Little integrity tests

Daryl has been imprisoned for 24 years for rape and gets turned down every time he sees the parole board. He is now enrolled in a mandatory program to rehabilitate him. The program for sex offenders is more arduous than the one for drug offenders, but Daryl has been working hard at it.

Though Daryl, now a Christian walking with the Lord, has not agreed with all the psychobabble in the program, he knows that it's his best shot to be released, so he has complied with all its requirements and sat quietly under all its teaching.

Until, that is, the teaching reached a point where he could no longer go along in good conscience. One of the last steps requires Daryl to admit that he has a "disease" and that he will always have the tendency to rape women. Daryl does not believe that about himself. He believes God's Word that he is a new creation; all old things are passed away. He feels he would dishonor God by making the public declaration that he is something his is not.

A friend of mine once made the same complaint about Alcoholics Anonymous. As he grew in Christian maturity, he found himself no longer able to go up before the room and start his testimony with, "Hi. I'm Dave. I'm an alcoholic."

Daryl now faces a dilemma: He can bend his integrity a little and play the program. Or he can hold his ground in the truth and trust God with the outcome. Humanly speaking, he doesn't have a snowball's chance in July of parole if he doesn't play ball. But on the other hand, we are not "humanly speaking"-Daryl has a mighty God.

This inmate's case is not so different from yours and mine. Opportunities on silver platters often come with little integrity tests.

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