Sunday July 6, 2025 | Cedrick Baker
Lord, who may reside in your tent?
Who may settle on your holy hill?
One who walks with integrity,
practices righteousness,
and speaks truth in his heart.
Cedrick Baker challenges us to walk in the way of integrity, living with our actions aligned with our beliefs. In this way of life our actions are not determined by what fits the situation, but by how our conscience determines what we will choose to do in the moment.
Integrity is a word that is related to the word integer, meaning one, the same, or consistent. It means that there is a unity or consistency in our lives where we live in the same way in different circumstances. The opposite of the virtue of integrity is the vice of hypocrisy, which is acting in a way that pretends to be different depending upon the situation. With hypocritical living there is a disconnect between what we say we believe and the way that we act.
In Matthew 25:27-28, Jesus challenges hypocrites. He says that on the outside it appears that they are following the ways of God, but when you look inside at their hearts, this is not the case. Who they are on the inside is not aligned with that they are saying. They are pretending.
This lack of integrity is rooted in a lack of trust in God in two main areas. We do not trust God as our source or we do not trust God for our worth. In 2 Corinthians 1:12, Paul wrote, “ Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace.” Paul is saying that he was able to live with integrity because God has been his source and his worth.
The early church emphasized the formation of integrity through the development of what is called a habitus. This is a way of living which is comprised of the deeply ingrained habits, skills and dispositions that shape an individual’s worldview, behaviors and preferences. The habitus of a group of people forms the way a people respond so that their choices are not dependent upon the situation. Instead, they react to challenges according to the habitus because they are have been formed by the practices of that habitus. It becomes second nature. As a result, the love of Jesus is not something that one has to think about doing in a specific situation. It is second nature to them.
Cedrick offers three tips for weaving integrity more deeply into our nature. First, practice is key. We do not simply will ourselves into integrity. We practice it to the point that it becomes part of who we are. In order to practice, it is helpful to simply focus on one thing at a time. Second, confession is good for the soul. We need to embrace humility to the point that we are willing to share our faults and weaknesses with others. We need a few people in our lives who are safe who can know us at a deeper level and embrace us for who we truly are. Third, integrity is a matter of the heart. It is important to immerse ourselves in the truth of what God says so that our hearts might be inundated and filled with what is true. As a result, we are not simply trying to act with integrity, but instead integrity will be more likely to flow out of us.
We do not develop integrity for the sake of integrity. Instead, we are living with integrity so that we might know Jesus better and so that we might put the life of Jesus on display before a watching world. This is our call. This is our way.