Mark #20 - Integrity

Mark 7:1-13 (NIV)

The other day I was at the Home Depot in the lumber section picking out some wood for a small project at the house. I needed one last piece so I grabbed it and began to walk back to my cart when I noticed that it was not one that I’d want to buy. There were two things wrong with it. First, as I looked down its edge, I could see that it was warped like an “S.” The thing was that it had a large knot at one end that sent a crack across the grain. A piece of wood is only as strong as its weakest point, and its integrity was compromised.

Integrity might seem like a strange word to use for wood, because we often associate the word with honesty, or transparency. But integrity in this case means, being consistent all the way through. This piece of wood looked good from one angle, but when you turned it over and looked a little closer, it was a very different story.

In today’s passage Jesus calls out the lack of integrity on the part of the Pharisees. Their convictions for tradition and ritual purity look good from one end, and they are more than willing to call people out on it. But Jesus turns them over and looks from a different angle, exposing their lack of integrity and their failure to live up to their convictions.

As you listen, be sure to allow yourself to sit in both seats. We’ve all had people who lack integrity call us out, and this passage will comfort us in that. But we all must also examine our own integrity and allow this passage to turn us over and examine our inconsistencies.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What did you find most challenging about this passage?

2. When have you seen a person call out someone in one area, then fail to have integrity in another?

3. If you are honest, what area of your life might Jesus point to as an example of your lack of integrity? Bring that to Jesus, who loves you?

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