The cover of Outside magazine last month (August 2016) featured a handsome, young olympic swimmer, referring to him as “Captain America” along with a prediction that this young man would lead the American Olympic swim team to glory in Rio. To a degree, the prediction was correct. The American Olympic Swim Team won 33 medals, 16 of them gold. In fact, the American swim team won almost as many gold medals as the rest of the world’s swim teams combined. In an interesting turn of events, “Captain America’s” name is not in the news because he captained the dominant American Swim Team. Rather, he is in the news because Ryan Lochte and several other olympians concocted a lie about being robbed at gunpoint to cover up some ignoble behavior. Really, the behavior itself wouldn’t have garnered much attention, had the lie Lochte told not found its way into the news. Now he, and his poor judgement, have managed to remain the focus of all sorts of news coverage. Sadly, the story has overshadowed the glory he achieved. For whatever reason, scandal holds our attention much more effectively than achievement. In the space of a month, he has gone from “Captain America” to the target of lampooning and gossip. There’s an important lesson to be learned from the situation. Lochte didn’t lie to the police or the newspapers. He lied to his mom. It was a “small lie” told to his mother. This “small” lie wasn’t supposed to get out. But, it did. Lies can be unpredictable. Even small ones can get out of control without warning and a good reputation is very difficult to retrieve once it’s lost.
There is a great line in Proverbs: Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out. (Proverbs 10:9) The book of Proverbs was written to be an instruction book for young men, teaching them how to live wisely. In this case, the advice is to walk in integrity, which means to conduct all of your business and interactions with honesty. “Walking in” a behavior really means to take on a lifestyle. Integrity is a lifestyle that guarantees security, largely because your lies can’t be uncovered or come back to bite you if you don’t tell any lies. Whereas, when you make a regular habit of dishonesty in business and personal relationships, you will inevitably be found out. Lies are hard to keep covered. Abraham Lincoln put it best: You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. Integrity is a way of life that brings safety. Even when it’s difficult to maintain, it’s a safer route. Dishonesty and a reputation for deceitfulness are a treacherous path.
