“Qualified silence might perhaps be more appropriate for the church today than talk, which is very unqualified. That means protest against any form of church which does not honor the question of truth above all things.”  --Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Integrity

June 28, 2020
By Dale Holloway

There’s a story in the Bible about a man named Job, who had been blessed with riches, success, and a large family. More importantly, he was a godly man. According to the author of the book of Job, “This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1b). Not only that, but two verses later we learn that “He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.”

Then his world began to fall apart as tragedy followed tragedy. First, a messenger went to Job and told him that the Sabeans had attacked and taken all his oxen and donkeys. Plus, all the workers watching them had been killed. While he was still speaking with Job, another messenger arrived and said fire fell from the sky, perhaps lightning, and burned up all his sheep and the workers attending them. Then another man arrived and said that raiding parties had taken all his camels and killed the workers. Unbelievably, a fourth messenger came and said a storm had blown down his oldest son’s home while all his children were having a party there. Everyone was killed.

Job, a man who once had everything life could offer in material things, was left with nothing except a bitter wife who said to him, “Are you going to hold on to your integrity? Curse God and die” (Job 2:9). At that point, that might seem like an attractive option for some people, but not for Job. His response to the tragedies? “In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing” (Job 1:22).

Actually, in addition to his bitter wife, Job still had one other thing left, something that no one could take from him: his integrity. In reference to Job, God said, “There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity (Job 2:3).

Integrity defines one’s moral character and makes us who and what we are. It gives a person a confident stalwartness that enables him or her to take a stand on issues of truth and not waver from that stand in the face of adversity. Integrity defines a principled person who has the strength and courage to always do right, just because it is right, regardless of the cost. It’s honesty at all cost. It’s rocklike character that won’t crack when a person is standing alone on an issue or crumble when the pressure mounts. One is either a person of character or not. There is no in-between.

When I look at the political atmosphere in our nation today, I am angered and deeply saddened. Never in my lifetime, which includes the tumultuous 1960s, has our great nation been so divided. Why is that?

It’s a complicated issue and there are many peripheral reasons for the great divide, but in my opinion it all starts with our nation’s leadership, especially at the very top. I am sadly disappointed by the abundance of elected officials in Washington who appear to be devoid of integrity. Where are the men and women, whether Republican, Democrat, or Independent, who have the courage to do the right thing simply because it is right, regardless of the cost? Often that would mean crossing party lines. It may mean reversing a previously held opinion because of a new understanding of the facts. It may even mean upsetting their political base and, thus, risking a loss of support in the next election.

We need men and woman of impeccable integrity in Washington, especially in the office of President of the United States. Only then can the long road to healing begin in our divided nation.

For me there are three qualifying tests that a presidential candidate must pass before I will vote for the person: integrity, commitment to the Judeo-Christian values upon which the Constitution was written, and competence—in that order. Failure to pass any of those tests precludes my vote. Sadly, Donald Trump doesn’t get past the first test, likely fails the second, and hasn’t proven to me he passes the third. That is why I cannot vote for him in November.

My vote for President will be for Joe Biden, not because I believe he is the best person for the presidency—I don’t—but because he is the only candidate that has any chance of defeating Trump. He also passes my three-point presidency test.

Truth matters! Integrity matters! Remember that when you vote on November 3rd.


© 2020 Dale Holloway  ۰  All Rights Reserved