E-Vangel Newsletter
October 8, 2012
Pastorgraphs: “Three Steps to Integrity”
Friday
afternoon, I pressed the “send” button. After five years of trial and mostly
error, my manuscript was finally on its way to Xulon Press, my publisher. The
book should be ready in both print and eBook versions from Amazon and Barnes
& Noble (Kindle and Nook) by mid-November. I will let you know when it is
available.
The title
is “Three Steps to Integrity: The ABC Model” and the subtitle is “Connecting
How You Think, What You Do, Why You Do It, Who You Are”.
“The ABC
Model” steps you through your Actions (virtues), Beliefs
(ethics), and Character as the pathway to integrity. It really is
simple, but requires effort, as do all things of value in life.
Why did I
feel compelled to write a book on integrity?
Let me make
it clear: I am not the paragon of virtue and am far from perfect, (just ask my
wife). Dave Ramsey, the financial advisor, said he is able to help others get
out of debt because he made every stupid money mistake possible. I’ve made
enough mistakes for three lifetimes. But like Dave, I hope I have learned from
my mistakes.
God led me
to write this book, whether anyone reads it or not. And it is NOT a sequel to
my “Kudzu That Ate Yazoo City”. It has something to say about how anyone can
become a better person with strong character and integrity by aligning what you
believe, what you do, why you do it, and who you are.
In early
2008, months before the financial collapse, my friend Brent Perkins and I began
discussing the poverty of integrity in individuals, institutions, and society
in general.
That
prompted me to set about defining exactly what integrity is (and is not). I
asked TEN respected friends to define integrity, and received TEN DIFFERENT
answers.
It became
clear that if we cannot define what integrity is, then how in the world do
we expect anyone to achieve it?
I wrote
over thirty terms (components of integrity) onto index cards and attempted to
organize them into groups. I inflicted a series of sermons upon the Christ
Church congregation, trying to articulate (for my own understanding) what
integrity is.
Only after
an almost five year struggle, interrupted by two major surgeries and radiation
treatments, did the final piece of the puzzle recently fall into place,
enabling me to rewrite the final draft of the book.
I think
“The ABC Model” will help folks understand why such things as honesty and
trustworthiness (virtues) are important parts of integrity, but NOT the same as
integrity. The model also shows why ethics (rules) are not the same as
integrity, and why “ethics training” almost always fails, because it simply
sets out the rules (which even small children learn early on are easily
manipulated). In The Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had only one “ethic”, and
they failed to keep it. Later Moses received “The 10 Ethics”. Keeping those
simple commandments hasn’t been achievable for most folks, either. We need
something more than ethics. We need virtues, character with moral fiber, and
only then we are able to achieve integrity and live what Aristotle called
“happiness”, and what Jesus said is the “abundant life”.
I am on my
journey to becoming a better person. I hope you take the journey also,
and find your own life of wholeness, completeness, happiness, wisdom, peace,
abundance and success – the rewards of a life of integrity.
Thank you
for your encouragement and support, especially my family, and particularly
Anita who is the world’s best proofreader, my task-master, inspiration, best
friend, and my love.
Brother
Bill
From the Quote Garden:
“If you have integrity, nothing else
matters.
If you don't have integrity, nothing
else matters.”
~ Alan Simpson ~
Christ United Methodist Ministry
Center
“Christ
in the Heart of San Diego”
3295
Meade Avenue - San Diego, CA 92116 - (619) 284-9205
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