I just cannot wait to get into what God's word has for us this morning. We're going to dig into it together. And I think God really does have some, like, really sweet and precious diamonds for us in this text. But before that, even though we're a church and I know this is Sunday morning, I'm actually going to start by taking guys to law school for a minute. Is that okay? All right, cool. I always get mixed response that someone said, sure, so that's where we're going. I actually want to start by telling you about a case called, called US V. Whitmore, because it's gonna set up where we're kind of going this morning. So here's the short version of it. In 2001, a man named Gerald Whitmore was convicted for an unlawful possession of a weapon. And it was a conviction that hinged all on the testimony of one woman named Soto, who testified she saw Whitmore running from the scene, holding the weapon. Now, it seemed like an open shot case. Whitmore was convicted by the court. But here's the twist. The Supreme Court later reversed that decision. And here's why. The court had failed to let Whitmore present three witnesses who wanted to testify. Soto had had a reputation of wrongful arrests. And this fact that this key witness, really the one witness's testimony, had been compromised. It became such an important detail that the Supreme Court reversed the original decision. See, the court issue of the case in one sentence is this. Soto wrecked her witness by wrecking her credibility. Now, as interesting as this case is, I'm sharing it with you for a reason. Okay, I'm sharing it with you because the text we are going to be in today reveals to us there is a way we could wreck our own witness, not to a court case, but to God and his gospel. And my assumption for us this morning, all of us sitting here at church on a Sunday morning, is none of us want that to be true of us, Right? Like, none of us want to look back on our individual lives, and none of us want to look back on the life of this church as a whole and say we were poor witnesses to God and his gospel. Veritas. None of us want that to happen. But here's the sobering truth. It does happen over and over again in the history of the church and in individual people's lives. In fact, it happened all the way back in the first century. And Paul puts it very bluntly in Romans 2:24, when he says this to a group of people who had erect Their witness, he said, for as it is written, the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, man veritas. None of us would want Paul to send us a letter today that had the same words that said, the name of God is blasphemed among Cedar Rapids because of you. So if that's true, we need to ask the the question, how do we avoid being like that type of witness for God? How do we avoid his name being blasphemed and actually change so that his name is honored? Or to put it another way, how do we witness well to God instead of wrecking our witness for God? That is really the question we're going to be looking at today. How do we witness well to God instead of wrecking our witness for God? And as we look at Paul's words for Corinth and for us this morning, we're going to see an example, an example of what it looks like to witness well to God and what it would look like for our witness to be wrecked. See, Paul had this same concern for himself and for this church in Corinth that they would witness well to God. And my hope and prayer for us this morning is that as we open God's word, man, it would do its work to transform us. So we would be able to say we are people who witness well to God before a watching world. So if you have your Bibles, flip them open to Second Corinthians 8. We are continuing our long march through Second Corinthians, starting in verse 16 today. That's where we're going to be, verses 16 through 24. And as you get there, I want to refresh you a little bit on the context on this passage, because it's important. So if you've been here the last few weeks, you know that at the beginning of this chapter 2 Corinthians 8, the apostle Paul, he shifted gears a little bit to really get practical. And he was calling the church in Corinth to finish the work they started and giving their money to a collection Paul was taking up for the Jerusalem churches who were in need. This Jerusalem collection, it was really deeply important to Paul, so much so he also mentions it in Galatians, Romans, and First Corinthians as well. And we're actually going to get a little bit more insight into why it was so important to him in a bit. But for now, you just needed to know at this point. In 2nd Corinthians 8, Paul had already made a few arguments for why Corinth should generously take part in this collection. In the first few verses, he reminded Corinth of these struggling churches in Macedonia who actually gave to the Jerusalem collection, even though they were impoverished, with great generosity to kind of spur Corinth on and say, look at what this church is doing in their example. Now, I think Paul really went for the jugular in verse nine by giving the example of Jesus himself, who laid aside his riches to become spiritually poor. He took on flesh and bore humiliation of our sin on the cross. That is a compelling argument to give. But now in verses 16 through 24, Paul's really giving Corinth another really practical argument for why they should take part in this collection. So we're going to take. Jump. We're going to jump into this text now and kind of take a dive into it. And as we do, I just want to help you see three things in the text this morning that's going to help us with where we're going. I want to help you see number one, that Paul has something to prove. I want to help you see number two, that Paul has something to defend. Then number three, I want to help you see Paul has something to call us to. So with that said, we're going to jump into the text. We're going to start by looking at what Paul wanted to prove. Look with me Starting in verses 16 through 17, this is what he says. But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you, for he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest, earnest, he is going to you of his own accord. So we're going to stop there for a second. Being good Bible readers, I'm sure you guys noticed there is one word that's repeated in these first two verses. Let me hear someone say it. Which word is repeated here? Earnest. Great. All right. So another way you could say earnest is sincere. So Paul wants Corinth to know, hey, I'm sending Timothy to help collect this money for no other reason than this. We genuinely, sincerely, earnestly care for you. Like Paul's saying, hey, we have no ulterior motive. We have no selfish desire. Our desire for Corinth to give to this collection comes not from selfishness, but from a genuine love for you and these churches. We actually, if you were here last week, we saw this in verse 10 where Paul said this. He said, and in this matter, I give my judgment this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work, but also to desire to do it. Paul is making clear to Corinth they are not collecting money for. For Paul and Titus his own benefit. It is for the benefit of the Jerusalem churches, whom Paul loves. But it's also for the benefit of Corinth, whom Paul loves. He's saying, hey, I am being sincere. You can trust I am for you. And this is not the only way Paul argues for his sincerity. In this passage, we actually see Paul defend it one other way. We'll get verses 18 through 19, and then verses 22 through 23. With me, he says, with Titus, we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the Gospel. And not only that, but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our goodwill. And he kind of finishes this thought in verses 22 and 23. And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters. There's that word again. But who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. Now, first, this can kind of sound like a lot of travel plans. Our eyes and ears can threaten to glaze over, but we cannot do that. Cause there is an important reason Paul is including this here. Paul is going above and beyond. Not just to say he has good motives, but to actually prove them. Like, he is backing up his sincerity. He's saying, hey, in case you're doubting me, not only do I care for you, not only does Titus care for you, we're sending two other people with him to make sure there's plurality in how we're handling this money, to make sure there's more eyes on how we're handling this money. And by the way, like, one of them isn't even appointed by me. He's appointed by other churches you can trust. These guys aren't in my pocket. And when we take all this together, we're getting a pretty clear picture that Paul is going above and beyond to prove to Corinth he is above board. In fact, as I was thinking about this and how above and beyond Paul goes, it reminded me he's almost doing, like, what I'd call an ancient version of multi factor authentication. Have any of you guys ever heard that before? You know when you, like, log into your email and it's like, sorry, before that, we're going to send a text to your phone, put in that code, and you're like, okay, it's me. And then they're like, we're actually going to send a text or a code to your other email. So fill that out. And you're like, all right, is that enough? And then they're like, please answer these seven questions about what street you lived on in middle school. And you're like, what is going on? But I just want to track my Amazon package. That's all I want to do. But here's what's going on. Due to the amount of scammers online nowadays, tech companies, they're asking you though, asking you to go to great lengths to prove your authenticity in multiple ways. This is almost what Paul is doing here. He's giving them a multi factor authentication that he is who he says he is and that he's going to do with their money what he said he's going to do. But why does Paul go so above board? Why does he go to such great lengths? The answer is in verses 20 through 21. And guys, these really are like the center crux of this passage. These two verses are kind of where the core of Paul's message comes across. Look at these verses with me. We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us. For we aim at what is honorable, not only in the Lord's sight, but also in the sight of man. Veritas. Here is what Paul is going above and beyond to prove. He is going above and beyond to prove his integrity. Integrity. It's a word we all know. It's a word you probably grew up hearing. You have to have integrity. But I'm not sure we always understand the significance of this word. It comes from actually the Latin word integrity, which actually means wholeness or entireness or completeness. Pastor Kent Hughes defines it like this. Integrity characterizes the whole person, not just part of him. He is righteous and honest through and through. So put simply, integrity means you are not divided. You aren't two faced. You are one face everywhere. There isn't a gap between who you say you are and who you actually are. There is not a gap between your private life and your public life. You are the same person everywhere, all the time. Your convictions lead you rather than your immediate desires in the moment. That is a high standard. But it is a high standard Paul strove for. And actually we see in this text, he needed Corinth to know he was striving for it too. See, it's likely the historical situation here is that these, these teachers had crept into Corinth that Paul later calls super Apostles. And what they were doing was they were being these outwardly impressive and eloquent people, but they were spiritually bankrupt and they were trying to defame Paul's name, both as an apostle and likely as the person. Handling this Jerusalem collection like this would have been just an easy way for them to attack Paul's image. They're like, hey, nobody wants to be conned or scammed. And maybe Paul's scamming you. Maybe he's going to keep part of the collection for himself. Maybe he's actually going to use this money to hold some leverage over the Jerusalem churches. Whatever it is, these super Apostles were likely spreading rumors about Paul's integrity. But in this text, Paul isn't having any of it because he is not the two faced one the super Apostles are. And he is saying, you can take part in this collection. Why? Because you can trust I'm going to steward your money well. I'm a man of integrity. I don't have secret motives. Who I say I am in public is who I also am in private. Before we move on, there are two implications that this has for us that I, I just think is important to hover over for a minute. First, it seems like an appropriate place to tell you as our church family that here at Veritas, we want to make it our mission to strive to imitate Paul in handling your money with the same type of integrity. I think that's important to say, are we perfect people? Absolutely not. But do we care about stewarding money well, with integrity? 100%. On a personal level, something we often say and remind each other of as a church staff is we need to spend like it's someone's sacrifice. And we say that a lot because we were like, hey, we need to be mindful that every dollar we spend for ministry is a dollar you in our church and congregation have sacrificed for the sake of the gospel. So we had better spend it for the sake of the gospel. And that's on a private level. On a public level, as our church has grown and we're trying to keep up, we have been trying to continually put more and more money handling policies in place. The factor in plurality and transparency, and we're trying to improve upon those. So please hear us. We care about stewarding your money well, just like Paul cared about stewarding Corinth's money well. And we care about that not just for the amount of money we receive, but because we care about being the same type of ministers of the gospel that Paul was, and go above and beyond to prove to you we're handling money with integrity. And the invitation is always open. You can ask us, we'll sit with you, open our budget up, tell you where our money has been spent and where it's going. Because we know no one is above integrity or even above proving their integrity. Paul was not, and our church shouldn't be either. But veritas, there is one other implication Paul's integrity has for you. Because Paul's integrity or example of integrity, it's not just for churches, as easy as that would be for us to sit here and be like, yes, and amen to that. Paul's example is for each one of us individually too, because of a church, handling money with poor integrity is a problem. What does it mean when all of us go our separate ways and handle our money without integrity? Do you realize God calls your life to the same standard of integrity? And the question is, are we going above and beyond to display integrity with our money, or is there a gap? Do we say, we believe in the mission of God with our mouth, but with our hands? We've never given to the mission of God. Do we lift our hands Sunday morning worshiping saying we are going to build our life on Jesus and give our all to him while one hand is still holding our wallets behind our backs? Do you allow people to speak into every area of your life but your finances? Because that is too uncomfortable and you're afraid of what people might find. Guys, Paul's example was to be above reproach in his finances, in the stewarding of money, and proving his integrity at every step. And it is an example that calls for a response from you and me and every person who claims the name of Christ. As we move on, though, there's one puzzling piece of verse 21 that I want to hone a little bit more deeply into. Look at verse 21, me again. It's really the second part of this, he says, for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight, but also in the sight of man. And I don't know, I don't think any of us would have trouble agreeing with that first part. Like, yes, you should have integrity before God. But it also provokes the question, why does Paul care so much about being honorable in the sight of man? Like, isn't it enough to just have integrity before God? Isn't it enough to if God knows my heart. Who cares what other people think? I think we can throw ideas like that around sometimes, and then we'll say like, oh, maybe Paul's just people pleasing. Maybe he just wants people to know that he has integrity. But that's not what it's about, because look at what he says in First Corinthians 4. 3. But with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. Paul is saying, hey, I know who I am. I'm not worried about being judged by you. But then the question is, why is Paul going so above and beyond to display his integrity? Here, the answer to that question. It moves us into the second thing I want to help us see in this text that Paul has something to defend. See, Paul's integrity has higher stakes than you and I might think, especially in this historical situation. In fact, the reason Paul cared so much about proving his integrity to Corinth was because he cared about something beyond collecting a certain amount of money. We see this in verse 19. We probably skipped over this as we were reading it all at once. But look again with me at this detail you might have missed. He says this, and not only that, but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us. Now pay attention to this for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our goodwill. See, Paul believed this collection would do a lot more than just meet people's physical needs. That was important and it is still important today. But Paul believed this collection would also go so far as to display the glory of God. More specifically, Paul believed this collection would display God's glory by uniquely witnessing to the power of the Gospel. Now I'm cheating a little bit by skipping ahead, so sorry to whoever's preaching this these verses in a couple weeks. But we see this in 2nd Corinthians 9. Look at these verses 12 and 13 with me. He says, for the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes. Look at this from your confession of the Gospel of Christ and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others. Veritas. Why does Paul care so much about proving his integrity to Corinth? It's because Paul knew the success of this collection would testify to the glory of the Gospel. While the Breakdown of this collection would obscure the glory of the Gospel. See, Paul knew this collection. What it was going to do was it was going to testify to the unity between Jewish and Gentile churches. It would prove the gospel is actually powerful and transformative enough to make enemies into one new family, so much so that they are caring for each other's needs. It demonstrated that the work of Jesus on the cross to justify and change and adopt people into one family is actually true and real and effective. This is exactly what Paul says in Ephesians 2. Look what he says to the Gentile church in Ephesus and how he believes the unity of two different people would testify to the Gospel. He says, remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of Christ, promise having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who are once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in the place of two, so making peace and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility veritas. That is the type of gospel this Jerusalem collection would testify to and make visible. A gospel where churches are united not by ethnicity, not by socio economic class, but the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross that was actually real and happened and was effective. Okay. The unity of this church would have been powerful proof to the ancient world that the Gospel was true and God was glorious. Their reconciliation to each other horizontally would have put on display that they were reconciled to God vertically through Jesus's work on the cross. It would testify the blood of Jesus actually changed our lives. And in fact, the history of the early church shows it was largely due to these types of displays of Christlike, sacrificial, generous love that the Gospel bloomed from Judea to the ends of the earth. See, the church said the gospel was true and then they acted like the gospel was true. Their life displayed a wholeness and integrity that witnessed to the truthfulness of the gospel that they proclaimed. So now with that in mind, ask the question to me, with me. What would have happened if Paul's integrity proved to be fraudulent and the collection failed? The gospel would be seen not as the good news that reconciles man to God and each other, but just another way for selfish people to wind their pockets? Or what would have happened if the Corinthians just doubted Paul's integrity and they failed to give to their brothers and sisters in need? The gospel would have been seen as something less beautiful and worthy of praise than money or status or greed. The gospel would have been obscured rather than defended. It would have been mocked rather than vindicated. The stakes of integrity were higher here than Corinth just raising a certain amount of money. The stakes of integrity were God's gospel being lifted up and vindicated or lowered and vandalized. Why does Paul care so much about proving his integrity? Because what Paul had to defend was the truth of the gospel. That is what Paul was defending here. Paul knew. A lack of integrity in the handling of this money or even a perceived lack of integrity. It could have wreaked havoc on the witness of the church to the gospel, to the world. Another way that you could put it. I heard a pastor use a phrase a couple years ago that gets at the same idea. It's weird, but it stuck with me. And the phrase is this. Never trust a skinny chef. Have you guys heard that before? Anyone else think it's weird? Yeah, a little bit, but it stuck with me. And here's all that's getting at. Don't trust someone whose example does not match their profession. Like, don't trust someone who's like, I make really great, delicious food. And, like, I don't know if you've ever eaten food before. You know, I don't trust you to cook for me. You could put it in several different ways. Okay. Don't trust a broke financial advisor. Don't trust an unhealthy personal trainer. Don't trust a barber with a bad haircut. Whatever it is. You get the point. Someone can wreck their credibility when their wife doesn't match their profession. But veritas, hear me on this. A lack of integrity, or even a perceived lack of integrity when it comes to our money and everywhere else in life makes us look like skinny chefs. A lack of integrity. What does it do? It makes our faith seem hollow and untrustworthy. A lack of integrity makes us, people who say to others, taste and see that the Lord is good, all while demonstrating with the actual actions of our lives that we don't really find him satisfying and would rather gorge ourselves on other things in this world. See, church. The truth is this. The secrets of our bank statements, the histories of our browser searches, our actions hidden behind the closed doors of our homes that we think no one else can see, testify to either the Soundness or hollowness of our faith, the extent of our integrity in our money handling, which is the direct situation in this text, but also more broadly, in our whole lives. Hear me. It is either painting a beautiful picture of the gospel or it's building a strong barrier to the gospel, to the people around us. And Paul didn't want to be a skinny chef. Paul didn't even want to be perceived as a skinny chef. He didn't want Corinth to be either. He wanted to defend the gospel and say, my life matches my doctrine. Which leads us to this last point. I want to help you see in our text this morning, Paul has something to call us to look at the last verse in our passage today, verse 24, he says, so give proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you to these men. This is Paul's imperative for Corinth, that this text has been building to the action statement. Paul is saying, corinth, this is where your witness to the gospel is either going to be vandalized or vindicated. Corinth, you've professed belief in the gospel. So prove the gospel's power by actually putting your money where your mouth is. Prove your integrity. Prove the gospel has transformed your life and you are eager to love these churches. Prove it to the Lord. Prove it to me, to Macedonia, to the Jerusalem churches. Prove it to the world. Paul is giving Corinth an opportunity in this passage to prove the gospel actually invaded their hearts by spending like it, obeying like it, and living like it. And this is the call that the word of God calls all Christians to, to the end of time veritas to vindicate the gospel with our integrity. Why care so much about our integrity? Because our integrity makes all the difference between witnessing well to God and wrecking our witness to God. When we demonstrate integrity with how we spend our money, we lift up the gospel as true, like Corinth, and zooming out. The same principle applies when we demonstrate integrity in every area of our life. We prove we believe what we are saying we believe. You know, this truth has been a reality. It's become more and more personal to me as I've gotten older, because as I've been preparing this message, it made me reflect the reason that I came to such a firm belief in the gospel's power and truth. And that Jesus was who he says he was at such a young age was largely because God graciously gave me two parents who lived lives of high integrity. Like I would sit in church on Sunday, I would watch my dad lead worship at church, and then I would sit at home and watch him play his guitar and sing to God with the same joy and enthusiasm. I was like, this is real to him. There is not a gap there. My parents would teach me. God wanted to speak to me in his word and hear me in prayer. And then I would see them get up in the morning before anything else to meet with God daily and asked us what we were learning in God's Word too. There wasn't a gap there. My parents taught me that we were called to be generous because God was generous and Christ gave himself. And then I saw them give up a nicer house, more vacations, a more padded retirement fund to adopt two children. There was not a gap. And that was powerful to me. See, Veritas. It was largely through their example of integrity that the gospel became a real, vibrant, plausible reality to me. And it was largely because of their integrity that I am even here working in a church today. Veritas. There is a direct connection between our integrity and our witness. In fact, you could summarize what Paul was teaching us this morning by saying this. The extent of our integrity determines the credibility of our witness. The extent of our integrity determines the credibility of our witness. I like how Eugene Peterson puts it. He says, who we are in secret determines the soundness of who we are in public. Say that one more time. Who we are in secret determines the soundness of who we are in public. And when we look at where we are at as Christians in our culture today, this is a truth that is both sobering and inspiring. Now, here's why it's sobering. I don't think Christians today largely have vindicated our integrity like Paul and Corinth did in the first century. And the reason I think that is a pastor and researcher surveyed the data, and he found Christians are statistically almost as likely as non Christians to do several things. To falsify their income tax returns, to commit plagiarism, to bribe, to obtain a building permit, to ignore construction specs, to steal time, to exaggerate a product, to tell people what they want to hear, and to selectively obey laws. And the list goes on and on. And there is no reason to believe that we in this room are the exception to those statistics. We have a crisis of integrity in the church. We have a crisis of integrity not just out there beyond the walls, but in here. And even more than that, in each one of us. And here's the result. People have lost faith in the beauty of the church. And the reality of the gospel. Over time, these decades and decades of small compromises in our ethical lives and in our integrity have had an effect. And actually, the data shows our faith in churches, pastors, and Christianity as a whole has dropped lower and lower over time, actually over 30% in the last five decades. The extent of our integrity determines the credibility of our witness. And it is sobering to realize we have fallen far from the integrity God calls us to and in doing so have damaged the credibility of our witness. But here is the invitation in this this loss of integrity in our culture everywhere means that everyone, and I mean everyone, is thirsting for true integrity in a world where the well of integrity has largely run dry. So how much more clearly could the truth of the gospel be lifted up and put on display if there was a revolution of integrity in the church and in us? What if the church, hear me, demonstrated an integrity and a wholeness and a soundness that no one could find anywhere else, that made them ask, why are you different in a culture marked by embezzlement and bribery and money laundering and falsified tax returns, where the words money and integrity do not go hand in hand? What if they did in our church? In a culture that is marked by political and religious scandals, disillusionment in institutions, and a crisis of integrity? What if our church was a safe refuge where there was no gap between who we claim to be and who we are? And what if every member of our church, not just here on Sunday morning but every day of our lives, lived out a gospel shaped integrity in our workplaces, our homes, our schools? No matter how hard, how different would we look, and how powerful a testimony would that be to the type of gospel that could produce such a wellspring of integrity in us? I believe the gospel revolution, the same type that happened in the first century, could happen in the 21st century if the church really valued and defended this value of integritas? And so the question that leaves us with is how do we become people that are marked by this deep integrity that God calls us to? In this passage, for the sake of God and his gospel, for the sake of God's glory, how do we become people that are deeply formed by integrity? If I could put it at its simplest and most practical, this is what kept coming to my mind as I was reflecting on this. My prayer for us is that more and more we would become people who learn to mind the gap. Here's what I mean by that. This phrase, mind the gap. It was originally a visual warning, like at subway stations to keep people from twisting their feet or falling in to the gap between a platform and a train. They're saying there's a gap there. You have to mind it for the sake of your safety. And I think it's a simple three word warning for us still today. Mind the gap. A warning to mind any gaps of integrity in our lives. Any place where there is a split between who we claim to be and who we are, any gaps that could compromise our witness to the gospel. And so I just want to give us three steps to help us mind the gap in our lives for the sake of the gospel. First, seem self explanatory. Before you can mind the gap you have to find the gap. Might seem obvious, right? But in a culture where we do very little self reflection and data shows we need constant input to feel comfortable. When is the last time we've sat for a few minutes and reflected on where our life does not honor God and his gospel? Find 10 to 15 minutes of reflection time this week to find the gap. Start by asking the hard questions Paul was confronting Corinth with in this chapter. Are there any gaps of integrity between the gospel I proclaim and what I am doing with my money? Because chances are, the extent to which we handle our money with integrity will be an indicator of what our integrity looks like in the rest of our lives. Examine if the way you spend your money in private witness as well to the gospel in public. Examine if the way you spend your money proves your love to God and His churches like Paul was calling Corinth to. But then broaden the question out. Are there other gaps of integrity in my life that could compromise my witness to the glory of God? Audit your bank statement, but also your search history, your time clock, your words and choices you make when you think no one is around. Is there a gap somewhere? And church, hear me. Don't only look for big gaps and don't be merciful to little gaps because the truth is they widen over time if they aren't dealt with. And so what are you compromising with your words, your financial choices, whatever it is? Are you going above and beyond to be above reproaching your integrity? Find the gap. Because when you do, then you get to take the hard but healing next step of confessing the gap. First you get to confess the gap to God himself and experience the healing of repentance. But then you need to confess the gap to a friend, someone who can take your confession seriously, hold you accountable and walk with you and also meet you with The Gospel and veritas confessing the gap. We cannot miss this step or we miss this the gospel, because it is where you confess the gap and are honest with God, that you're met by the Savior who crossed the gap first to take on flesh to pay for your sin and give you his perfect obedience. So do you have a rhythm of bringing the gaps of integrity in your life to the light? Who are you going to tell about the gospel about gaps in your life? Do you even have someone that comes to mind? The gospel won't become a real tangible reality to us or the people around us till we answer those types of questions. Questions. And it's here when you confess the gap and you're met with the good news of the gospel, that Christ died to save sinners, that you're equipped to take action which leads to the last step. After we find the gap and confess the gap, by God's grace, may we be people who close the gap. We're saved by grace. We aren't earned by closing gaps. We are called to a life of holy integrity for the glory of God and for the sake of our witness to his gospel. And so after you have found the gap and confess them, don't just be a talker, be a repenter and close those gaps. Make a plan. How do you plan to actively prepare to close those gaps? And now I don't have a step by step process for this that applies to every situation. Each of your lives are different. You need to think through with God and community what that looks like for you. And it is hard, ongoing, extremely humbling, convicting, uncomfortable, challenging work. But the fruit is a life that's a potent witness to the people in your life that the gospel is real to you and has actually shaped your life. I want to end with this. See, the same Paul who said he aims for honor before God and man also said this in second Timothy two. I think this is an important connection for us. He says, therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. I don't know about you, Veritas, but I want to be someone who is useful to God and ready for every good work. What could be a more beautiful calling than that? Where would we want to be other than that? But it starts with a willingness and zeal to pursue integrity relentlessly, to cleanse ourself from what is dishonorable. And how sweet would it be if veritas church became so known for its integrity that we could also be called integritas church. What if we were a church who closed the gaps between our profession of the gospel and our bank statements, between our profession of the gospel and our daily habits, between our profession of the gospel and our hidden lives? Man, our church would be a more powerful witness to the truth of the gospel than you could probably ever imagine. Will some people still reject the gospel? Yes. But no one would be able to deny we believed the gospel and were really changed by it. And that is the type of church I want to be at. So would you pray with me? Lord, I pray that through your word taking root in our lives this morning, that veritas church would also become known as integritas church. A people of high integrity. A people who don't have a gap between how we say we live our lives and how we actually live them. A life that demonstrates the power of the gospel. A life that people could look at and say, I don't understand because this is so different from the rest of the world. Your convictions have shaped your life, lord. May that be true of us. May it be true in how we spend our money. May it be true in radical generosity. But may it also be true in every area of our lives, Lord, And I just come before you convicted myself. As I've been thinking about this, lord, and knowing what gaps in my life by your grace I need to close. May I not be exempt from high integrity, Lord, Would you help us set the example and pace for integrity? And God, through this pursuit of integrity, May we not pursue it for integrity's sake on its own, but because it lifts you up as glorious and exalted, and it lifts your gospel up as glorious and exalted. Would you save many in cedar rapids because of the wellspring of integrity? You are digging in the lives of us here at veritas church. We love you. We ask this in your name. Amen.