service and ministry

6 Requirements for Leading with Integrity

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

Biblical Christian leadership has always been in short supply. For some prominent leaders, sometimes the cracks in the facade begin to show that below the surface, there exists a double standard for life–“What is good for thee is not for me.” For Christians, our final authority is Scripture, but it seems that for some, biblical authority is placed below popularity, past success, and unquestioned loyalty. Every person will answer to the Lord and no one is above biblical scrutiny. “But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”” (James 4:6, ESV). How can we be assured that we don’t fall or become dis-integrated? King David’s Psalm 101:1-4 gives us great encouragement and direction for becoming leaders with integrity.

“I will sing of steadfast love and justice; to you, O Lord, I will make music. I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house; I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil.” (Psalm 101:1–4, ESV)

Leading with Integrity:

1. Requires a Resolute Determination (vv. 1-3). David sings over and over again, “I will…” with a resolute determination that he will worship with song and life. He will live in such a way that he pleased the Lord and not the flesh. There are basically three things we commonly call “resolutions.” The first is what some people do each New Year–promises they don’t intend to keep. Then there are official statements made by governments and groups which really have little to no power to change anything. It is simply a public declaration. The third type of resolution happens deep in the heart and soul. It is the opposite of the other two. It is a strong and determined statement of the will that says that you will do everything in your power to fulfill this promise. The leader of integrity determines that with God’s help he will accomplish the will of God.

2. Requires a Balance of Love and Justice (v. 1). David is wise, declaring his love and desire for both loving mercy and justice. James Montgomery Boice wrote, “Mercy and justice operate as checks on one another. Justice checks love that might otherwise be wrongly indulgent and therefore harmful. Love checks judgment that might otherwise be unduly harsh and therefore also harmful. David wanted his rule to be marked by both of these.”(James Montgomery Boice, Psalms 42–106: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 819). We should strive to be leaders who are both merciful and just. Whether in our home, work, church, or other group, we should strive to be balanced in love and justice. That can be hard, but that is what we see in our Lord Jesus, don’t we?

3. Requires a Biblically Thoughtful Direction (v. 2a). Pondering is not a glance at something, a simple passing over or a peek at it. Pondering means to look long and hard at something while meditating on it. What is the object of David’s pondering? It is the “way that is blameless” or “the perfect way,” which for the Christian is the Word of God. And the child of God who desires to lead with integrity needs to take this Book and use it to gain biblically thought ful direction and guidance. Your Bible should be like an old path–familiar and worn out. David said he would “ponder” the way that is blameless. Do you meditate on the Word. I know we ponder on our failures, our struggles, our temptations, our hurts, our needs, and our disappointments. But do you ponder God’s answers? Do you sit and think? Do you take God’s Word into your thoughts like a hard candy in your mouth. Rolling it over and over, savoring it?

4. Requires Beginning in the Heart and Extending to Every Realm of Our Lives (v. 2b). To walk with integrity of heart is a way of speaking of growing in holiness, what we call the process of sanctification. In his book, Living for God’s Glory, Joel Beeke writes, “Holi- ness that resembles God and is patterned after Christ saves us from hypocrisy and resorting to a “Sunday only” Christianity. It gives vitality, purpose, meaning, direction, and contentment to daily living” ( ) The word “integrity” is a math term, from the word “integer.” And integer is a whole number, it is not a fraction. Put theologically, it means a whole person, not a partially committed person, a half believer or an “almost Christian.” Leading with integrity requires that we must begin in our heart first. Before you look to your spouse for change, or your children or other family members, or your boss or friends or so- ciety or the church, where do you need to begin? With yourself.

5. Requires an Awareness of the Company that We Keep (v. 3). This word “worthless” in v. 3 is the Hebrew word belial, and it means “worthless,” but not in the way we think of trash or junk. The KJV uses the word “wicked” and the HCSB uses “vile.” These two translations show us that “worthless” is a ref- erence to its deep moral depravity. David says that he will not place before his eyes anything that is wicked or worthless. To see the proper understanding of this for ourselves, it is helpful to see this in a spectrum:

  • Absolutely abstain from the outright wicked–Gal 5:19-21
  • Situationally discern the marginally wicked–Prov 25:16, 17
  • Strategically refrain from useless pursuits–2Tim 2:1-6

In Psalm 101:3, David makes a commitment that he won’t look at wicked things, and that he won’t allow wicked people into his life. As the King, this would have meant in his realm. Do you al- low wicked things into your life? What about into your home? If you’re walking in the counsel of the wicked you might not even recognize them. You might even tell someone who points it out that they are being too legalistic. Imagine that, a Christian brother or sister counsels you to move toward holiness, but you would rather walk with the wicked! May this never be said of any of us. May we be men and women of integrity who lead our homes and work place with a heart moved to holiness.

6. Requires Removing Wicked Influences from Our Lives (v. 4). The “perverse heart” is not the danger from within, but the dan- ger from without. Remember, we are talking about leading with integrity here. We must guard our own hearts from wickedness lest we become a wicked leader. But we just as much guard ourselves from wicked counselors who would lead us away from godly leadership as well. Brothers and sisters, we must have discretion in our choices of those who are influential in our lives. You see, the danger is not merely in making poor choices in leadership. The danger is far greater than that. The greater threat is that we shall become like the wicked. We shall join their ranks.

The Sin of Standing Back and Watching When Help is Needed (weekend repost)

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I want us as Christians to think about how we behave in regard to stepping in and offering help to those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ when there is a chance that we might get berated, burned, verbally beaten, or worse.

Read the full post here: The Sin of Standing Back and Watching When Help Is Needed

Be Prepared for the Spiritual Battles Ahead

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“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”

(Ephesians 6:11, ESV)

Be Armored

In preparing for spiritual battle, we need to make sure that we “put on the whole armor,” not just selected pieces. Later in this chapter Paul describes each piece of armor, but for now, we need to know that we cannot pick and choose. To do so would be disastrous because would leave us exposed to attack. 

My dad was involved in the LA riots of 1992 as a police officer for Los Angeles. The rioting lasted six days, during which 63 people were killed and and almost 2400 people were injured. It ended only after the California Army National Guard, the United States Army, and the United States Marine Corps provided reinforcements to re-establish control. In preparation for going into a war zone, which is what LA was at the time, which would a policeman choose? A bullet-proof vest or a riot helmet? What will happen if he chooses one over the other? What about if he chose a riot shield and not boots?  These are foolish questions because to be prepared to battle, a soldier or a policeman needs to be fully equipped with his whole armor, not simply bits and pieces. As Christians, we too need to be armored, not choosing some, but all of the armor that God provides.

Be Anchored

“Stand against” or “stand firm” is a reference to not being moved in our fundamental doctrinal positions. The opposite of this means to be blown around by every wind of doctrine. Ephesians 4:11-14 says, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;” (Ephesians 4:11–14, NASB95)

There’s a lot to grasp in those verses, but the quick truth I want you to see here is that a lack of biblical discipleship leads to many things, including the immaturity of believers who will be like children who are rocked upon the shore by the waves of doubt and deception.

Those who have drifted in their faith have brought disaster to their lives, and to the lives of many others. Paul warned Timothy of this happening in Ephesus: “keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme.” (1 Timothy 1:19–20, NASB95) 

Be Alert

First Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8, ESV). Being “sober-minded” is not something that our age is known for. We are easily distracted, silly, and fascinated with the trivial. Five minutes on Youtube would be enough to confirm this truth to anyone who doubted it.

In 2 Corinthians 2:11 Paul wrote, “…so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.” (2 Corinthians 2:11, NASB95). Outwitted and ignorant of Satan’s schemes is unfortunately a perfect description of many Christians and churches today. We look to the Bible to see God’s will, and to answer questions for life, and rightly so. We see in it the glory of God in Christ Jesus as we should. But in this Book we also have a manual for warfare. War against our great enemies: the World, the flesh, and the Devil. Know these enemies and their schemes! Study the Word to learn about how these enemies of our soul will try to trip us up and lead us astray. We can’t afford to live like there isn’t a roaring lion out there!

In his excellent books, The Christian in Complete Armour, the Puritan pastor William Gurnall wrote, “One of the dangers of playing the devil’s games is that you come to like them. They are as addictive as wine, and create an insatiable thirst. Practice the devil’s tricks long enough, and your blackened soul will begin to devise mischief of its own, to help satisfy your ravishing appetite for sin…. Set your heart toward wickedness and Satan will lend you his own chariot and drive you himself to perform the deed.”

We need to prepare for battle, but we need to fight with the weapons of our King, not earthly weapons of politics, power plays, or philosophies. We need to proclaim the life-giving gospel message and preach the truth. As we do, we can stand firm and watch the Lord fight for us.

Pentecost Today? Not So Fast.

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“For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.”

(1 Corinthians 12:8–10, ESV)

“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.””

(Acts 2:1–13, ESV)

One of the more divisive issues within the evangelical Christian church today is the issue of speaking in tongues. The growth of Pentecostal denominations and charismatic churches over the last 100 years has been phenomenal. For some, this is enough evidence that the modern gift of tongues is biblical. Add to this the experiential element and those who are convinced of the legitimacy of modern charismatic practices would be hard-pressed to deny their existence. Although the continuationist view is the newer position on the use of the miraculous gifts today, it has become the majority view within evangelicalism.

In this post I’d like to look at three characteristics on the Day of Pentecost to consider the question of what is the gift of tongues? After I answer them, I’d like to compare that special day and see if Pentecost is still happening today.

The account in Acts 2 follows Jesus’ ascension after he told the disciples to stay in Jerusalem until the promised Holy Spirit came. This small band of believers gathered together in an upper room and prayed together. The following is an examination of what happened in that room when the Spirit came:

  1. Sound (vv. 2, 6)
    • This was a sign to both the believers gathered as well as the unbelievers that were drawn to the loud commotion.
    • This sound is described as being like “a mighty rushing wind.” The Greek word for “wind” is pneuma and it is also the word used for Spirit. The wind was described as sounding like rushing or violent wind. This sound was meant to communicate the power of the Holy Spirit.
    • This surprising sound was not wind but was “like” wind in its mighty power–reminding the disciples of the promise given by Jesus in Acts 1:8 that he would give them power to accomplish his commission.
  2. Sight (v. 3)
    • The “tongues of fire” appeared to those in the upper room and thus were a sign to the believers gathered.
    • The tongues were distributed among them all, and everyone in the room received this sign as it rested upon each of them. This was followed by speaking in tongues. In 1Cor 12:11, Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit gives his spiritual gifts to those whom he wills.
    • Why a sign of fire? Throughout the Bible fire represents two major ideas-judgment and purity. In this setting and context, it is appropriate to understand the symbol as a reference to the purifying work of the Spirit (Isaiah 6; Rev. 1:14, 15).
  3. Speech (vv. 4-11)
    • The speech was a sign to the unbelievers (vv. 6-12). Those gathered Jews in the city of Jerusalem did not hear God speaking in Hebrew, as he had done in the Old Testament through his prophets. He spoke to them through the foreign languages of the nations. In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul said, “In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers.” (1 Corinthians 14:21–22, ESV)
    • What did these Christians say when they spoke in tongues? What was the content of their speech? We don’t have to wonder. Verse 11 says they were speaking of the mighty deeds of God. It is important to also note that their words were understandable to the people–not Christians, but unbelieving Jews.
    • Additionally, it is important to point out that the miracle was in speech, not hearing. Verses 9-11 tells us that the people gathered heard the praise of these Christians in their own tongues. That was because the languages were genuine human languages from the places these Jewish pilgrims had come from.
  4. Conclusion: What happened after this event? What were the conclusions the crowd came to?
    • Confusion (v. 12). They didn’t have a clue about what was happening.
    • Contempt (v. 13). They mocked and said the people were drunk.
    • Conversions (2:41). Three thousand souls were saved.

Some Parallels to Today’s Tongues Movement?

Before I get to my questions, I need to ask, is Acts 2 descriptive or prescriptive? In other words, is Acts supposed to be a handbook for how we should conduct the Church today or is it a history of how the early church functioned at one time and in many ways is unique?

Some within the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement call the church to a new Pentecost. They lament that the church is powerless today because we need that same power, and so we need the same Pentecostal experience. If Acts 2 is prescriptive and gives instructions for the Church to follow today:

  1. Where is the rushing wind sound today?
  2. Where are the fiery tongues today?
  3. Why are tongues not identifiable languages today?
  4. Why are tongues not used to testify to the unbelievers today?
  5. Why are there not mass conversions on the scale of those in Acts 2 today?
  6. Why is it that all those who are believers are not given this gift today? Even the 3,000 that were saved that day are never said to have been given the gift of tongues. Why not if it is supposed to be normal for every Christian?

It is my conviction that the gift of tongues and its accompanying gift of interpretation ceased after the completion of the Bible and is no longer necessary for the church to function. This is not just my opinion, but is in fact the confirmed historical stand of the Church from the end of the Apostolic age all the way up until the early 19th Century.

We do not need to practice tongues to become close to our Savior, God, and King. If you do not read God’s Word, tongues will not help you know Him better. If you do not pray, muttering in a supposed “angelic language” will not edify anyone. If you do not practice love, you can have no part with the Father. Such a large portion of so many churches are taken up with this practice that whole churches are known for their concentration on the Holy Spirit. Let us not forget what Jesus said concerning the Holy Spirit in John 16:13-14, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:13–14, ESV). The Spirit never points to himself, but to Jesus. May we do the same.

A Word of Advice for Young Leaders

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Sometimes the church is so desperate and eager for leaders that it puts people in place that haven’t been tested and tried to make sure that they are prepared to biblically lead. Sometimes, we equate a Bible education with maturity and discernment. But there is much to be said about the wisdom that is attained through the application of biblical wisdom in the trials of life that cannot be derived from books. I don’t want to diminish my young brothers and sisters, I was once there. But if the bane of the elderly is that they want to move too slow and be too safe, the trial of young leaders is being unwilling to listen to the wiser voices of experience.

First Kings 12 tells the interesting account of young king Rehoboam and his inexperience as a newly appointed ruler. Rehoboam is quickly confronted with a dilemma and the need for wise counsel. As seems to be the case with many, Rehoboam had no shortage of people who wanted to give him advice. Who doesn’t like playing the game, “If I were the king?” Two groups vyed for the young king’s attention- those elderly men who had counseled Rehoboam’s father Solomon, and Rehoboam’s younger friends whom he had grown up with. After listening to both sets of counsel, Rehoboam agreed with the harsher, immature counsel of his friends, disregarding the ‘old school’ thinking of his father’s counselors.

Proverbs 13:10 wisely states, “By insolence comes nothing but strife, but with those who take advice is wisdom.” Rehoboam followed his friends’ counsel because it so closely matched his own desires. He refused to take the advice that he didn’t like, no matter how wise it may have been. The result of Rehoboam’s foolish decision was that the nation of Israel was thrust into a civil war and was split into two kingdoms.

Friends, over and over again in Scriptures we are admonished to seek heavenly wisdom and counsel from God and his Word. Personally, I can fail to seek wise counsel at times, or worse, like Rehoboam, I seek it from those most like me who will tell me what I want to hear.

Mediation on Scriptures along with conversations with the elders of the faith (both living and dead) will yield a rich bounty. Why travel down a sorrowful path when we can avoid doing so by seeking out the truth from wiser and more experienced leaders? Brothers and sisters, let us not repeat the foolishness of Rehoboam!