Question of the Month for March 2007

Can a person be called a person of integrity when they do not acknowledge that God exists and takes personal credit for their character and integrity?

Our question this month comes from someone who asks, “Can a person be called a person of integrity when they do not acknowledge that God exists and takes personal credit for their character and integrity?”

Thank you for the great question! I hope this brief answer is helpful.

The heart of all our troubles in this world is sin. At the heart of all sin is the issue of pride. You see this issue from the very beginning in the Garden. People thought that it might be possible to live as their own god and live without the Lord’s provision. This, of course, has proven itself to be a lie, as we gaze back and look upon the piles of bodies and broken lives throughout the course of history. People are troubled with the fear of death, pain, suffering and a host of problems that are too long to list in this article. All during this time people have tried to solve problems on their own, without God’s help. This too has failed miserably! Just when we think things are getting better, something like 9-11 will take place. This pattern of false confidence about ourselves will continue until the Lord returns one day and sets up His Kingdom on the earth. Until that day, every person needs to look to the Lord for mercy, blessing and guidance. Simply put, we cannot be “god” on any level or about anything in life, including our character.

Your question is about whether or not a person can claim to have integrity if they do not acknowledge God even exists. In a way, this question would require another question to be asked, namely, “What is integrity?” The answer to that question is the real answer to your question.

There are many people who live lives of honesty, goodness and integrity that are not Christians. Some of the most honest people you will ever meet are atheists. One of the reasons that is true is because their character is a way they justify their unbelief. If they are “good” (at least in their own mind) they have what religion is supposed to offer and hence they don’t need God. The important point I am trying to make is that atheists are often very moral people. In addition, you will often hear agnostics or atheists comment that most of the people they know who believe in God are hypocrites, something they don’t want to associate with in any way. Hence, an atheist tries harder than ever to have integrity and be good.

The problem a “good” atheist faces is that they are hypocrites on some level too, but they don’t want to admit it. All atheists end up living a double life. Let me explain: The Bible tells us Romans 1:18-19 that people who reject God “suppress the truth, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them”. The Apostle Paul is telling us that every human being is instinctively created with a conscience that is a witness to God’s existence. For a person to deny God or be an atheist they must be suppressing some evidence or truth about God from their own lives.

This powerful argument is easily verified in daily experience. If you ever meet a person who is an atheist/agnostic, ask them this question “Is there any evidence from any source you are willing to look at, study or accept that would convince you God exists.” Most atheists/agnostics will tell you they are not willing to look at the evidence. In other words, they don’t want you to confuse them with the facts. I have seen this pattern over and over again. People are unwilling to consider all the evidence out there. People end up suppressing the truth by their unwillingness to consider all the facts, just as Romans 1 said they would.

The fact that an atheist/agnostic is unwilling to listen to all the evidence about God in the world is a confirmation that they are willing to believe lies and tell them to others through their atheistic belief system. Most atheists end up “evangelists” for their belief system. However, any person who routinely lies about things would certainly not be considered a person of high moral character or integrity. Hence, all atheists cannot truly claim to be people of integrity on some level. This is the “Achilles Heal” of the moral atheist.

Perhaps a good way to approach a moral atheist is by offering them a wonderful book on Christian apologetics. There are some awesome books out there I would be glad to recommend to you to lovingly challenge an atheist with a fine character. The evidence presented in these books is overwhelming in their proofs about God. To reject all of this evidence from such fine scholars would surely be a lack of integrity on some level. Therefore, a moral atheist is somewhat of an oxymoron.