{"id":5996,"date":"2018-05-11T05:20:09","date_gmt":"2018-05-11T11:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/?p=5996"},"modified":"2018-05-11T08:55:33","modified_gmt":"2018-05-11T14:55:33","slug":"finding-integrity-on-the-political-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2018\/05\/finding-integrity-on-the-political-right.html","title":{"rendered":"Finding Integrity on the Political Right"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>I was nineteen years old when I showed up to work for a summer at Kanakuk camp outside of Branson, MO. I had my dates wrong, and was a full day early. So one of my supervisors, Doug Goodwin, let me tag along with him on his 24 hour break. Before we left he was clearing off his desk and searching for an envelope containing $150 in petty cash. He needed the money to buy supplies for an upcoming camp event. I followed him as he looked in three or four places around the grounds where the envelope might\u2019ve been, but we never found it.<\/p>\n

When I asked if he needed to ask for more cash, he said,\u00a0\u201cNo, I\u2019ll pay it back. It was my responsibility, and my integrity is worth more than 150 dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

My integrity is worth more than 150 dollars<\/em> \u2026 that line has stuck with me for nearly thirty years. (Also Goodwin hasn\u2019t aged in thirty years either, so there are crazy things happening on more than one level).<\/p>\n

What is your integrity worth? Can you even put a price on integrity? How much is my integrity worth as a person, as a disciple, as a husband, father, or pastor?<\/p>\n

The word integrity<\/em><\/span> has an interesting semantic field that combines: 1) a kind of natural adherence to moral and ethical principles\u00a0that flow from one\u2019s intrinsic moral character, with 2) a sense of wholeness, completeness, an undiminished purity of being. Integrity is the word we use to describe people who seem to know what it means to be human, and they pursue that vision with great fidelity. They practice their own humanity faithfully in the world. That\u2019s integrity\u2026 not that people can\u2019t be flawed but they\u2019re trying their best to hold this all together. A person\u2019s integrity will ripple into their community and impact those around them, much like Doug Goodwin\u2019s integrity all those years ago still impacts me.<\/p>\n

Corruption<\/em><\/span> is what we call it when someone surrenders their integrity\u2013their sense of wholeness and moral character, their basic humanity\u2013for the sake of money, sex, or power. Corruption is a dehumanizing force that renders people less than fully human. It is a failure to keep faith with the human family. Corruption matters because it damages not only the corrupt person, but also the community of which they are a part. It\u2019s the powerful line from the poet: \u201cIf you are here unfaithfully with us,\u00a0you\u2019re causing terrible damage\u201d (Rumi).<\/p>\n

Too many of us have developed the bad habit of excusing those who run for high office from a test of integrity, as though a certain amount of corruption is just baked into the cake. All politicians are the same (corrupt) so let\u2019s make sure our side wins, right?<\/p>\n

Who convinced us that this is how things have to be? It\u2019s been inspiring to watch John McCain and Jeff Flake, or conservatives like David Frum, Bill Kristol, Nicole Wallace, David Brooks, George Will, Mona Charen and newer voices like Evan McMullin and David French who have refused to sacrifice their integrity for the satisfaction of a victory. This group\u00a0 might be the only ones, on the right or the left, who still have their 150 dollars.<\/p>\n

Corruption matters, in terms of the office of the presidency itself and what it means to sit in that chair. We cannot accept corruption in the oval office because democracy is an idea, and the president is the primary custodian of that idea. The office of the presidency must be held by someone who buys into the idea of integrity as much as democracy. Presidents don\u2019t have to be perfect\u2013that\u2019s why we have the separation of powers\u2013but they have to display a sense of wholeness and moral character.<\/p>\n

Presidents who lack this basic sense of integrity\u2013no matter their political party\u2013will undermine the fabric of our society, and do great damage to our democracy. Nixon\u2019s corruption did great damage.\u00a0Bill Clinton\u2019s basic lack of integrity did great damage\u2026 which brings me to my point.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time for all of us\u2013Republican and Democrat alike\u2013to admit that our country is being led by a corrupt man who surrounds himself with corrupt people. They are not faithfully among us, and they are doing great damage. It\u2019s starting to feel like those who refuse to admit this are either willfully blind, or have lost sight of what really matters.<\/p>\n

The presidency is not a means through which to enact our own political will. The presidency is a stewardship of our democracy, the preservation of an idea. The person who holds the office must demonstrate that they believe in the idea. They do so by living a life of integrity\u2013wholeness and moral character\u2013and by eschewing any hint of corruption. If the president cannot lead with integrity\u2013which is to say, if the president is corrupt<\/em>\u2013then the president does not deserve to hold that office, and must not be allowed to continue.<\/p>\n

How much is your integrity worth? I say, it is worth much more than the price of continuing to support this president, even if he enacts every single policy you believe in.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was nineteen years old when I showed up to work for a summer at Kanakuk camp outside of Branson, MO. I had my dates wrong, and was a full day early. So one of my supervisors, Doug Goodwin, let me tag along with him on his 24 hour break. Before we left he was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1118,"featured_media":6041,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1775,1769,151,1787,150,1525,1784,1778,1766,1763,1781,1790,1772,1641],"class_list":["post-5996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bill-kristol","tag-corruption","tag-david-brooks","tag-david-french","tag-david-frum","tag-donald-trump","tag-evan-mcmullin","tag-george-will","tag-integrity","tag-kanakuk","tag-mona-charen","tag-nicole-wallace","tag-rumi","tag-trump"],"yoast_head":"\nFinding Integrity on the Political Right<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I was nineteen years old when I showed up to work for a summer at Kanakuk camp outside of Branson, MO. I had my dates wrong, and was a full day early. So\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2018\/05\/finding-integrity-on-the-political-right.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Finding Integrity on the Political Right\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I was nineteen years old when I showed up to work for a summer at Kanakuk camp outside of Branson, MO. I had my dates wrong, and was a full day early. So\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2018\/05\/finding-integrity-on-the-political-right.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Paperback Theology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=654515438\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-11T11:20:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-05-11T14:55:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/230\/2018\/05\/Lincoln.001.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tim Suttle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Tim_Suttle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tim Suttle\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2018\/05\/finding-integrity-on-the-political-right.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2018\/05\/finding-integrity-on-the-political-right.html\",\"name\":\"Finding Integrity on the Political Right\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-11T11:20:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-05-11T14:55:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#\/schema\/person\/63a7ffe567a014f809abae15ebfc44a6\"},\"description\":\"I was nineteen years old when I showed up to work for a summer at Kanakuk camp outside of Branson, MO. I had my dates wrong, and was a full day early. So\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2018\/05\/finding-integrity-on-the-political-right.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2018\/05\/finding-integrity-on-the-political-right.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2018\/05\/finding-integrity-on-the-political-right.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Finding Integrity on the Political Right\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/\",\"name\":\"Paperback Theology\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#\/schema\/person\/63a7ffe567a014f809abae15ebfc44a6\",\"name\":\"Tim Suttle\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ce6d230b7d3a7d50e5fc4b6c265691fb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ce6d230b7d3a7d50e5fc4b6c265691fb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tim Suttle\"},\"description\":\"Find out more about Tim at TimSuttle.com Tim Suttle is the senior pastor of RedemptionChurchkc.com. He is the author of several books including his most recent - Shrink: Faithful Ministry in a Church Growth Culture (Zondervan 2014), Public Jesus (The House Studio, 2012), & An Evangelical Social Gospel? (Cascade, 2011). Tim's work has been featured at The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, Sojourners, and other magazines and journals. Tim is also the founder and front-man of the popular Christian band Satellite Soul, with whom he toured for nearly a decade. The band's most recent album is \\\"Straight Back to Kansas.\\\" He helped to plant three thriving churches over the past 13 years and is the Senior Pastor of Redemption Church in Olathe, Kan. Tim's blog, Paperback Theology, is hosted at Patheos.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=654515438\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/@Tim_Suttle\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/author\/timsuttle\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Finding Integrity on the Political Right","description":"I was nineteen years old when I showed up to work for a summer at Kanakuk camp outside of Branson, MO. I had my dates wrong, and was a full day early. So","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2018\/05\/finding-integrity-on-the-political-right.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Finding Integrity on the Political Right","og_description":"I was nineteen years old when I showed up to work for a summer at Kanakuk camp outside of Branson, MO. I had my dates wrong, and was a full day early. So","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2018\/05\/finding-integrity-on-the-political-right.html","og_site_name":"Paperback Theology","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=654515438","article_published_time":"2018-05-11T11:20:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-05-11T14:55:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":300,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/230\/2018\/05\/Lincoln.001.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Tim Suttle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Tim_Suttle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tim Suttle","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2018\/05\/finding-integrity-on-the-political-right.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2018\/05\/finding-integrity-on-the-political-right.html","name":"Finding Integrity on the Political Right","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-05-11T11:20:09+00:00","dateModified":"2018-05-11T14:55:33+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#\/schema\/person\/63a7ffe567a014f809abae15ebfc44a6"},"description":"I was nineteen years old when I showed up to work for a summer at Kanakuk camp outside of Branson, MO. I had my dates wrong, and was a full day early. So","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2018\/05\/finding-integrity-on-the-political-right.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2018\/05\/finding-integrity-on-the-political-right.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2018\/05\/finding-integrity-on-the-political-right.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Finding Integrity on the Political Right"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/","name":"Paperback Theology","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#\/schema\/person\/63a7ffe567a014f809abae15ebfc44a6","name":"Tim Suttle","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ce6d230b7d3a7d50e5fc4b6c265691fb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ce6d230b7d3a7d50e5fc4b6c265691fb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tim Suttle"},"description":"Find out more about Tim at TimSuttle.com Tim Suttle is the senior pastor of RedemptionChurchkc.com. He is the author of several books including his most recent - Shrink: Faithful Ministry in a Church Growth Culture (Zondervan 2014), Public Jesus (The House Studio, 2012), & An Evangelical Social Gospel? (Cascade, 2011). Tim's work has been featured at The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, Sojourners, and other magazines and journals. Tim is also the founder and front-man of the popular Christian band Satellite Soul, with whom he toured for nearly a decade. The band's most recent album is \"Straight Back to Kansas.\" He helped to plant three thriving churches over the past 13 years and is the Senior Pastor of Redemption Church in Olathe, Kan. Tim's blog, Paperback Theology, is hosted at Patheos.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=654515438","https:\/\/twitter.com\/@Tim_Suttle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/author\/timsuttle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5996\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}