Integrity

Definitions of "good character" are bandying about in the news this week after viewers of this past Sunday night's Oscars were shocked by Will Smith's reaction to a Chris Rock quip (if you haven't seen it yet, look here for a brief clip -- and beware the language). Was Smith's decision a justified defense of family, a criminal act that deserved swifter consequences, or something in between? While most of us would prefer to talk about the Oscar-winner CODA or -- ahem -- ignore the Oscars altogether, discussions like these are critical as our culture seeks to draw appropriate boundaries around what is and is not acceptable.

In the bookTransparency: How Leaders Create a Culture of Candor, the authors offer a recipe of what it means to be an ethical leader: "[T]rust is an outcome of all a leader's accumulated actions and behaviors. When leaders are candid, open, consistent, and predictable in their dealings with followers, the result will almost always be a condition of trust. ... Such constancy is difficult for many leaders to maintain because it requires the relatively rare trait of integrity" (p. 62).Ouch -- "relatively rare" is not too encouraging. And before you shrug off Will Smith as a movie star who acted impulsively, take note of the impact his life choices have had on our culture for many years.

By stature alone, Will Smith is in a position of leadership and influence. So how will you enter the conversation? How do you define Smith's behavior? What more can we be doing as a society to train up caring, ethical leaders of high integrity?

As we seek to join cultural conversations with Scripture, consider Jeremiah 17:7-8:

Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,

whose confidence is in him.

They will be like a tree planted by the water

that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes;

its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought

and never fails to bear fruit.

Remember we discussed this past Sunday that we are all leaders on some level, whether in our families, communities, homes, workplaces, or schools: How can you rely more fully on the Lord as you strive to be candid, open, consistent, and predictable with those around you, claiming fully the integrity that arises from a deep Holy Spirit connection?

May you trust in the Lord this week,

Jennie