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, You shall never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel  (1 Kings 9:4-5).

Teacher, [they said to Jesus], we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are (Matthew 22:16b).

I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity... (I Chron. 29:17a).

In everything set them an example by doing what is good.  In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us (Titus 2:7). 

Psalm 78:22 says that integrity has value in everything we do.  Proverbs 10:9 says The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out and verse 11:3 says, The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.  Integrity also causes some people to seek to harm a person of integrity, e.g., Daniel 6.  Bloodthirsty men hate a man of integrity and seek to kill the upright. (Proverbs 29:10). 

Integrity is foundational to an effective life and to effective leadership.  Integrity is best instilled early in a person's life.  It can be developed later in life, but it will be more difficult and requires much prayer and accountability.  Whether our opportunities as Christians are highly visible and far-reaching, or less visible, we must learn to be people of excellence and integrity as Daniel was.  We never know what the long-term effects of our integrity might be.

THE OBEDIENCE CHECK

In teaching on leadership, Dr. Clinton explains, “A leader must learn obedience in order to influence others toward obedience...An obedience check is a process through which a person learns to recognize, understand and obey God's voice”—Ibid, p. 63.  Obedience checks are mentioned throughout the Bible, and frequently in historical and contemporary biographies.  They include: 

Obedience tests with possessions and in giving;

Obedience tests in learning to put God first in the choice of a mate;

Obedience tests in our willingness to be used of God in any form of service/ministry He might ask of us;

Obedience tests when confronted with the need to forgive, confess, or to right a wrong.

Scriptural references to obedience are numerous:

If you love Me, you will obey what I command. (John 14:15);

Jesus replied, If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.  He who does not love Me will not obey My teaching.  These words you hear are not My own; they belong to the Father who sent Me. (John 14:23-24);

If you obey My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have obeyed My Father's commands and remain in His love (John 15:10);

This is love for God: to obey His commands.  And His commands are not burdensome... (1 John 5:3).

What rounds out these two checks really overlaps obedience.

THE WORD CHECK

This check, according to Dr. Clinton, is “a process that tests...(our) ability to understand and receive a word from God personally, and then allow God to work it out in our life.”  Daniel, for example, was obviously following a pattern given him from Scripture when he prayed three times a day. 

Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice. (Psalm 55:17);

For surely Your enemies, O LORD, surely Your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered.  (Psalm 92:9) (morning/evening)

May my prayer be set before You like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.  (Psalm 141:2) (evening);

Psalms 30:5; 5:3; 88:13 (morning).

The WORD test, the INTEGRITY test, and the OBEDIENCE test frequently combine as they do in the rest of Daniel 6:5-28.

CLOSING

If you are a person of excellence and integrity, I commend and honor you!  If you are not such a person but desire to be, then I encourage and challenge you to begin the process of change today.  The best way to begin is to express the desire of your heart to God and ask the Holy Spirit to help you.  The good news is, that He Will!  The next thing that you can do is come up with a method or plan of change that will work for you.  Habakkuk 2:2 says, “Write the vision and make it plain …”  Some believers, for example, wear a WWJD bracelet.  All I have to do is remember that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are inside me and that an angel is with me everywhere I go—recording my thoughts, my words and my deeds.  This keeps me acutely aware that my attitude, behavior, deeds, reactions and thoughts are being scrutinized, evaluated and recorded in Heaven.

Together, let us purpose in our hearts to be women and men of excellence and integrity!

Be Blessed!