Integrity: Beyond Authenticity

I am told that the phrase “don’t take any wooden nickels” came from a fair in the 1930s. During the fair, wooden nickels were used as fair currency. But as soon as the fair was over, they lost their value. On the last day of the fair, people would remind each other not to take any wooden nickels that day.

I have no idea whether the legend is true. But I do know wooden nickels are a clear example of a lack of integrity. On the outside, they are painted to look real, but on the inside they are only made of wood.

Most of us were taught that integrity meant that what you claimed to be on the outside matched what you were on the inside. We were reminded to keep our word. Let our walk match our talk. And never let daylight get between our convictions and our conduct.

Truthfully, I have an issue with that definition of integrity. Letting your walk match your talk is good advice. But don’t mistake integrity for consistency alone. It is not enough for the inside to match the outside. The inside must be worth matching.

I want to offer you a definition of integrity that has not received the attention it deserves. And I want to illustrate this definition by examining an account of a king in the Old Testament who appeared to know how to lead a nation. He was not reckless, hasty, or hypocritical. He was deliberate down to the smallest detail, and his character matched his interior motives. But even though the outside matched the inside, his character was far from truly integral.

You may also discover a layer of integrity you're missing.

An Intentional Decision

If you’ve never heard of Jeroboam, that’s not surprising. He certainly is not as well known as kings like David and Solomon. And if you have heard a sermon about Jeroboam, it likely portrayed his character negatively.

But let’s be honest about his situation. After the death of Solomon, the poor leadership of Solomon’s son was a catalyst that kicked off a national divide. The twelve tribes of Israel split, with ten northern tribes separating from two southern tribes.

Even though God had raised up Jeroboam to lead the northern tribes, some years after he became king, he faced a difficult test of his leadership. The ten northern tribes were tempted to defect, and part of that pull was religious. Every year, every Jewish male was required to make a pilgrimage south to worship in Jerusalem. Jeroboam feared that if the people of his kingdom continued to travel to Jerusalem, where the temple was, eventually, they would begin to follow Solomon’s son and join the southern tribes again.

So he acted.

So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. Then this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one. (1 Kings 12:28–30, ESV)

If you are familiar with Scripture, then you already know that Jeroboam made a terrible decision. He essentially set up two idols. His reasoning was that no matter where his people lived, they would have a shrine within reach and no excuse to keep heading to Jerusalem to worship. When sermons bring up Jeroboam, idolatry is usually the main indictment. However, I want to draw your attention to something just as significant.

“The king took counsel.” He did not make the decision rashly. He apparently consulted leaders and elders before deciding. I point this out not to shift the blame onto an advisory board. Clearly the responsibility for the decision was the king’s to bear alone. But it is important to recognize it was a deliberate action of the king. He acted with intention.

And it did not stop with setting up the golden calves. He also appointed his own priests, men with no connection to the tribe of Levi, the only family Scripture had ever authorized for that role.

Then he invented his own feast day, one month off from the true calendar, and presided over it himself at the altar he had built.

And everything he did — the shrines, the priesthood, the calendar — none of it was rushed or halfhearted. And none of it was inconsistent with his internal intentions. His outward actions matched his inward motives.

Of course, we know this is not real integrity. Authenticity is no good if a man’s heart is self-centered.

More Than Just Authenticity

Scripture is clear concerning the king’s actual motive. If the kingdom turned back to follow the house of David, Jeroboam believed, “They will kill me.”

And yet, when Jeroboam presented the two golden calves to his people, he couched the decision in terms of concern for them: “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough” (v. 28). Because the text places this statement immediately following the fact that he took counsel with a group of advisors, it is reasonable to think that the rollout of the decision is in part the result of consulting with his council. He likely presented his genuine concerns to the advisors, and together they implemented a decision and a rollout that was politics in action.

My point isn’t that Jeroboam should have had integrity by being more honest with the people — standing up and admitting, “I am doing this because I am afraid for my life.” That wouldn’t have been integrity either. Authenticity about a self-centered heart is still a self-centered heart. The gap between what Jeroboam felt and what he said is evidence of his lack of integrity, but it is not the sin itself.

Strip away the disguise, and the truth we cannot avoid is this: Jeroboam’s will was not committed to God. It was committed to himself, and “the good of the nation” was the rationalization he dressed it up in.

True Integrity

Integrity requires more than authenticity.

An unsurrendered heart can do an impressive job of being consistent with itself. Jeroboam is a prime example of that fact. True integrity begins with surrendering the heart so the outside is worth matching the inside.

Once your heart belongs to God, aligning your outside with your inside is not only authentic; it’s true integrity. It is not wooden nickel character presenting itself as valuable currency.

Most challenges to integrity boil down to whether your outside aligns with your inside. But the harder question is: has your heart actually been surrendered to God?

Integrity isn't about being true to yourself. It’s a matter of repenting and surrendering your will to God’s.