Lip Service Age

Lip service.

Defined as: an avowal of advocacy, adherence, or allegiance expressed in words but not backed by deeds.

It’s something that we tend to ascribe to people of shady character or low integrity. Case in point, most everyone believes that MOST politicians are good with lip service. And no, I’m not talking Monica Lewinsky style lip service either! However, I would propose that ours is a time of lip service. We have had the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, the Industrial Revolution, the Technological Age, and now, sadly, we live in the Lip Service Age.

Gone are the times when a commitment, even one given off-handedly, would be kept no matter what the hurdles. “I’ll give you a call tonight.” Meant that you could actually count on a call tonight. Even if it got a bit late. There would still be the call. “Sorry it’s late, but I said I’d call tonight.” Far more likely is the next day’s justifications and excuses for why the call was never made or the commitment not kept. Inconvenience is the by word for our times. And most of the time, it’s the personal inconvenience that is the most important. It’s a pervading and inclusive symptom of a sad degeneration of people in general.

Now, I know that I’m generalizing here. I know that there are some people that have managed to maintain a moral compass and are staunch in their personal integrity. However, I also know, and so do you, that those people are rather few and far between. And I’m certainly not talking about the occasional one off that we are all guilty of. This is a definitely moral decline. We live in a time when integrity is a foreign word. When even the world’s leaders show a complete and utter lack of personal integrity, what kind of leadership does that provide for the rest of the world’s population?

We seem to be constantly amazed by the lack of integrity in the common person. We see them on all the talk shows and the news and shake our heads and wonder how they could do something like that. But we fail to take the look around and see that our lives are in such a state that how CAN our children know better and do better? We make idols and role models out of people with no integrity. People that break the laws without a thought. Our presidents, business leaders, athletes, musicians, actors, all seem to come to the point of believing they are more than they are. There are some that maintain themselves, in spite of everything. But for the most part, morality and integrity are thrown to the wayside.

I will take my stand and say…This is NOT right. We HAVE failed and need to make things right again. It is a time to reclaim the ideas and ideals of integrity, morality, and ethics. Our children deserve that, and honestly, WE all deserve that. There was a time when there was no expectation of deception. Why can’t we get back to that?

I know that sometimes, it’s hard to make the right choice based on the concepts of integrity and morality. I will be the first to stand up and say that it IS a sacrifice sometimes. I will also be the first to say that it’s a sacrifice that will bring nothing but good to you. You will be a better person because of it, and YOU will know it. That’s more important than being a star.

So, I challenge you. For one week. Don’t break a commitment, no matter what. If you say that you’ll do something, you MUST do it. And do it when you said you would, not days later. If you make a promise, then you MOUST keep it, no matter what. Teach yourself that you have integrity and can be trusted to act according to that. You just might be surprised at the results after the week is over.

I know that this isn’t anything that you don’t already know. Maybe some of you are feeling a little sheepish (baah) right now and know that you SHOULD be doing more. If so, that’s OK. I hope that you give this a try, even if you feel confident in your own integrity. There is nothing but benefits to you. Sure, it’ll be hard. Breaking bad habits of doing the easiest thing will be hard.

But I’m walking the same path and will help stand you up when you fall. Come on…walk with me.