HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-06-02, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 2011. By Pastor Ernest Dow
Living Water Christian
Fellowship (EMC), Blyth
It is a natural human habit to
watch each other, to be comparing
oneself with those around us.
Perhaps this arises out of our
yearning for significance and our
desire to be important, even better
than others. For those who claim to
follow Christ, people are watching
you especially closely. Hypocrisy
and church-going are so closely
associated as to be proverbial;
‘faking it’ doesn’t cut it, or impress
outsiders. Folks are looking to see if
we are people of integrity. A
congregation of true Christians
should be composed of a people who
model integrity.
Just what is integrity? The Concise
Oxford Dictionary defines it as
“moral uprightness; honesty;
wholeness; soundness.” The word
integrity is derived from French and
Latin roots meaning untouched,
whole, complete-in-itself. If the
joists of your house have integrity,
they’re holding together, not falling
apart; they’re sound, entire, not
termite-riddled or ‘punky’ with rot.
Integrity in life means there’s a
consistency between what you give
assent to, what you say, and what
you do; no clash or discord between
your actions and what you let on that
you stand for.
One person who has helped our
federal government be accountable
and maintain integrity over the past
10 years is Sheila Fraser, Canada’s
retiring Auditor General. She’s
famous for not balking at being
critical of the government even
when her findings had major
repercussions politically, as in the
case of the sponsorship scandal. In a
CBC radio interview, the host asked
Fraser to unpack what it means to be
courageous in ‘speaking truth to
power’. Fraser emphasized, “Live up
to your own personal values... Work
with integrity... You have to respect
your own values – every day.” That
fits with the definition of integrity as
‘wholeness’, ‘soundness’, being
consistent in life and lip; but does it
go far enough? Does it actually
touch on ‘moral uprightness’?
Upright relative to what? “Your own
personal values” – is that the
supreme arbiter, the court of
judgment? This may be fine as a
secular or humanistic definition as
far as it goes, but it seems to fall
short in a Christian sense.
Take an extreme case – a Serbian
man, Ratko Mladic, recently
arrested after many years for
massacring 8000 Muslim men and
boys in a supposed ‘safe zone’
during the war in Bosnia. When he
gave the orders, was he exhibiting
‘integrity’? When he’s put on trial at
The Hague, can he defend himself
by arguing he was acting in line with
his most deeply held personal
convictions? His people or tribe
were threatened; his duty was to
protect them. Those massacred were
(in his mind) the source of the threat;
was he not doing his patriotic duty to
eliminate them?
What about Stalin and the
archipelago, or Hitler and the
holocaust camps? Were these leaders
not acting with ‘integrity’ (in a
limited secular sense), their actions
congruent with their own personal
values? What about a delinquent
who chooses not to work but instead
chases after satisfying their keenest
personal desires – suppose their
values are ‘getting high and getting
laid’? If they thus devote
themselves, would that not qualify
as ‘integrity’? Who’s to define for
me (they might protest) what values
are ‘upright’ and what ones are
debauchery?
Values are ultimately a religious
matter; what we worship, what we
hold most dear and sacrifice for, we
value. Money or fame or reputation
or intoxicating substances or
pleasure can all be idols that rival
God as the Supreme Arbiter of
meaning and purpose in our lives.
So, for the Christian, a definition of
‘integrity’ has to go beyond ‘living
by personal values’ to involve
consistency with God’s revealed
values – Scriptural precepts, truth
that springs from the Bible not my
subconscious or physical desires nor
even widely accepted social norms.
The Auditor General was
summing up her career for the
public. The Apostle Paul summed up
his career towards the end in a trial
before the Roman governor Felix
this way, in Acts 24:14-16:
“However, I admit that I worship the
God of our fathers as a follower of
the Way, which they call a sect. I
believe everything that agrees with
the Law and that is written in the
Prophets, and I have the same hope
in God as these men, that there will
be a resurrection of both the
righteous and the wicked. So I strive
always to keep my conscience clear
before God and man.”
What was Paul’s yardstick? What
benchmarks would he use to
measure ‘integrity’? Not just his
own personal values; but God’s
judgment – God’s appraisal of him –
and God’s revealed principles as
written in the Law and the Prophets.
So Paul strove to keep his
conscience clear before (in reference
to) God and man.
For those who claim to follow
Jesus, integrity must relate personal
actions to God’s revealed principles,
not just our own personal values.
Yes, we all fall short from time to
time: none of us is perfect,
continually avoiding sin. When we
do commit a fault, we need the Good
News of divine mercy available
through Jesus’ substitutionary death
and atonement on our behalf. (2Cor.
5:19,21) But that doesn’t mean we
need stay ensnared in old fallen
habits. Confess it, turn from it, and
receive the Holy Spirit’s
empowerment to overcome
temptation. Integrity is God’s goal
for us. James wrote, “Perseverance
must finish its work so that you may
be mature and complete, not lacking
anything.” (Jas. 1:4)
Wherever integrity is lacking,
sooner or later it is spotted by others,
for humans are equipped with a
moral ‘sniffer’ that can usually
detect when someone else is taking
liberties. In the 1930s, a spark
ignited a cloud of natural gas in the
basement of a Texas school. The
resulting blast killed 293 people,
most of them children. The
explosion happened because the
local school board wanted to cut
heating costs. What had they done?
They bled the natural gas from a
neighbouring oil company’s
pipeline, supplying the school with
fuel for free. Their dishonesty
unfortunately made the phrase
“boom town” a bitter joke for
Texans.
As a result of this catastrophe, the
government required companies to
add a distinct odour to natural gas.
Now its smell is so noticeable that
we recognize a leak immediately.
Likewise, may our actions reflect
such integrity that they smell, if
anything, like a rose – rather than the
rank stink of dishonesty or
corruption.
By Mikenna Lane
Students at St. Anne’s Catholic
Secondary School have been
thankful for this past week as the
“May crazies” are beginning to
calm down, and students are
entering the last stretch of the 2010-
2011 school year.
This past week the St. Anne’s
theme was displayed as the athletic
department worked together within
their teams to be successful. St.
Anne’s is especially proud
of the girls rugby team as their
skilled and enthusiastic coach, Mr.
Clancy led his team to their fourth
consecutive victory of making it
OFSAA.
Congratulations to all of the track
and field athletes who also
competed at OFSAA this past week.
The theme for this year’s prom
was “Seaside Serenade” and on
behalf of St. Anne’s, students would
like to thank Ms. Fraser and her
team of Grade 12 students who
organized such a great night.
All of the graduates and their
families are invited to the
graduation mass on Sunday, June 5
at 2 p.m. A reception will follow
and then all guests will be treated to
a coffee house where many of the
graduates will showcase their
talents.
Students
play well
at OFSAA
Worship Service & Sunday School at 11 a.m.
CORNER OF DINSLEY & MILL STREETS
MINISTER
Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M. Div.
All Welcome
MUSIC DIRECTOR
Floyd Herman, BA, M. Ed.OFFICE: 519-523-4224
June 5th ~ Youth Service,
10:30 am
at Camp Menesetung and not at the church
BRUSSELS - ETHEL PASTORAL CHARGE
UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA
Sandra Cable, Worship Leader
Church Office 519-887-6259 E-mail - beunitedchurch@gmail.com
Sunday, June 5
Anniversary Service
at Ethel United Church at 11:00 am
Guest Speaker: Chuck Mallette
from “Habitat for Humanity”
Lunch following service.
NO SERVICE at Brussels United
Celebrating our Christian Faith together in worship
Please join us for worship
Hwy. 4, Blyth 519-523-4743
www.blythcrc.ca
SUNDAYS
Morning Service 10:00 am
Evening Service 7:30 pm
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
getlivingwater.org
Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 519-523-4848
Living Water
Christian Fellowship
10:30 a.m. ~ Worship & Sunday School
at Blyth Public School,
corner of King & Mill
Tuesdays 7:30 pm - Wingham Small Group
1st & 3rd Wednesdays 7:30 pm - Women’s Ministry
June 5: James 2:14-17
“The Church
You’ve Always
Longed For -
Serves a
Broken World”
50-Day Spiritual
Adventure -
Week 6
Evangelical Missionary Church
Youre Invited
to come worship
with us
Sunday, June 5
Brussels Public School
at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Sunday School for children
4 to 11 years of age (mornings only)
Childcare provided for infants and toddlers
Coffee & cookies after the morning service
For additional details please contact:
Steve Klumpenhower 519.887.8651 Rick Packer 519.527.0173
Chris McMichael 519.482.1644
119 John’s Ave., Auburn
519-526-1131
www.huronchapel.org
9:30 a.m.
Sunday School
10:30 a.m.
Morning Worship Service
Anniversary Sunday
Guest Speaker:
Ivan Preston
Church Family Picnic
to follow with food
and games for all ages.
THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA
Welcomes you to come and worship with us
Trinity, Blyth
9:15 a.m.
Church Office: 519-357-4883
St. John's, Brussels
11:15 a.m.
519-887-6862
Sunday, June 5
Rev. Perry Chuipka
www.nabcom.ca/church
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
Rev. Elwin Garland
SUNDAY, JUNE 5
Wheelchair accessible ~ Nursery care available
519-887-2664
10:00 am - Sunday Morning Worship
- Sunday School
From the Minister’s StudyThose following Christ are watched closely