True Sincerity

by | Jan 9, 2014 | Character

“Sincerity – if you can fake that, you’ve got it made.”   ― George Burns

I love a good popular etymology as much as anyone, and the standard explanation for the word “sincere”  is no exception.  It is often said that the English word “sincere” is derived from the Latin sine “without” and cera  “wax.” According to this  popular explanation, potters in ancient Rome filled chips and cracks in their pottery with wax to hide them.  As a result, a “sincere” or “without wax” vessel would be a true and honest one.  

Popular etymologies such as this one are often so much more fun than the reality, but a quick check of The Oxford English Dictionary will show that scholars  believe “sincere” is actually derived from the Latin sincerus meaning clean, pure.  The word’s original meaning  is likely “one growth” (as in pure and unmixed seed or crops ), from sin  “one” and crescere  “to grow.”
Certainly, in ancient Latin the word sincere could refer to anything that had not been adulterated, such as  “sincere wine”  which, rather than not having wax added, simply had not been watered down.  Such wine – or any other unadulterated substance – was “true” and “without deceit,” as we use the word today.

It’s a meaning we can ponder.  When Jesus first saw Nathanael and exclaimed “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” (John 1:47), it is clear that he referred to the man’s sincerity.   This is the clear meaning of Ephesians 6:5 also:  “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.”  Here Paul’s words show that servants are to have “sincerity of heart” and not be duplicitous – truly serving their masters and God rather than just appearing to do so. 

In his second letter to the  Corinthians, however,  Paul pushes the idea of sincerity a step further in calling on the Corinthians to support the believers in need in Jerusalem: “I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others” (2 Corinthians 8:8).

In saying this Paul suggests that our sincerity can be tested by the degree of our love for others.  It’s easy to think that as long as we tell the truth and mean what we say we are sincere,  but in this wider sense  “sincere” Christians are those who not only truthfully mean what they say and do, but also those who can be seen to be truly following through in their beliefs.  The distinction might seem small if we don’t think about it, but it’s really a large one – it’s the difference between wine that has been watered down and the 100% full strength item. 

From this perspective, according to Paul,  sincerity goes well beyond meaning what we say and do; it also involves our commitment to doing what we know we need to do.   If we can follow through in this fullness of sincerity, we may not “have it made” as George Burns intimated, tongue in cheek, but we will definitely be heading in the right direction.

Seeing Shepherds

Seeing Shepherds

by | Jan 7, 2014 | The Life of Jesus

Picture






Seeing Shepherds, oil on canvas, by Daniel Bonnell  (c) 2010.  Reproduced with permission.





I don’t usually include discussions of paintings on this web site, but in this case I am happy to make an exception.  A few days ago I saw this astounding painting by Daniel Bonnell, an artist whose work I only recently came to know and appreciate.

The picture is the subject of this week’s short article “A Shepherd for a While” on the Strategic Understanding page.  The article represents a musing on the picture and its subject – the importance of which is not limited to a particular time of the year. 

Don’t miss the  picture at larger size on the article page. It amazed  me and I think it will amaze you, too.

Before You Ask

by | Jan 5, 2014 | Prayer, Tactical Notes

You know how a compass works. The floating needle or direction arrow points toward the earth’s magnetic pole.   You also know what happens if the compass comes close to a local magnetic source – the direction arrow gets pulled away from its proper orientation and will not work properly until it is freed from the nearby influence.  

Each of us lives with a spiritual moral “compass”  we have developed which, if guided by God, points us in His direction, but sooner or later – and usually sooner – our spiritual compass  gets pulled away from true by the physical influences that surround us.  At that point we must reset  the compass by freeing ourselves from the negative physical influences or, knowingly or not, we are headed in the wrong direction.

That “reset” would seem to be the exact purpose of the beginning of the model prayer outline that we call “The Lord’s Prayer.”  Jesus taught that before making our requests to God we should  begin by praying “Our Father which are in heaven, hallowed be your name “ (Matthew 6:9).  These simple words, if expanded and prayed with sincere thought, reset our spiritual compasses and get us pointing  in the right  direction again.  It is as we pray thoughtfully, concentrating  on what God is, His nature, and His relationship with us that that we align and prepare ourselves for the requests we are about to make.

It’s all too easy to forget or skimp on this aspect of prayer, especially when our minds are crowded by our own needs and the needs of others, but it is to the degree that we do first align ourselves that we are better able to see things from the perspective God wants us to have.  Without  this realignment we eventually find ourselves asking for the wrong things in the wrong ways for the wrong reasons.

So, consider the importance of the opening thoughts of the Lord’s Prayer before asking for specific requests.  Jesus’ words help us in showing that alignment should always precede asking, and resetting should always precede requesting. 
Three Components of Real Love

Three Components of Real Love

by | Jan 2, 2014 | Love

Picture

The Book of Luke tells the well-known story of how Jesus was invited to the home of a Pharisee named Simon.  While he was there, a woman who was a prostitute slipped into the house and, weeping at His feet, wiped her tears from Him with her hair before kissing His feet and pouring expensive perfume onto them.  

When Simon began to think that Jesus surely could not be a prophet of God, or he would have known the sinfulness of the woman, Jesus rebuked him by comparing her loving behavior with the loveless failure of the Pharisee.

The story has additional significance because if we read it carefully, we see that it actually reveals  important aspects of  true and complete love for others.  This week’s article on the Strategic Understanding page, “Three Components of Real Love,” shows what those aspects are.

A Direct Private Line

by | Dec 27, 2013 | Prayer

I was never in business, so the ways of the business world are often news to me.  Take, for example, when I found out that some businesses have a direct private line to the CEO that is made available to the most important clients.   Not to the rest of us, of course. We have to go through the recording with a raft of choices only to hear “There are twelve people ahead of you”  then perhaps eventually  be transferred a couple of times and perhaps put on hold for several minutes before we finally get an answering machine.  All this to call companies with only a few thousand callers.  Can you imagine what it would be like if we had to reach our Heavenly Father by phone?  “There are four million three hundred and twenty five thousand seven hundred and fifty six callers ahead of you.” 

The truth is we all have a direct private line that is always there.  It’s humbling to think that we are each, individually, important enough to Him to have a direct line to the CEO of the universe. We don’t have to wait on hold in order to get through eventually – the line we are given is direct and instant.  At any time.  There isn’t even a weekend plan where we have to wait to call because we are low on minutes. It’s really a wonderful thing that we so often take for granted.  No downed or bad lines, no poor satellite signal, no answering machine or dropped calls – ever. We can actually reach our heavenly CEO faster than we can get through to our doctor’s office or the manager of the local grocery store.  Have you ever given thanks for that?

The fact that we have direct access to our Heavenly Father is truly a great gift – and it is sad that many do not understand that the access is there, but believe they can only call on God through various intercessors.  Jesus’ words are clear on this, however, that although we ask in His name (John 16:23) and are only able to approach through His sacrifice (John 14:6),  we do not need any intercessor, but may pray directly to the Father (John 16:26,  Mat 6:9).

Another thing to remember is that our calls are always answered.   Although we talk about answered prayer and unanswered prayer, I find it helps to remember that prayer is like a phone call that’s always answered. God is always there and the “phone” is always on.  He may not give us what we ask for, or as quickly as we ask for it, for our own good, but we should remember the sincerely made call is always answered (Psalms 86:7, Jeremiah 33:3).  Something else for which we should be constantly thankful.

There’s only one catch to the direct private line package, and it’s a relatively small one.  We have to use it or we lose it.  It’s not like that legendary “hot line”  between the leaders of the US and the old Soviet Union – there to be used if circumstances become desperate enough that it is needed.  Remember Paul shows we should pray in all things. But it’s not hard to do. In fact, we don’t even need a reason to call, God is always desirous to hear from us and happy to take our call.  So if you haven’t done that recently, why not make the call and give thanks for your direct private line!