Integrity is simply doing the right thing. It’s being true to what you know to be right. It’s not sinning against your own conscience.

The word ‘integrity’ comes from ‘integer,’ meaning ‘a whole number.’ The person with integrity is a whole human being, not divided or splintered by conflicting actions and beliefs.

Egil ‘Bud’ Krogh served in the Nixon White House in a number of capacities, but notably as the head of a group called “The Plumbers,” created to stop the leaks of information from within the administration. He was not part of the group that broke into the Democratic National Committee’s offices in 1972 in the infamous Watergate Break-in, but he was caught up in the matter when he lied to the Justice Department. Later, he confessed his wrong-doing and was sentenced to six months in prison. Recently, Krogh has written a book about the pressures of working in high profile political positions, under the title “Integrity.”

Krogh advises those who serve high political figures that before giving a recommendation to the boss, they should ask themselves two questions: is this right? and, what will be the consequences of it?

It’s not just in politics where the pressure to say what the boss wants to hear is so strong. In any high level business or religious enterprise, underlings find the temptations to please their bosses so overpowering they frequently find themselves in danger of compromising their convictions, and losing their souls, so to speak.

Recently, a veteran minister told a group of us of an occasion when he had been “bought and paid for” by strong church members. A powerful deacon in one church gave him monetary gifts and made sure that he received a new suit from a fashionable shop from time to time. Then, when the minister found himself crossways with that layman over some church issue, he was reluctant to oppose him. He had compromised himself by taking those presents.

“You cannot be a prophet to people from whom you take a profit,” the minister advised his younger colleagues. “It’s best to say ‘no’ to large, expensive gifts, particularly if you think they come with strings attached.”

One pastor told me he felt like the mascot of certain wealthy people in his large church. They paid for his membership in the country club, saw that he drove the latest model luxury car, and took care of any financial needs he had. Yet, in committee meetings and board sessions, he was expected to be quiet and to let these powerful men have their way. To do otherwise was a breach of an unspoken contract.

Many years ago, my family and I moved into the parsonage of a large church in a county-seat town in Mississippi, coming from a staff-member position in another city. Moving from a small apartment into a four bedroom home meant that we did not have enough furniture to fill up the house. Soon, a wealthy deacon and his wife came over and graciously suggested that they would be pleased to furnish our living room for us. We asked them to give us time to think it over.

I called them the next day and thanked them, told them how wonderful their offer was, and said something to the effect that, “If you don’t mind, we’d like to decline the offer right now. We have never received so big a gift and we would hate for it to cloud our relationship with you. We want to get to know you for the special people you are.” I added with a laugh, “If we change our minds on this, I hope it will be all right to get back to you.” They assured us that it would be.

For the next couple of years, our young children used that big empty living room as a playground. Then, one day we called that deacon and his wife and told them if the offer was still open, we would love to have them furnish the living room. Over the next week or so, his wife and my wife enjoyed shopping in stores, selecting couches, chairs, tables, lamps, and pictures, some of which are still serving us well after 30 years.

Once we got to know that couple, we knew their gift to us would be from the kindness of their hearts and no strings would be attached. We had no difficulty with others finding out the source of these blessings, and no one had a problem with it.

A pastor once told me he had a rule for his ministerial staff, that before they could accept a gift of any size from a member of the congregation, it must be approved by him. This policy was installed to protect the integrity of the staffer and the entire church leadership. Staff members were advised of this before accepting the call to that church, so they knew of the policy well in advance of any incidents and were thus prepared to deal with them.

Another minister says that when someone in the church designates money to a staff member’s particular ministry, that same amount is deducted from the budget item for that ministry. This is to prevent a church member from pouring his resources into his pet ministry to the detriment of other programs of the church.

The minister protects his integrity when he guards against being alone with members of the opposite sex, putting himself and the other person in questionable settings. He protects himself when he pulls together a small group of leaders to whom he is accountable for every aspect of his ministry and personal life, with them able to ask him anything and get a straight answer.

A minister protects his integrity when he declines invitations to attend events where he feels compromised, to perform weddings where he feels used, and to bless situations of which he does not approve. The ability to say ‘no’ is one of the minister’s greatest strengths. He must never do anything to hamper his power to utter that single syllable.

You protect your integrity by returning the excess change given you through a mistake by the store clerk, by paying your full tax obligations on time, and by handling your bills as promptly as possible.

A person compromises his integrity by running up charge accounts he cannot pay, by borrowing more than he is able to pay back, and by living beyond his means.

We compromise our integrity by lying, by gossiping, and by bending the truth to make it more pleasing to the person we’re talking with.

We lose our integrity by over-promising, under-producing, and not earning our paycheck.

“Unite my heart to fear thy name,” David prayed in Psalm 86:11. This king, about whom we know so much, certainly knew something about the divided heart. After his sin with Bathsheba and the manslaughter of her husband Uriah to cover up his wrongs, his heart was greatly burdened, even at the time he was saying righteous things to the nation. He looked back to the time of his innocence and purity and longed for the whole heart devoted to God, hence that prayer.

In the great 119th Psalm, David–or whoever wrote it–testified, “I hate those who are double-minded.” (verse 113)

“The double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. Let not that man think he shall receive anything from the Lord.” (See James 1:5-8)

Sometimes when our Lord would heal a person, He would say, “Be whole.” That’s a great thing to be–a whole person.

It would be a good prayer for us to send Heavenward each day: “Lord, make me a whole human being. A person of integrity. Help me to do nothing to compromise my wholeness and divide my loyalty to Thee.”