“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” 1 Cor. 16:13-14 (ESV)

     In the previous article we looked at some of the basic qualities in a man that come from the strength of a disciplined mind. We looked at hard work which is one of the most rudimentary qualities of manhood. Now we will move the bar up and look at integrity. Peter addressed this subject in 1 Peter 2:11-12:

          “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.” 

     Integrity and honorable conduct are synonymous. While being a hard worker is essential in manhood, it is for sure that there are many hard working men who lack integrity. The core of integrity is honesty. Without honesty integrity is only a myth. Honesty transcends every aspect of integrity. In my previous life telling a lie was as automatic as answering a question. As quickly as a question was asked I could have a lie to answer it. That habit continued sporadically into my new life for a while until the Spirit brought me to this conclusion: I determined that there were only four basic reasons to lie and the four could be narrowed into one root cause. The four reasons that I deduced were greed, arrogance, laziness and fear. People lie for the purpose of dishonest gain. Because they want to cheat to gain money or possessions they will lie. People lie as a part of bragging. Men will often embellish a story in order to make themselves look big in some respect. I have known many whom we refer to as “one uppers”. No matter what you may talk about they will always have a bigger story to dwarf yours. Some will lie in order to get out of work. They will make excuses as to why they can’t do something, as did the one talent man in the parable of the talents. Others lie because of fear. They fear the consequences of the truth. This is probably the most common reason for lying between a man and his wife. If he has been hanging out with friends rather than coming home it is easier to say I had some car trouble than to say that I chose to be with my friends at this time rather than to be with you honey. Unless a man is habitual in seeing his friends over his family that is certainly no sin in seeing ones friends, but if he knows it may cause a tiff he may lie to avoid the confrontation. In the end all lies come down to cowardice. If the lie is for bragging rights it is still a fear of being seen as small that drives the lie. If the lie is due to laziness it is again the fear of the consequence that prompts the lie. Even the greedy person lies for fear of exposure.  In the end it boils down to the fact that all liars are cowards. This was the backbreaker for me. Cowards dodge the truth because it will expose them. One who is truly a man does not have a reason to lie. If he is in the right he will man up and tell it like it is. If he is in the wrong then he will man up and tell it like it is. He will admit his error and repent. 

     Then there are always the what-ifs. What if you are captured by the enemy and they want to know where your family is? Isn’t it okay to lie about that? No, it is not okay. Just man up and say, “I am not telling you anything.” You will get the same treatment either way because they will not believe you no matter what you say. All the excuses still come down to cowardice. There are also those who will fall back on Abraham’s lie where he told Pharaoh that he was Sarah’s brother. Because they cannot perceive any punishment for the crime in that case they use it to justify lying. This is no more justifiable than Abraham having taken Hagar as a wife. Both of these situations were incidences of a lack of faith. The entire incident of Abraham going to Egypt due to famine and returning with great spoils was a prophetic picture of what God would predict to Abraham in Genesis 15; how his heritage would be slaves in a foreign land and be brought out with great possessions after the judgment of God. His situation was not a referendum to justify lying. There was a reason why God waited until Abraham was one hundred years old to give him the son of promise. There was a reason why He did not test Abraham to sacrifice his son until he was well over one hundred years old. Abraham was not ready. His faith was not yet where it needed to be. His marriage to Hagar and his lies were weaknesses which God used to fulfill a prophetic picture. When I consider why God left an open ending to such stories as Abraham’s lie, or Noah’s getting drunk, and so forth, my conclusion is that it is a test from God upon our own faith. He is giving us that crack in the door to see if we will use it to justify our weaknesses or if we will stand upon the New Testament examples of Christ and His apostles who condemned such acts: 

          “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." (Rev. 21:8)

     The courage of honesty demands respect even from your enemies. When Jesus was approached by the Pharisees and the Herodians they gave witness to His honesty: 

          “When they had come, they said to Him, ‘Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?’" (Mark 12:14-15) 

     They knew that Jesus would man up and tell the truth in spite of what might be popular, safe, or politically correct. It is a myth from the think tank of hell that waffling and compromising will produce better results than standing strong. When Jesus was singing the praises of John the Baptist, He asked the crowd, 

“What did you go out in the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? A man clothed in soft garments?” (Matt 11:7-8)

     Jesus said this because John was a man who spoke the truth in every situation and in total disregard to the consequences upon him. Yet, John was so popular that even when the Pharisees were put on the spot by Jesus they would not criticize John for fear that the people would revolt. (John 21:25-26) John never performed a miracle. He did not dress in preacher cloths. He challenged the mindset of the Pharisees and the Sadducees when they came to be baptized, even calling them a brood of vipers. He challenged Herod because of his unlawful marriage to his brother’s wife, which sent him to prison and later to his death. Yes, he died, but he died as a man. It is better to die a thousand deaths with courage and conviction than to live a single life in mediocrity and cowardice. They did not go out in the wilderness to see some wimpy compromiser. They went out to see man. People are looking for strength. People will adhere to strength. Young men are looking for strong male figures who will not wimp out at home, in the public eye, or in their faith. When the situation demands a response in the face of trial and opposition, man up and tell it like a man would tell it.

“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong”(1 Cor. 16:13-14 ESV).