Integrity

During this series on "The Office," we've been discussing the intersection of our faith and our work, and we've talked a lot about integrity. "Integrity" means "the state of being whole or undivided." It comes from the same Latin root as the word "integer," which refers to whole numbers (not fractions or decimals, which are numbers that are sub-divided). "Integrity" is also related to "integrate," which is to bring different parts of something together. We want to integrate our faith life and our work life so that we have just life, a life of integrity--wholeness, completeness, not a life that's sub-divided.

You see, God wants to be the God of our whole lives, not just parts and pieces. That means that God has something to say about every aspect of our lives:

• Our work
• Our finances
• Our relationships
• Our marriage and family
• Our hobbies
• Our time management
• Our entertainment

Every single choice that we make in every area of our lives has spiritual ramifications--everything is spiritual.

We need to break down this idea that God is only for Sunday mornings, for church, or whenever I happen to read my Bible or pray. If God is God, he is God all the time, God over the universe, God over my whole life. Everything I do matters to God, and he's not after our lip service--he's after our lives.

Yes, we often fall short of perfection. Our many weaknesses mock our dreams and aspirations. But a life of integrity continues to strive toward the goal, bringing every thought captive to Christ, so that every aspect of who we are will reverberate with his character.

We take a rest from work. We take a break from other people, sometimes. But there is no vacation in the Christian life. There's no time off. There's no part of us that "doesn't count." If we belong to God, we belong to him all the time--every moment, every day.

That may seem like a discouraging thought, if we've conditioned ourselves to equate God with the father that we could never please, or the boss who's always looking over our shoulder. But as we find success and grow deeper in our relationship with him, that realization becomes a comfort and an encouragement. God cares deeply about everything about us. He wants us to be the best we can be in every area. He has a purpose and a design for everything, and as we turn ourselves over to him, we find a purpose, a direction, a satisfaction that we've never known.

We've kind of made this new song an unofficial theme song for the series. It sums up this idea of integrity--where Christ becomes the center that everything else revolves around:

"Center" by Charlie Hall & Matt Redman

O Christ, be the center of our lives
Be the place we fix our eyes
Be the center of our lives

You're the center of the universe
Everything was made in you
Breath of every living thing
Everyone was made for you

You hold everything together
You hold everything together

O Christ, be the center of our lives
Be the place we fix our eyes
Be the center of our lives

We lift our eyes to heaven
We wrap our lives around your life
We lift our eyes to heaven, to you