HONESTY (AND DISHONESTY): ROLE MODELS

 

A man named Naboth possessed a vineyard, which was close to Ahab’s palace. Ahab wanted to buy it to use as a vegetable garden, but Naboth refused to sell: Ahab became angry and sullen, refusing to eat, but at least his first impulse was to obey the law, however distasteful and frustrating this might have been.

However, Jezebel saw no need for him to sulk or be disappointed: ‘‘And Jezebel his wife said to him, “Do you now govern Israel? Arise eat bread and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the lezreelite ’’ (1 Kings 21:7). She devised a simple yet totally amoral solution.

She got two worthless men to publicly testify that Naboth had cursed both God and the king. – And the two worthless men came in and sat opposite to him. And the worthless men brought a charge against Naboth in the presence of the people saying,” Naboth cursed God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death with stones,” Naboth has been stoned; he is dead.”

Jezebel succeeded in getting Naboth stoned to death. As soon as she heard the ‘‘good news,’’ she said to her husband, As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab,” arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money, for Naboth is not alive, but dead” (1 Kings 21:15)

Ornan offered David the threshing floor for free: Then Ornan said to David,” Take it, and let my lord the king do what seems good to him, ( 1Chro 21:23) But David insisted on paying full price despite the fact that as King he could easily have appropriated the property by executive fiat.

By comparison of both the cases - Too often, it seems honesty and integrity don’t pay off in the short term, whereas dishonesty and lack of integrity do.

How often have we heard sayings like ‘‘Do unto others before they can do unto you’’ or ‘‘No good deed will go unpunished’’? In the Bible, wrongdoers ultimately receive their proper consequences and virtuous people their just rewards, although not without a lot of needless suffering. If only people could be more honest from the beginning.

For instance, there’s the ancient case study of Pharaoh, whose lack of integrity rivals any modern leader. This absolute ruler of Egypt could not tolerate any threat to his power. To keep his Hebrew slaves and build his vast monuments to himself, he was willing to rain destruction and death on his own people. When he refused to let the Hebrews go, God visited ten progressively destructive plagues on the Egyptians, starting with frogs and moving to the killing of the firstborn.

Pharaoh relented, probably because his own son was one of those killed. The story of the Israelites’ hurried packing and exodus (resulting in the world’s fastest-baking bread, matzoh) is well known to Jews and Christians alike. And it’s a good thing that they were able to ‘‘bake and run’’ so quickly, because Pharaoh’s ‘‘integrity’’ lasted only a few days. He went back on his word and pursued the Hebrews into the desert.

We’re all familiar with what happened to Pharaoh’s men when they tried to pursue the Israelites across the dry bed of the Red Sea, which had been parted for the fugitives. Seas may part for people of honour and integrity, but they often rush back to drown those whose word means nothing to themselves or others.

One test of a leader’s integrity is his or her attitude toward ‘‘public’’ property.  Some leaders take it all with them; others refuse to take a penny of the funds with which they have been entrusted.

Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the Lord . . . Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I taken a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these, I will make it right. ‘‘You have not cheated or oppressed us,’’ they replied. ‘‘You have not taken anything from anyone’s hand.’’  (1 Sam. 12:1–4)

Now, how many of today’s business or political leaders would willingly open themselves up to such scrutiny?

This type of integrity runs throughout the Old and New Testaments. Consider the farewell speech of the disciple Paul to his followers:

I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions . . . They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. (Acts 20:32–37)

Is it any wonder that such a profession and display of integrity and honesty provoked such heartfelt loyalty from Paul’s followers, or that their grief was so great over the thought of losing him?

If you left your organization today, would your followers grieve so openly about losing you, and if they did, would any of their grief relate to losing a leader of integrity?

To be a successful person . . . you have to have integrity. Your word has to be everything you’ve got. You must have a moral compass. That’s especially true if you’re a leader because you’re exposed more. People will get a sense of you, and if you are not true . . . they’ll get a sense that you are sleazy

But leadership doesn’t always have to be on a grand scale or come from the very top, every transaction, no matter how large or small, should be conducted with integrity.

Luke 16:10: ‘‘Whoever is dishonest with little will be dishonest with much.’’

(Source :-  Lorin Woolfe Leadership)

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