This week, Jesus tells a parable about honesty and integrity that can mix people up. We might think Jesus is endorsing cheating and cutting our way to success. He isn’t. Just as he healed a person some prominent Pharisees were ignoring, Jesus is speaking directly to them and highlighting their misplaced priorities.

The challenge for many of us today is that the rewards we claim to want — from joy and familial comfort to eternal life in heaven because we have been a good person — are almost entirely built on being honest, decent people in the here and now. And also, the here and now brings out the worst in us. Often downright encouraging dishonesty and a lack of integrity.

If we really want to be people of faith with true integrity, it is incumbent on us to be better company for one another.