There once was an old, wise Cherokee chief who shared his great wisdom with the tribal children. As they sat around him, the warrior informed the children about a battle that rages on inside of people. “The battle,” he said, “was between two wolves living inside all of us.”
One of the wolves is evil. It growls with anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is good. It is filled with joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”
“These wolves,” he said, “are constantly at battle within us and at each other.”
The children, astonished at the depiction described to them, asked the chief, “Which wolf wins?”
It’s a good question. Which wolf will win out?
Every one of us faces that same battle and struggle within ourselves on a regular basis. Each one of us must ask the question, “Which wolf will master the other wolf?” It’s the struggle between right and wrong. It’s the struggle between good and evil. It’s the struggle of our integrity. We feel its tension. We’re pulled apart. Who “we want to be” versus “what we act like” is always in the balance.
The Corinthians appeared to be enamored with a leadership who lacked quality control. On the outside, like most leadership candidates, they checked all the boxes: charisma, excellent oratory skills, they carried letters of recommendation (somebody endorsed these guys), and were the right pedigree (they were Jews). But underneath the veneer, something was wrong. Something was horribly wrong. A wolf was in the fold.
Striking at the heart of one’s integrity, Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:2, “. . . we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.” The “we” in this verse clearly speaks of Paul, Timothy, and Titus, who were actively engaging this church. That said, the “we” could also be a means to draw the Corinthians into this delicate conversation. “We” don’t do this, even though the Corinthians were very much guilty of the very character Paul opposes.
The verse in question contains three statements worthy of being fleshed out, at least for a little bit. Two of these are stated in a negative form while the third is stated in a positive form.
The first statement is expressed in the negative form when he says, “we have renounced secret and shameful ways.” Below the surface of our actions lie our motives, why we do what we do. Answering that question is crucial, as those actions are either pure and innocent or they are dark and deadly. They can be somewhere in between. Those dark and deadly motives can look good and are often white-washed, maybe dressed up in religious piety, but eventually they come to light and it’s never good. Motives must remain above board and relationships must never be tarnished by underhanded means. And please note the strong word of “renouncing secret and shameful ways.” Paul is not saying, “we try not to” or “we attempt to avoid” those “secret and shameful ways.” On the contrary, we renounce them. We reject them. We repudiate them. We relinquish them. Those “secret and shameful ways” have absolutely nothing in common with the gospel or anyone representing the gospel of Christ.
The second statement is also expressed in the negative form as Paul says, “. . . we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.” Paul may be harking back to 2:17 where he drops the image of a peddler selling wares. While there is nothing wrong with someone whose occupation is a peddler, the stereotype of a person selling something you don’t need, which doesn’t work, to pocket money is at the forefront of his thoughts. We are not selling the gospel to a market filled with consumers who buy the product today and then list it on eBay tomorrow, though sadly, it’s a common mindset for today’s Americans to understand the gospel.
Respect for God’s word is a motif running through Scripture. The truth is we can bend Scripture to fit our beliefs, repackage it to sell, or worse – we can weaponize Scripture to attack people we disagree with or even hate. We can justify almost any action by quoting a verse or two, and history is replete of people who have committed atrocities in the guise of following God. One does not have to go far back into history to ask how the German Church supported a regime that villainized, deported, and eventually executed six million Jews. Any verse or passage can be perverted to support any vile action of man. Thus, with the Bible opened before us, are we going to submit to its words and allow it to shape our lives, or are we going to manipulate it and the people we address to say what we want it to say? Oh, and by the way, we’ve not even begun question how fear-mongering is used to get people to buy fire insurance, or to control behavior, or to secure power, instead of focusing on God’s desire for fellowship with us.
The third statement is expressed in the positive form as Paul continues, “. . . we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” Paul is inviting personal scrutiny as his life is an open book. He has nothing to hide. He believes, and is hopeful, that once the Corinthians pull back the layers, they will finally acknowledge his apostolic integrity. By the way, Paul is not self-promoting himself by dropping the phrase, “commending ourselves.” As he will say a couple of verses later, “We do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord” (4:5a).
One of the issues facing the church, its ministers, its leadership, and its members is the level of integrity, or I should clarify, the absence of any level of integrity found within the church. We’ve lacked transparency while demanding others to come clean. We’ve lied to, manipulated, and abused people who trusted in a Jesus of compassion, mercy, and grace. Instead of pointing to God’s favor, we’ve finger-pointed guilt and shame, failing to see the three fingers pointing back at us. And where Jesus has refused to throw stones, we’ve been quick to the draw. Instead of fueling a quiet confidence, we have instilled a fire of fear. All because there is a ravenous and raging wolf taking control over our lives.
If we were to take a good look in the mirror and check our own integrity, what might we find? As we interact with our patients and with each other, what are we like? If two wolves are battling each other for supremacy, who is winning?
Do we make promises to our patients that we know we cannot keep? In part, do we make these promises because we have a quota we have to reach, so we’ll promise the moon to get them to sign up? Do we make visit promises to patients knowing our schedule won’t sustain those visiting, or that we’ll push them off to someone else? At its core is our integrity.
We all have favorite patients, it’s human nature. Some people we connect to easier and deeper than others. It’s normal. Generally, we’ll provide the best service to those people. Do we provide quality services to those patients just because we like them better, or because they are friends? Even worse, are we providing services to a patient in hopes of something reciprocal? Or this, do we shortchange the more difficult patients because they are difficult, or their context is more difficult to manage?
Ultimately, the issue at hand is integrity, who we are not only in the public eye but behind the scenes when no one is looking. And within us is an animalistic, constant struggle between our honesty and dishonesty. The question remains, who will win out?
There once was an old, wise Cherokee chief who shared his great wisdom with the tribal children. As they sat around him, the warrior informed the children about a battle that rages on inside of people. “The battle,” he said, “was between two wolves living inside all of us.”
One of the wolves is evil. It growls with anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is good. It is filled with joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”
“These wolves,” he said, “are constantly at battle within us and at each other.”
The children, astonished at the depiction described to them, asked the chief, “Which wolf wins?”
The chief looked at the children and said, “The one we feed. The one we feed.”
Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e., only God is glorified!)