“The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters . . .”

“They spoke on condition of anonymity because they did not want to be identified as discussing material that is sealed by a court order.”

What? Did I read correctly? Confidential and sensitive information can be shared as long as it is done anonymously? Anonymity gives a green light to break a confidence?

Statements like these appear in newspapers, magazines, and online articles. Frankly they trouble me. They trouble me because they are symptomatic of an age when integrity is no longer considered important. Where is the integrity in sharing what has been shared with you in confidence? Where is the integrity in printing what you know to be confidential and restricted information?

What does integrity mean? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary lists three definitions: 1) firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values; 2) an unimpaired condition; 3) the quality or state of being complete or undivided. The Old Testament words translated integrity in the NIV have a similar meaning. They come from words that mean “complete,” “clean,” “sound,” “upright.” Proverbs 11:3 says, “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.” The parallelism of this verse suggests that integrity and duplicity are opposites. Integrity, then, is not being false and deceptive. Integrity has to do with trustworthiness and being true. The New Testament word translated integrity is the word for being genuine. Someone once suggested that integrity is acting the same when people are not watching as when they are.

It’s not just those whom newspapers interview who have trouble with integrity and sacrifice it for anonymity. I even have trouble with it. I sacrifice integrity too. I know there are times when I have done what reflects badly on who I am as a Christian. When I was younger it was called peer pressure. Instead of doing what I knew was right, I sort of lost myself in the crowd and went along with the flow.

As we get older, that temptation is still there. In our technology age, perhaps it’s even easier. I can go places on my computer that no one knows. I can write things without signing my name and send them out to all kinds of people. That’s not integrity. “But no one knows,” I think. God does. That’s what troubles me. My sinful duplicity threatens to land me in the same eternal prison as the prince of duplicity.