Our word “integrity” comes to us from Latin. Originally a military term, the word was used during the daily inspection of troops in the Roman Empire. As each soldier was examined, he soundly thumped his left breast with his right fist, demonstrating that his armor was intact and that he was ready for service. As the soldier struck his breast, he shouted “integritas,” meaning “whole, complete or entire.”

For 400 years, the system worked and Rome dominated the world. Over time, however, the army faced fewer threats and soldiers grew lazy. Drills were abandoned, and soldiers neglected to wear their heavy armor. Then, in the 380s, the Goths and Huns invaded from the north and defeated the unprepared Roman Legions.

Somebody said, “Integrity is like an icicle; once it melts, that’s the end of it.”

Some Hebrew teenagers provide us with one of the best biblical examples of integrity. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were taken captive and carried to Babylon by the Babylonian army. The purpose was two-fold. First, this allowed the Babylonians to school their Hebrew captives in Babylonian thought and culture, so that the Hebrews could later become liaisons, ruling over their own people. The Hebrew teenagers also doubled as “hostages,” ensuring the good behavior of their friends and relatives back home.

Once in Babylon, the teenagers found themselves enmeshed in a religious culture very different from their own. The Babylonians ate without regard for the Jewish standards of “kosher” or “lawful.” Some of the food consumed by the Babylonians was also offered to an idol before the remainder was consumed by the populace. Despite incredible pressure to conform, the Hebrew teenagers asked permission to avoid the objectionable food, asking instead for a diet of vegetables and water. When the official in charge worried about what might happen to him if the teenagers began to lose weight and fall ill, Daniel proposed a test: “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see” (Daniel 1:12-13, NIV). Daniel 1:15 records the result: “At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.”

Kudos to those teens for their courage to maintain Jewish dietary standards even when confined in a foreign land. No one would have known what they were eating in the king’s palace, and the king’s food was rich and tasty. Many in a similar situation would have compromised their convictions to eat what everyone else was eating. Few would have risked the anger of a powerful king over a question of food. But these young people, raised to fear God, tactfully resisted the powers-that-be in order to maintain their integrity.

Students in the Introduction to Congress class at Harvard in 2012 didn’t demonstrate that same strength of character. At the beginning of the class, the professor announced that 120 of the 279 students in the class would receive “A”s, told the students that attendance was not required, that notes could be shared, and that there would be only 4 take-home exams. When grading the exams, however, a teaching fellow noticed a remarkable similarity in the answers given by the students. An investigation by the Harvard College Administrative Board concluded that almost half the students in the class had cheated, and 98 of those students were expelled.

It was an easy class and an open-book test. The students could have aced the class with only a minimal effort. Instead, they copied from someone else.

One wonders why. Were the students so overwhelmed by the workload in other classes that they simply took the easy out with Introduction to Congress? Did the allure of date night or a ballgame lure them away from completing the test honestly? What convinced a group of bright Harvard University students to risk their reputation and future over an open-book test in an easy class?

In his book, Let Your Yea be Yea, Daniel Hess wrote: “Integrity is many things. It is honest weights and full bushels, accurate labels and authentic ingredients, fair prices and correct change, the trustworthy news report, the accurate tax record, a natural smile, a warm handshake and a good day’s work.” Be warned, once integrity is compromised, it can never be fully recovered.