A person is innocent until proven guilty. That means that many of the charges levelled at Mayor Rob Ford are only allegations until they’re proven in court.
A charge is no longer an allegation, however, when someone actually admits that the accusation is true. In the past few weeks, the mayor has made a number of admissions. He has admitted that he lied about the existence of a video of him smoking crack cocaine, that he has abused alcohol to the point of being in a drunken stupor, that he has driven under the influence and that he has purchased drugs.
In the meantime, his public behaviour, which has run the gamut from a lewd comment to bowling over a female councillor, has also shocked many people. Consequently, his powers as mayor have been limited, late night talk shows have lampooned him and The Today Show’s host, Matt Lauer, has accused him of bringing “disgrace to this office.” In response, Rob Ford continues to counter attack, boasting about his fiscal record and insisting that he’s working on his weight problem and has stopped drinking for good.
As disturbed as I am about the mayor’s behaviour, I am even more disturbed by those who say that they don’t care what he does in his private life as long as he keeps down their taxes and fees.
I’m not in a position to judge whether or not Rob Ford has saved Toronto millions of dollars. But I do have a very strong opinion about those who think that the private lives of their leaders have nothing to do with their public lives.
A downtown Toronto businessman expressed this opinion on a CBC talk show last week when he said that he did not care what people did on their own time, so long as they performed well during office hours.
The value that is at stake in these discussions is integrity. The trait that is at stake is moral character.
“The man of integrity,” says Proverbs 10:9, “walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.” But what is “integrity?”
Consider a related word: integrated. The dictionary defines this as the state of being complete, undivided, whole and unified. Applied to a person, it means that a person ought to be honest, dependable and trustworthy in both the public and private realm. People with integrity may not be perfect, but they are not hypocrites who give the appearance of respectability in public while acting disgracefully in private.
Character has been defined as “who you are when no-one’s looking.” What you want in people is a moral compass that points true north regardless of circumstances, opportunities or temptations. Not that anyone is expected to be perfect. As James observed, “We all stumble in many ways” (James 3:2). But character always matters because it, more than anything else, influences what we say and shapes what we do. This is especially relevant to leaders like teachers, police officers, elected officials, employers and office bearers who are held to a higher standard because of their positions of trust. When competence matters more than character, disintegration is the inevitable result.
Our mayor’s disgraceful antics concern me. But I’m even more concerned about the thirty percent of those surveyed who are not too embarrassed to say that money matters more to them than morals. This says much about the decade that contributed the word “selfie” to the dictionary.
Integrity and character matter when assessing leadership. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise. Instead, keep looking to Jesus so that you will keep your bearings when you hear others speak only out of self-interest.
- Pastor Peter
A charge is no longer an allegation, however, when someone actually admits that the accusation is true. In the past few weeks, the mayor has made a number of admissions. He has admitted that he lied about the existence of a video of him smoking crack cocaine, that he has abused alcohol to the point of being in a drunken stupor, that he has driven under the influence and that he has purchased drugs.
In the meantime, his public behaviour, which has run the gamut from a lewd comment to bowling over a female councillor, has also shocked many people. Consequently, his powers as mayor have been limited, late night talk shows have lampooned him and The Today Show’s host, Matt Lauer, has accused him of bringing “disgrace to this office.” In response, Rob Ford continues to counter attack, boasting about his fiscal record and insisting that he’s working on his weight problem and has stopped drinking for good.
As disturbed as I am about the mayor’s behaviour, I am even more disturbed by those who say that they don’t care what he does in his private life as long as he keeps down their taxes and fees.
I’m not in a position to judge whether or not Rob Ford has saved Toronto millions of dollars. But I do have a very strong opinion about those who think that the private lives of their leaders have nothing to do with their public lives.
A downtown Toronto businessman expressed this opinion on a CBC talk show last week when he said that he did not care what people did on their own time, so long as they performed well during office hours.
The value that is at stake in these discussions is integrity. The trait that is at stake is moral character.
“The man of integrity,” says Proverbs 10:9, “walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.” But what is “integrity?”
Consider a related word: integrated. The dictionary defines this as the state of being complete, undivided, whole and unified. Applied to a person, it means that a person ought to be honest, dependable and trustworthy in both the public and private realm. People with integrity may not be perfect, but they are not hypocrites who give the appearance of respectability in public while acting disgracefully in private.
Character has been defined as “who you are when no-one’s looking.” What you want in people is a moral compass that points true north regardless of circumstances, opportunities or temptations. Not that anyone is expected to be perfect. As James observed, “We all stumble in many ways” (James 3:2). But character always matters because it, more than anything else, influences what we say and shapes what we do. This is especially relevant to leaders like teachers, police officers, elected officials, employers and office bearers who are held to a higher standard because of their positions of trust. When competence matters more than character, disintegration is the inevitable result.
Our mayor’s disgraceful antics concern me. But I’m even more concerned about the thirty percent of those surveyed who are not too embarrassed to say that money matters more to them than morals. This says much about the decade that contributed the word “selfie” to the dictionary.
Integrity and character matter when assessing leadership. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise. Instead, keep looking to Jesus so that you will keep your bearings when you hear others speak only out of self-interest.
- Pastor Peter
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