Honesty and Ethics

Gallup just released the results of a poll asking the American public to rank different professions in terms of honesty and ethics. Only 13% of Americans ranked lawyers as high or very high. As usual, lawyers finished toward the bottom of the survey—though events of the last year have moved business executives and stockbrokers below us!

While I find polls like this somewhat amusing, I also find them deflating. It saddens me that a profession that should be about finding and declaring truth should rank so low on an honesty scale. I am especially saddened when I hear a prospective student—or parent—sincerely question whether it is possible to be a Christian and a lawyer.

Regent University School of Law exists because we are convinced that it is not only possible to be a Christian and a lawyer, but that God specifically calls men and women to serve him as Christian lawyers. It is possible to display the character of Jesus Christ not only in worship on Sunday, but also in the courtroom on Monday, in a meeting with clients on Tuesday, and in a negotiation on Wednesday.

One of my great joys of teaching in a Christian school is that we are able to address hearts as well as minds. Our students are trained to think and write well. They win awards for their trial, appellate, and negotiation skills. But they are also trained to use those skills with honesty, courage, and honor. Our prayer is that the legal profession will look different twenty or thirty years from now because our graduates are there.