It would have been much easier then than it is now to get away with unscrupulous practices. There were a lot of religious hucksters in Paul’s day (as in ours). He was appealing to the churches in Greece and Macedonia to raise money for the Christians in Judea who were hard hit by a famine. You can see Paul’s conscience in money matters in 2 Corinthians 8:19-21. He told her that she had undercharged him and then turned and said to my associate, “After Steve’s sermon, what else could I do? I have to be honest!” His conscience wasn’t totally shaped by Scripture yet (with regard to drinking and gambling), but at least he’s was growing! The cashier only charged him $1 for the lottery tickets.

This guy was buying a six-pack of beer and $5 worth of lottery tickets. My associate pastor in California was standing in line at the 7-11 convenience store behind a man who had recently started attending our church. And, although it is rare in our day, some people are on the other end of the spectrum with an over-sensitive conscience. I read of a mafia hit man who said that he didn’t have the slightest twinge of conscience when he shot a man in the face at point blank range. If this continues unchecked, you reach a point where your conscience is seared-insensitive to right and wrong (1 Tim. If you vio-late your conscience and don’t repent, your conscience becomes hardened or calloused. The popular saying, “Let your conscience be your guide,” is not completely sound advice, because the conscience must be shaped by knowledge of and obedience to Scripture. A mother helping her son with his spelling words asked if he knew the difference between “conscious” and “conscience.” He said, “Sure, Mom, ‘conscious’ is when you’re aware of something ‘conscience’ is when you wish you weren’t.” The conscience is our inner warning system (“faults” alarm) that goes off when we violate our standards. Note Paul’s testimony (Acts 24:16): “In view of this, I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men.” In view of what? Verse 15: In view of having a hope in God and in view of the fact of the resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked! Because Paul kept in view the certainty of standing before God, he maintained a clear conscience. This is foundational to all of life, including finances. Integrity means having a clear conscience in all finan-cial dealings. I would like to share four aspects of financial integrity: 1. When I worked as a room service waiter, the other waiters told me not to report all my tips or it would tip off the IRS that all the other waiters were cheating! On more than one occasion I’ve been urged to falsify loan information on real estate deals, being assured, “Everyone does it.” Since we live in that kind of world, our financial integrity as Christians will stand out and give us opportunities to testify to the transforming power of the gospel. In 1980, the IRS estimated that it lost up to $26 billion a year in unreported taxes. God’s Word is clear:Ī Christian must act with integrity in financial dealings. 589) states, “Integrity implies trustworthiness and incorruptibility to a degree that one is incapable of being false to a trust, responsibility, or pledge.” If you take that definition strictly, no one has integrity, because no one is incapable of being corrupted. Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (, p. It means acting according to biblical principles, even if you think you’ll never get caught, because you know that God is watching and you want to please Him. Integrity in money matters has to do with being honest and upright when no one is looking. The English have a saying, “A gentleman is one who uses the butter knife when he is alone.” In other words, what someone does when no one is looking indicates their true character. But God wants His people marked by financial integrity. Integrity in money matters is a rare thing. “We’re going to decide this case on its own merits.” “Make out a check for $5,000 and send it to the second lawyer,” he said. The judge looked at the two checks, thought a moment, then called his secretary. The second lawyer’s check was for $15,000. The first lawyer had sent a check for $10,000. When he received the briefs from the two lawyers, they both contained bribes. A story is told about a not-too-honest judge who was trying a case involving two railroads.

Integrity in the bible