A few nights ago I awoke with the aches and pains of a sickness I have been fighting for a few days. Unable to sleep, I started to reflect upon all the friends and loved ones that are struggling with pain and suffering to a much greater degree. I thought about those who are facing a crumbling marriage, the loss of a spouse, the onset of a disease that will take their life. I lay in the dark and considered the deep comfort that we have in Christ.
The Christian life is not an easy one, and may even be fraught with greater struggles because of our commitment to follow Christ whatever the cost. But there is no accounting for the presence of Christ in the midst of these struggles.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the world is watching. Please do not show them a perfect, polished life free of any pain or sorrow. Such a life does not exist in this broken world. Show them that you too are cracked and flawed, just as they are. Show them that you too struggle with weaknesses and doubts. And then show them that our God sent his Son for us, to bring us safely to his promised land. He gives his Spirit so that as we sit in pain and doubt we will know his supernatural presence and find comfort.
As you listen to the song below, remember that we must sometimes fight for faith to know the joy of the Lord—and in the end, Jesus will be victorious. Like Job, we may not always understand, but we trust.
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.
“On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.””
(Luke 17:11–19, ESV)
It was a disturbing disease, to say the least. The classic case, caused by mycobacterium leprae, might also include related maladies like subcutaneous erysipelas which resulted in a red swelling of the extremities and face, boils, ringworm and sycosis of the scalp and beard which would result in inflammation of the hair follicles. Any form of dermatitis would be terrible enough, but leprosy was worse. Beyond all of the pain, there was the isolation demanded by the Levitical law of the Old Testament.
The passage of Scripture must have haunted each leper’s mind like a bad dream: “As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, and the hair of his head shall be uncovered, and he shall cover his mustache and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 46 “He shall remain unclean all the days during which he has the infection; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp” (Lev. 13:45-46).
What a helpless and devastating situation. There was nothing else that could be done. There was no clinic with a newly discovered serum, and no witch doctor with a secret potion. The leper was left with no medicine and very little sympathy. Of course there were other lepers with which one could commiserate, but every glance at a fellow leper only served to remind him that he was grotesque, helpless, and isolated.
Think for a moment about such a man, and about the day this leper heard that Jesus was in town—the rumored Messiah. This was the one everybody had been talking about. They said he could heal. They said he could work miracles. These lepers knew they needed the healing that only God could provide.
The Bible says that one day as Jesus approached a town and ten lepers stood at a distance and began yelling, “Hey! Over here! Jesus! Have mercy on us!” Incredibly, the famous Rabbi actually walked over to them and said simply and calmly, “Go and show yourself to the priest.”
This must have been a shock. “Showing yourself to the priest” was reserved for those whose skin disorder was not permanent. It was for those whose skin had cleared up and showed no sign of the disease. The clean bill of health from the priest was only a nebulous dream for those in the leper colony. But, “who knows?” they may have thought, “maybe the Messiah will empower the priest to heal us?” So off they went, all ten (running I would imagine). Before they arrived, on the way, it happened! All ten social outcasts were instantaneously healed of their leprosy. Think of it! No more leper colony! No more disease! No more discomfort! No more agony!
It surely dawned on them all; it wasn’t the priest, it was the Rabbi. It was Jesus who healed them. Jesus had shown compassion. Jesus had stooped to help their helpless situation. There had to have been a million reasons why the Messiah could have walked right past them. But He didn’t. He noticed. He cared. He healed them.
They were finally clean, and now there was so much to do. There were so many family members to inform, so many friends to tell, so many things to catch up on! Jesus had given them an incredible gift and it seemed only right to begin to celebrate.
Unfortunately, their celebration was incomplete. The Bible says that when those ten leper were faced with the profound choice between enjoying the gift and thanking the giver, nine were so enamored with the benefits of their new life that they gave no attention to the source of their joy. The gift had completely overshadowed the giver. All ten knew who had given them a new life, but only one grateful former leper took the time to fall at the Giver’s feet to say thanks. Just one.
You might expect that the “understanding Messiah” might have been satisfied with 10%, but the chilling response of Jesus must have made the thankful man cringe. “Where are the other nine?” Christ asked. “Weren’t all ten cleansed? Are you the only one who returned to give thanks to God?” With an air of inflexibility Jesus revealed that he expected gratitude be expressed by all to whom his gifts are granted.
What could this man say? “They’re on their way.” “They should be here any second.” Or “They had more important things to do.” “I think they must have forgotten.” There was no way to cover for them. They were simply too busy enjoying the gift to expend any effort in thanking the Giver. Could it be that in reality they selfishly loved the gift more than the Giver?
It’s not right, but it happens. It happens every day. All year long, every month, every week and every day, God is giving good gifts. In our lives he has given and continues to give even more. When it comes to responding with our heartfelt thanks you should know that Jesus is inflexible in his expectation of worship! He expects full and regular participation. Let’s not allow Thanksgiving to just be a date on our calendars. For spiritual lepers made clean, let’s make it a sincere and joyful way of life. Make it a daily practice, not an annual ritual. Make it a discipline and not just a holiday.
Always Reforming 