09/02/2026
PEOPLE OF INTEGRITY
Scientists now say that a series of slits, not a giant gash, sank the Titanic. The opulent, 900-foot cruise ship sank in 1912 on its first voyage, from England to New York. Fifteen hundred people died in the worst maritime disaster of the time.
The most widely held theory was that the ship hit an iceberg, which opened a huge gash in the side of the liner. But an international team of divers and scientists recently used sound waves to probe the wreckage, buried in the mud under two-and-a-half miles of water. Their discovery? The damage was surprisingly small. Instead of the huge gash, they found six relatively narrow slits across the six watertight holds.
Small damage, invisible to most, can sink not only a great ship but a great reputation. USA Today, April 9, 1997.
The little things in life really do matter. Being a person of integrity means guarding yourself from any entanglements of sin. It’s easy to think that we will refuse to do the big sins- like robbing banks or cheating on our spouse, or going on a multi-state crime spree. But what about having integrity in the day to day little matters. Sure, a white lie really won’t hurt anyone. What’s the harm? Well, apparently, if you put enough little things together, they can do great damage, like sinking an ocean liner.
If you go on vacation, will you lock your front door? Of course you will. But will you leave the back door open to catch the evening breezes so the house will be cool when you get back? Of course not. Will you leave the windows open? No. You will secure every part of your house. Integrity is the same way. A person either has it or they do not. If they have it, they have it in every area of their lives- in their finances, their relationships, their work, and especially in their faith.
Integrity is more than not being deceitful or slipshod. It means doing everything "heartily as unto the Lord" (Col. 3:23).
In his book Lyrics, Oscar Hammerstein II points out one reason why, a reason Christians have always known: "A year or so ago, on the cover of the New York Herald Tribune Sunday magazine, I saw a picture of the Statue of Liberty . . . taken from a helicopter and it showed the top of the statue's head. I was amazed at the detail there. The sculptor had done a painstaking job with the lady's coiffure, and yet he must have been pretty sure that the only eyes that would ever see this detail would be the uncritical eyes of sea gulls. He could not have dreamt that any man would ever fly over this head. He was artist enough, however, to finish off this part of the statue with as much care as he had devoted to her face and her arms, and the torch and everything that people can see as they sail up the bay. . . When you are creating a work of art, or any other kind of work, finish the job off perfectly. You never know when a helicopter, or some other instrument not at the moment invented, may come along and find you out."
People of integrity tend to the little things.
