Wisdom Infused with Integrity

Tis the season of college graduations! Mortarboards and tassels will be flying as exuberant graduates are flooded with joyful emotions. Grads fling those awkward headpieces skyward and give a collective shout of glee. Common sense will arrive a bit later when they must collect those academic caps and turn them in to the administration to avoid a fine! Now that a milestone is past – bring on the rest of life! You know – the real world. The world where college loans will be paid back (at least they have been historically), where they enter the work force at the bottom of the totem pole, where they try to transition into a world where they cannot cut commitments, and where there are no extensions on deadlines that are given. Some will have little problem adjusting because they were already living in the real world. Others will struggle because their extended adolescence has finally come to a screeching halt.

     Last year (2020-2021) according one source (www.thinkimpact.com/college-graduates-statistics) there were approximately 4,000,000 college students graduating. That number was broken down into 983,000 associate’s degrees; 1,998,000 bachelor’s degrees; 833,000 master’s degree; and 187,000 doctor’s degree. That is a lot of flying mortarboards! Congratulations to those who have accomplished this milestone. Not all who begin post- secondary education accomplish this goal. Only 34% to 62% of the students in Bachelor degree programs – dependent on the type of institution – graduate.  

     Those who are graduating are likely filled with assumptions and dreams that they have attached to their accomplishments. Many expectations are enhanced as graduates hear about the shortage of workers. Visions of certain positions, compensations, and perks dance in their heads. However, some will come to the sad realization that their aspirations were but delusions of grandeur. They will enter the work force realizing that what they had planned may have to be drastically altered. Shortages in the work force do not diminish competition for positions.

     What does the world around us look for in a potential person to hire? I am sure there are a litany of suggestions. Perhaps the legendary Warren Buffet, highly respected multibillionaire and Chairman/CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, makes the greatest observation. Buffet says, "In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you." In a world that prizes knowledge, character is held in higher esteem. It seems to me that there is an abundance of knowledge and a dearth of wisdom that is infused with integrity. Wisdom is applied knowledge. Integrity is the constraining force that positively influences one’s character even when no one is looking. Many a wise person has become a shipwreck when they cast off their anchor of integrity.

     Mahatma Gandhi, a Hindu political ethicist, observed the world and concluded, "There are seven things that will destroy us: Wealth without work; Pleasure without conscience; Knowledge without character; Religion without sacrifice; Politics without principle; Science without humanity; Business without ethics." Integrity is cross cultural. Tragically it is absent or greatly diminished in many settings and it appears increasingly so. The character of integrity is desired worldwide because humanity is made in the image of God. Thus, His character is designed to be reflected in those He created. Often, however, it is not.

     When young King Solomon was assigned the mega task of ruling the people of Israel following the impressive rule of his father King David, God visited him. God asked him what he wanted. Solomon’s reply was, “Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?” (1 Kings 3:9 NLT). He knew he needed wisdom (“understanding heart”) but it needed to be coupled with integrity that involved knowing the “difference between right and wrong.” God was pleased with his request (3:10). Fusing these two qualities, wisdom and integrity, would indeed make a good king for God’s people. The result was that he accomplished great works, acquired great wealth, and the nation was blessed. Decades later as his reign ends, we see an old man who is now lacking integrity. This occurred because “his heart was not loyal to the Lord His God” (11:4) and the “Lord became angry… because his heart was turned from the Lord” (11:9). Integrity must always be maintained. One hymn writer realized there is a danger to drift from a life of integrity and wrote, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it; Prone to leave the God I love; Here's my heart, oh take and seal it.” He is aware of an integrity drift and asks God to keep his life on course.

     Are we living lives that are pairing wisdom with integrity? Perhaps we are allowing influences around us to reset our course in life. Maybe passions in our lives are driving us and we are seeking not what is right but what makes us feel good. Possibly entitlement has deluded us into thinking we deserve what we want or are doing. Could it be we are just living careless lives and not evaluating what we are doing?

     Harvard Business Review concludes “behavioral integrity,” where words and actions are in alignment, is a necessity in business. It is in all of life. Solomon shared this proverb with his son, “People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will be exposed” (Proverbs 10:9). Sadly, Solomon lacked “behavioral integrity” and it showed. May we seek to be people who not only talk about and want integrity, but also allow integrity to be fused with wisdom as we live our lives in this world.