What Hotel Towels Teach Us About Integrity by Chris White

“..but I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.”  I Cor. 9:27

In his book Honesty, Morality, and Conscience, author Jerry White tells of a PTA meeting where parents were invited to bring all their towels from motels and hotels that they had collected from their travels.  The night of the meeting had arrived and as the parents brought their towels they were prominently displayed across the front of the auditorium.  Towels came in from Hong Kong, Germany, Japan, and from every major hotel chain in the world.  The speaker then announced the evening topic: “how to teach your children honesty.”  One of the facts of life is there are rules we all must live by and when we think we are the special exception, we not only hurt others but ourselves.  We live in a world where integrity still counts, even if fewer people have it in reality.  Look what happens when a politician or well-known minister gets caught in a scandal.  People are shocked and outraged (unfortunately not as much as they used to be) even if it is something they have cut a few corners on themselves!  The key to a life of integrity is to be obedient to God in the small things so that when the big temptations come you will be in the habit of following God and it will be easier (note: I didn’t say EASY).  Paul the Apostle made it a habit to discipline his bodily appetites so that his spirit was a master over his body and emotions and not vice-versa.  This was how he ensured that his life’s work would not be lost by a passing temptation or momentary lapse of judgment.  Although integrity is difficult to attain and comes at a price, it is a price well worth paying.  By the way, at the end of that PTA meeting none of the parents came forward to pick up their towels.