Integrity on Trial

This past week our nation’s 24-hour news cycle has been filled with stories about the sexual abuse scandal rocking Penn State University. Each day some new more salacious detail was thoroughly dissected by reporters and pundits alike. Riots rocked normally quiet State College the night Joe Paterno was fired. The team, including this years seniors, played a less than inspired game against Nebraska on Saturday afternoon, although they did make a valiant comeback attempt late in the game. It was an almost surreal fall from grace for a highly regarded football program and a proud university.

I will not be offering any commentary about the alleged events or the persons who have been charged, are under investigation, or have lost their jobs. My heart goes out to the innocent victims and their families whose lives have been forever scarred. We should all be in prayer for their healing. Instead I want to offer just a few brief thoughts about the importance of integrity in our personal and professional lives. As the events of this past week unfolded it seemed like integrity was on trial.

Ronald Reagan is quoted as saying, “The character that takes command in moments of crucial choices has already been determined by...little choices of years past — by all those times when the voice of conscience was at war with the voice of temptation, whispering the lie that “it really doesn’t matter”. Living with integrity is a 24-hour assignment. Many of our daily choices seem almost benign in nature compared to the horrific accounts emerging from the Penn State story. Yet integrity matters in the smallest of choices — the willingness to admit a mistake (even when no one has noticed), the effort to ask forgiveness (even when the other person seemed unaffected by our actions), or the costly acknowledgement that our actions or inactions have affected the outcome of a game, a business decision, or a child’s life.

One’s title or position is not how integrity is earned or measured but rather by the character and behavior of the person who holds it. We are a culture and nation obsessed with self. Yet, healthy self-esteem doesn’t guarantee we will behave with integrity. Perhaps the reason we are so jealous and suspicious of each other is because we lack integrity in our relationships and business dealings. As Will Rogers so aptly stated, “I would rather be the man who bought the Brooklyn Bridge than the man who sold it.”

Living with integrity has its own rewards but it is a challenging and often lonely path to choose. When competitors are cutting corners, classmates are cheating, or co-workers are lying it seems easier to imitate than to oppose. Swimming against the current can break ones spirit and will. The reward for integrity is not success in the eyes of others but peace with oneself and with God.

Whatever finally emerges from the sad and heartbreaking circumstances surrounding the Penn State story, I hope it will serve as a poignant reminder that integrity is always on trial. What will be the final verdict for them and for each of us?