Sermon by – Lead Pastor Justin Kendrick – Vox Church

My Personal Sermon Notes …

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Integrity: The Art of Being the Same Person Everywhere

Part 1 – Do Good Work

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Anchor Verse for the Series

Proverbs 11:2–3 (ESV)

2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
but with the humble is wisdom.
3 The integrity of the upright guides them,
but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.

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Foundations of Human Purpose and Work

Genesis 1:27–28 (ESV)

27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them,
“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it,
and have dominion over the fish of the sea
and over the birds of the heavens
and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Genesis 2:15 (ESV)

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

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Cultural References: The Pressure of Splitting Ourselves

“Catch Me If You Can” – a biographical crime film directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the life of Frank Abagnale Jr., a master forger and impostor.

Plot Summary:
Set in the 1960s, the film follows Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio), a teenager who runs away from home after his parents’ divorce. To survive and reunite his family, he forges checks and assumes professional identities—Pan Am pilot, doctor, and lawyer—all before adulthood. Ultimately, Frank is caught in France and extradited to the U.S.

This resonates with many: the pressure or tension to be different people in different environments—one person with family, another with friends, another at work, another at church.

“Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson also explores the dual nature of humanity—good and evil—within one man.

Plot Summary:
Dr. Henry Jekyll, a kind scientist in Victorian London, believes he can separate his good and evil selves with a chemical formula. The potion transforms him into Edward Hyde—cruel, violent, and without conscience. Over time, Hyde becomes dominant, eventually murdering a man. Jekyll can no longer control the transformation. It ends with Jekyll taking his life to destroy Hyde.

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The Inner Conflict of Integrity

We’re all tempted to be split people. We want to do the right thing, but there are moments we don’t want to be the “good person.” When we live fragmented lives, we put our integrity at risk.

Proverbs 11:3 (again):

The integrity of the upright guides them,
but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.

Every time we live a double life, we make small withdrawals from our integrity. Our wholeness erodes slowly. Fragmentation brings insecurity, broken trust, and damaged relationships.

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The World’s Cynicism and Our Complicity

We live in a world filled with cynicism—toward politicians, pastors, professionals—and sadly, it’s often justified. Duplicity is not just a problem “out there.” It starts with me.

• Do we tell white lies?
• Do we steal immaterial things we think have no consequence?
• Do we have small emotional connections with the opposite sex that seem innocent but could become dangerous?
• Are there small fires in our lives that could lead to devastation?

Song of Solomon 2:15

Catch the foxes for us,
the little foxes that spoil the vineyards,
for our vineyards are in blossom.

Small compromises we think won’t hurt anyone—God sees them.

The fundamental claim of our faith:
We are not the final authority on what’s right or wrong. We are accountable to a God who sees all, knows all, and defines what is good and evil.

Hebrews 4:13 (ESV):

And no creature is hidden from his sight,
but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

When Christians wake up to this truth, we feel conviction. We begin to live differently—with integrity—as if God is present in every moment.

Jesus said:

“Let your yes be yes and your no be no.”
(Matthew 5:37)

There are no levels of truth. If God is real, then we are always before Him—under oath.

You cannot have a real relationship with God if you’re hiding part of yourself. Bring your whole self. That’s the path to healing.

We are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, called to live lives of integrity out in the world—not just at church.

Integrity is not perfection; it’s wholeness. Honesty. Living fully integrated, not fragmented.

If we could live like that, we would turn the jungle of this world into a garden.

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Part One Focus: Integrity in Our Work

God started creation by bringing order to chaos. Then, He created us to do the same. Work is not a result of the fall—it is part of God’s paradise.

Genesis 2:15 (ESV)

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”

Even in Eden, there was work. That means work is good.

God put in us the desire to bring order from chaos. When we take what’s raw and unfinished and shape it, we bear His image.

That means whatever your job is, you’re:

• Creating stability
• Helping others flourish
• Bringing order to chaos

When done unto the Lord, it becomes part of God’s restoration plan.

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A Sacred View of Work

The medieval church separated holy and secular vocations. But the Protestant Reformation brought the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers:

All work is sacred
Because all believers are priests—in every sphere of life.

Tim Keller, in Every Good Endeavor, says:

“Work is taking the raw material of creation and developing it for the sake of others.”
“It is rearranging the raw material of God’s creation in such a way that it helps the world in general, and people in particular, thrive and flourish.”

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Biblical Mandate for Sacred Work

Colossians 3:23 (ESV):

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.”

Ephesians 6:7–8 (ESV):

7 Rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man,
8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.

Purpose is not something we chase—it’s something we pull into our work.
We need to learn to work for the Lord with divine purpose.

If we did that, we’d see a restoration of trust in our communities and transformation in the world.

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The Curse of Work

Genesis 3:17–19 (ESV):

17 And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”

Work is now mingled with sin. Sometimes fulfilling. Often frustrating. We will never fully reach satisfaction in work.

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Sisyphus: The Futility of Work Without Redemption

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was condemned by the gods to roll a boulder up a hill for eternity—only to have it roll down each time.

Themes:

• Endless, futile labor
• Rebellion against the divine
• Absurd struggle of human life

A fitting image for life under sin. We try to move forward… and the boulder rolls back. Again. And again.

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The Gospel is NOT “Do Better”

Are you tired? Overwhelmed? Exhausted by the burden of performing?

If Jesus’ message was:

“God loves you… now do better.”
That would be hopeless, not good news.

But the true gospel is this:
We are broken, fractured, and flawed. We chose ambition over obedience.
And in that brokenness, God became human, lived the life we couldn’t, and died to give us wholeness.

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The Tree of Sin and the Tree of Salvation

Adam and Eve fell at the foot of a tree by disobeying God.
Jesus came and was nailed to a tree—the cross—to undo their sin.

He paid for it all: once, for everyone, forever.

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Romans 8:1 (ESV)

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

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