Editorial: The Problem of Integrity
Earlier this semester, I had a conversation related to my intramural coordinator job that nobody wants to have. Someone in the league was not showing Christlike character in the arena of competition. What was I going to do about it? Clearly, we needed an address that hit the issue of integrity hard. I prayed through it leading up to the initial intramural meeting, and praise the Lord, everything I’ve heard leads me to believe it was well received.
Below is a modified version of this address. I hope that encouraging integrity in all things now will raise up a generation of ministers who will be people of integrity when it matters most.
Welcome to Intramurals, the petri dish of sanctification! Here, we essentially take a swab of our souls and put it in an environment that makes sin’s bacteria come out. There’s something about sports: the competitive mindset, the hard work, the hopeful striving. It brings out the best in us… It also brings out the worst. Our hope is to maximize the former and minimize the latter. I’m a firm believer that, because athletics put the human condition in such stark contrast, this is an important part of growing in Christlike character.
(Please note: while we recognize that everyone is growing, that doesn’t mean actions don’t have consequences. If you’re constantly talking back to the refs, swearing, being rude, or what have you, the handbook has provisions for ejection from a game, season, etc. I haven’t done enough to keep our refs from putting up with nonsense in the past, and I want to change that. (They’re students like you, after all, not full-time officials.))
With that in mind, I want to talk about integrity. This is something that is severely lacking in our culture and the church. Let it not be so with you! We want to be people with integrity – in the arena of competition and beyond. Here is the basic question: will you be a person who does the right thing, even if no one is looking?
What if I told you that the way we play sports should be informed more by Jesus than by professional athletes? It’s okay to be happy if you win – just don’t be arrogant. It’s okay to be sad if you lose – just don’t be a jerk about it. Either way, it’s just a game. But people are watching, and some of my referees have noted over the years that if someone regularly or violently explodes, it affects how they view them. My coach in undergrad gave us a helpful rule for teammate interaction: “mean no offense, take no offense.” I think one of the great failures of the church today is adopting the wider culture’s quickness to offense. (Have we completely forgotten the words of James to be slow to anger?) Once again, let it not be so with you!
At the end of the day, can you be:
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- the person who congratulates your opponent on a play or a game done well?
- the person who keeps calm even when someone says or does something uncalled for?
- the person who is honest about a call against them that the referee missed?
This year, let’s be people of integrity on and off the court/pitch. 1 Timothy 4:8 (NIV) reminds us that “physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” Let’s keep the first things first. Think about the sort of person the Lord is calling you to be. Whether you’re here to become a counselor, pastor, teacher, missionary, author, whatever, how can you start showing the character fitting that vocation in all areas of your life right now?
My hope and prayer is that intramural sports encourage not only growth in athletic skills, but growth in godliness. Yes, compete for the championship T-shirt, but compete first and foremost for the glory of God.
Maybe you have no interest in sports, but I hope the underlying message here still rings true. For the sake of the church and the world, we need to be people of integrity. May the Lord enable us to practice what we preach in all things.
This article is by Julia Hotchkiss, Alumni Office Student Worker.
Julia, I work at the university across the street and really appreciated this article. I’d like to adapt it for use with our Bible Quiz ministry within the Free Methodist Church here in Wilmore (and beyond). I’d like your permission and I’d CC you on the adapted copy. Are you OK with that? (We have mutual friends on Facebook that can vouch for me).
Hello, Paul! Thanks for your kind comment. I believe I sent an email to you last week in response to this, but yes, that would be fine with me. Thank you!
As a Trustee, I am so grateful that we understand the importance of teaching and modeling Christ-like behavior in the “petri dish of sanctification” on the court/field. The Holy Spirit is just as able to help us control our words and attitudes on the court as He is in the sanctuary!