To me, a shopping cart is a benchmark for character and integrity. No law says we need to return the shopping cart. We can choose to return it or simply leave it right there in the middle of the lot and then someone else must retrieve it. Character is who we are when no one is looking. Character isn’t a list of traits or behaviors. It comes from a Latin word meaning image, our “who-we-are.” Our character is who we are on the inside. As Thomas Paine wrote, “Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.” I estimate at least 25% of my blog posts have character and or integrity as a main theme.
Retired General Martin Dempsey stresses character as a moral compass. The country needs men and women of character, because the last line of defense in making a good decision is character. Character developed over time through constant challenges. Helen Keller is quoted, “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”
There is very little in our life we control, character is one. When we consider character and integrity to be important, we’re a better person, a better community, a better nation. Abe Lincoln was right when he said character is essential to democracy. A free people can govern each other only if they can govern themselves. Position that against today’s Americans who want to be respected but no longer think we need to be respectable.
Integrity values what is honest, true, noble, trustworthy, and right, and is ahead of personal gain. Once integrated into our foundational operating system, integrity ceases to be optional or “add-on”, but instead becomes a way of life. I read where integrity was the “currency” of Billy Graham’s ministry.
Character can often be the difference between acknowledgement and
respect. Acknowledgement is a good thing, but it is table stakes. We acknowledge beauty or respect it. We can acknowledge love or respect it. We can acknowledge our neighbor’s rights, or we can respect our neighbor’s rights. Punctuality is respect. It goes beyond acknowledging being on time, it respects the time of others.
The root enemy of integrity is selfishness, which is the only reason one would not return a shopping cart. The “Golden Rule” requires treating others the way we would like to be treated. William Lyon Phelps said, “The final test of a gentleman is his respect for those who can be of no possible service to him.” Live for others ahead of ourselves.
If we found out our boss overpaid us, would we keep the money knowing we didn’t earn it, or would we do the honest thing and let him know the error? In 2010, San Francisco Giant pitcher Jeremy Affeldt was challenged with this dilemma. Due to a typing error in his contract, he was paid an extra $500,000 dollars. When Affeldt discovered the error, he gave the money back even though he legally could have kept it. In an interview, Affeldt stated, “’I can’t take that money. I won’t sleep well at night knowing I took that money because every time I open my paycheck, I’ll know it’s not right.’”
Integrity cannot be compartmentalized. Too many of us are different people in different places in different circumstances. Be the same person of integrity at home, at work, at play – wherever we are. Just as an integer is a whole number, not a fraction, so also is integrity a whole person, undivided, living rightly. A person of integrity does not do what is right for the purpose of impressing people or avoiding trouble, but rather, they do right simply because it is the honorable thing to do. Integrity is a choice.
A great integrity exercise for each of us is to imagine the presence of someone whose opinion we value in our daily activities. What if my father was present at this business meeting or part of this foursome? Would I tell this joke in the presence of my wife? How would my kids feel if they listened in on this conversation?
Recently, I was introduced to a Latin phrase ‘Coram Deo.’ Coram Deo
is the Latin phrase meaning “in the presence of God.” Coram Deo is an intentional action, an intentional movement toward and within the presence of God. R. C. Sproul said: “Living coram Deo is to live one’s entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God.” To live all of life coram Deo is to live a life of integrity.
Psalm 15 records an examination, based on integrity, in order to enter the Temple court, “Whoever walks without blame, doing what is right, speaking truth from the heart; Who does not slander with his tongue, does no harm to a friend, never defames a neighbor; Who disdains the wicked, but honors those who fear the LORD; Who keeps an oath despite the cost, lends no money at interest, accepts no bribe against the innocent. Whoever acts like this shall never be shaken.”
The word of God is full of references to character and integrity. In Micah 6:8, “You have been told, O mortal, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you: Only to do justice and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.” Proverbs 20:7 “The just walk in integrity; blessed are his children after he is gone.” God blesses those who have integrity, those who have pure hearts. As Jesus said, “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8).
Probably the most referenced passage is Luke 16:10 where Jesus says, “The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones.” There are so many things in our lives that seem like “small matters,” like returning a shopping cart. The way we handle them defines who we are. Few people would draw the connection between an abandoned shopping cart and living faithfully to God. But it has everything to do with faithfulness. Faithfulness is not shown in grand gestures but in everyday decisions and actions.
We must choose to do what God requires of us at all times, in all circumstances, and at all costs. Act with integrity, a pure heart, and a character developed over time in the presence of God. It is truly who we are. Return the shopping cart to where it belongs.
