Integrity Gap

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. – Matthew 23:27

Are you the same in public as you are in private?  What is the margin between your public posture and your private actions?  What is your integrity gap?

“Margin”, a word that we all covet in business.  We want financial margins, we want margin of time in our lives so we can do the things that are important to us.  Without margin our business and life are not sustainable.  When it comes, however, to the issue of character we do not want any margin because the more margin in our character, the wider our integrity gap.  An integrity gap is the margin between who we are publicly and who we are privately.  It is the difference between our character and integrity, our private actions and our public pronouncements.

The scribes and Pharisees were supposed to be the teachers of the law; the ones to set an example for others as to how to follow God and obey His commands, but according to Jesus they had too much margin between who they professed to be publicly and who they were privately.  They had an integrity gap.  He accused them of being hypocrites:

• You cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside is full of extortion and self-indulgence Matthew 23:25.
• You appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness Matthew 23:27.

What is your integrity gap?  Are you a hypocrite? As Biblical Entrepreneurs we must be very cautious because we are held to a higher standard since we claim to represent Christ in the market place.  We must not take that commitment lightly, instead we should determine to reflect, to the best that we can, a lifestyle of transparency and integrity.  This requires us to continuously monitor our gap and work on closing it so we are the same privately as we claim to be publicly.

How do you evaluate your gap?

1. Evaluate your thought life and determine if it matches who you project to be publicly
2. Evaluate your private words and determine if they match who you project to be publicly
3. Evaluate your private activities and actions and determine if they match who you project to be publicly
4. Evaluate your public commitments and determine if you strive to live up to them

A quick way to gage your gap is to ask yourself, “If my private thoughts, words and actions were on a reality show would people still think of me as they think of me today?”  If Jesus was to spend a week with you, would He be pleased with who He discovered you to be?  As you ask these questions, remember you are in a reality show that airs in heaven every day with angels and God Himself watching, and of course, Jesus is with you every day, every hour, minute and second.

Once you determine your gap, you must make a resolve to close it.  Closing the gap is not easy but very possible.  It requires that you commit to a zero tolerance for any margin between who you are publicly and who you are privately.  It also requires tapping into the grace of God.  The reality is none of us will ever be gap free.  If we could, we would have done it already that is why Jesus came.  Jesus is the gap closer.  Of course this is no excuse not to work on your gap.  Recognize that on your own you cannot close the gap and choose to depart from legalism to a Spirit-led life.  Like the Apostle Paul, I thank God for Jesus through whom God has given me the grace to walk in righteousness and holiness in spite of my limitations.

O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?  I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin Romans 7:24 – 25.

Evaluate your integrity gap today and make a commitment to close the margins through the grace of God in Christ Jesus.