Integrity3 The Importance of Integrity in Christian Leadership

The Integrity Crisis

While the current generation has seen an explosion of technology, it has seen an implosion of integrity in leadership.—Reggie McNeal

Integrity is a rare commodity in today’s society. Many organizations including the Church have experienced numerous scandals and moral deterioration. Over the years, society has witnessed integrity’s downfall in almost every area of culture. Corporate scandals have rocked the business world and have left many organizations in shamble. Weems affirms that leaders in almost every profession are being found to be severely ethically challenged and the church has known no distinction. This ethical predicament is not only common to a particular group or religious sect but in fact this problem is evident among Christian leaders at every level of the church; from parishioners and lay leaders to the very senior leaders. Toler states that, “The church is thriving and growing, finances are solid, and momentum strong just one problem; the pastor is forced to resign because of an integrity issue. Suddenly, the organization is in chaos.” This integrity crisis has caused the church to suffer extensively over the years, and has seriously hampered the effectiveness of the church in the world. Many churches are facing a crisis of confidence as the public is challenging both their character and competence. This shattered confidence in Church leadership makes the mission of the Church and of those leaders who embrace integrity even more challenging.

Very often, however, when persons think of integrity, the focus is frequently on sexual misconduct; the importance of moral integrity has often been emphasized over other types of integrity. However, along with the numerous ethical challenges, poor leadership skills and a lack of organizational structure have also contributed to the demise of many religious institutions. All of these failures and deficiencies constitutes from a lack of integrity. It is important that one becomes conscious of the various levels of integrity issues within our churches. Weems writes, “Our dilemma is not that all are not being examined, but rather that many people seem only interested in one or the other. Weems suggested that all are essential and must be held together. Considerations of integrity involve more than the moral and ethical aspects of integrity: while the character of a person is essential, of equal importance are values, competence and organizational structures.

Integrity3: The Importance of Integrity in Christian Leadership explores three dimensions of integrity. It illustrates how fruitfulness and productivity emerges from a powerful combination of these three dimensions of integrity, namely; Personal integrity (the leader’s character), vocational integrity (the competence of the leader), and organizational integrity (the leader’s commitment to make a tangible contribution to the organization- by advancing the organization’s vision and mission). The Integrity3 Leadership Model proposes that the overall process of leadership development pivots on these three kinds of integrity formation. If a leader demonstrates integrity in all three dimensions of integrity, this will result in leadership productivity or what Weems describes as fruitful leadership.

Henry Cloud also takes an integrated approach to integrity when he refers to integrity as “a complete picture of performance, all the way from gaining trust, to getting results, and a return on investment. If leaders are going to lead effectively, then leadership development must take an integrated approach to integrity; engaging leaders at all levels of leadership from senior leaders to emerging leaders. The church should move swiftly toward seriously addressing the issue of integrity in all dimensions—because the damaging effects of the lack of integrity may be irreparable.