Practical Test for Integrity
• ”If your goal is not determined by your
most secret pathos, even victory will only
make you painfully aware of your own
weakness.”
Dag Hammarskjold,
U.N. Secretary General, 1953-61
The Heart of
Christian Integrity
Christian Tradition reframes the basic
spiritual and moral question:
“What should I live for and how ?”
as a question of imagination, reason, and
ultimate love:
“What or Who actually moves you in the
most ultimate way? Who is your God?
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Integrity (OED)
[Latin integer: whole; as in a whole number or
integer.]
1. complete
2. unimpaired
3. virtuous moral character; uprightness
What do all three definitions share?
Integrity Defined
Integrity is the condition of being fully
integrated, pulled together, or unified.
Integrity is the state of
wholeness.
7 Resources for Christian Integrity
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Fall completely in love
Learn from the integrity of the Trinity
Allow the Body of Christ to complete you
Identify with the story of Jesus
Develop your moral imagination
Practice habits of heart that bring the
fullness of life
7. Exercise spiritually
1. Fall Completely in Love
• “When you fall in love it is a temporary
madness. It erupts like an earthquake and
then it subsides. And when it subsides you
have to make a decision. You have to work
out whether your roots have become so
intertwined together that it is inconceivable
that you should ever part. This is what love
is.”
Corelli’s Mandolin
2. Learn From the Integrity
of the Trinity
The Ultimate Source of Integrity
• Christian tradition: God is the most
complete, uncorrupted, and virtuous
being.
Who is God?
• Nicene Creed: God is Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit united together in a perfect
community of love.
3. Allow the Body of Christ
to Complete you
We Find Our Integrity in the
Body of Christ
A. Ephesians 4 tells us that we are not
complete on our own. We participate in
the fullness of life (found in the Trinity)
only by sharing and receiving the diverse
gifts that Christ gives to his body.
B. Catholic view: we are saved in
community, i.e., by our participation in the
inextricably communal body of Christ.
4.Identify with the story of Jesus
Archbishop Oscar Romero
Storied Integrity
Mature or Integrated Christian identity avoids both
A) identity diffusion--lack of conviction and focus; inability
to initiate projects or sustain commitments
B) premature foreclosure of identity--jumps into a “readymade” identity, inability to manage uncertainty.
Mature identity requires continual growth through exploring
different roles on the way toward ever deeper commitment.
Storied Identity
Humans need a sense of identity that is:
dynamic (ongoing),
dramatic (plot driven), and
unified (unifies diverse experiences into a
meaningful and comprehensive whole)
For Christians the story of Jesus unifies the story of God
across the Old and New Testaments and provides the
most authentically dynamic, dramatic, comprehensive,
and unified source of Christian identity. This story
continues today.
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5. Develop Your
Moral Imagination
Story as Our Window to World
Imagine or see the world through the
integrating lens of the story of
Jesus and find a creative way to
remain true to the story.
Look to saints and role models for
examples.
6. Practice Habits of Heart that
Bring the Fullness of Life
What are the Patterns of Your
Doing and Being?
Our moral character is formed by the
patterns of our freedom. Like the waters
that helped to form the Grand Canyon,
each act we perform cuts a groove into our
character. When we repeat actions, we
increase the tendency that our freedom,
like a stream grown into a river, will flow
down the well-worn path.
Virtues:
the Building Blocks of Integrity
A. Virtues: dispositions that result from good
habits.
B. Becoming virtuous (the state of integrity)
requires practice of the virtues. Christian
virtues flow from identification with
Jesus’ story.
C. The love of Jesus defines the Christian
virtue of Charity : “Love one another as I
have loved you.”
Exercise: Who do you want to be at
your 85th Birthday? What patterns
would you need to change now?
7. Exercise Spiritually
Spiritual Practices
A. Spiritual practices school our
imagination, form our habits of heart,
and open us to continual
sanctification.
B. In the Spiritual Exercises of St.
Ignatius you might imaginatively
participate in a Scripture passage.
You are Zacchaeus. What do you feel
when Jesus calls to you a tax
collector?
Conclusion:
Integrity as a Journey
Paraphrase of Dag Hammarskjold:
We find integrity by “casting anchor
in the experience of the mystery of
life” until we plumb its depths and
encounter and then live from the
source of all integrity Who calls us
by name. We respond to our call.
7 Resources for Christian Integrity
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Fall completely in love
Learn from the integrity of the Trinity
Allow the Body of Christ to complete you
Identify with the story of Jesus
Develop your moral imagination
Practice habits of heart that bring the
fullness of life
7. Exercise spiritually