The existence of pretense, deceit, and hypocrisy in our world is the reason we need a word like "sincerity." It is a word we use to differentiate things that on the surface may appear to be equal, but ultimately do not deserve to be compared. The culprit for these identity conflicts is a sinful nature that we all contend with.
sincerity [sin-ser-i-tee] n. the quality of being free from pretense, deceit, or hypocrisy.
SINCERE Satisfaction
To be satisfied is a good desire that God has given us, but we were created to glorify God through finding all our satisfaction in Him. So the moment we look to ourselves or anything else for that satisfaction is the moment we betray God in the most fundamental way. In other words, sin is taking a shortcut to the real thing. That is why we can say that the source of all insincerity and pretense is sin.
Our desire to obtain satisfaction without God causes us to become insincere. We look like (or feel like) we are finding success or pleasure in things like the wealth we acquire unjustly, the punishment we escape through deceit, or the sexual intimacy we enjoy outside marriage, but we are only experiencing a temporary counterfeit. But more consequential than missing out on a genuine experience is that we have rebelled against God by taking the opportunity he has given us to glorify him and used it for the very opposite!
"I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted..." –1 Corinthians 11
In his first letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul here alludes to this when he mentions the sin of Eve. The implication is that she was deceived into pursuing satisfaction that did not come from God. In the context of this particular passage, the Apostle Paul is warning the Corinthians against a temptation that follows the same pattern: the pursuit of a savior or a spirit or a gospel that is not from God.
"...he himself [God] gives everyone life and breath and everything else... From one man he made all the nations...God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.'" –Acts 17
Sincere Christianity
Living a sincere Christianity must begin with a proper view of God and yourself. There must be nothing between your desire for satisfaction and the person of God. This distinction is often more subtle than we realize. It is so easy to be recaptured by the satisfaction of temporal things that disguise themselves as the satisfaction that only God can provide, which is the only kind of satisfaction that also brings glory to God.
The gospel is a message that shines a light on this glaring weakness and provides a victorious solution backed by the inexhaustible potential of the infinitely precious blood of the holy Son of God. To humble ourselves and call upon the only Provider of this redeeming power is to say that we are looking nowhere else for the possibility of deliverance from the death-bound destiny of our corrupted selves. We can rejoice in the good news of the grace and mercy of God that has crucified our condemned identity with the person of Christ!
"For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" –Galatians 2
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them... We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." –2 Corinthians 5
But as you can see from these passages, we must not miss the purpose of our redemption. The power of this deliverance is directed towards our sanctification. Sanctification, put simply, is the act of setting something apart for a valued purpose. In Christ, we have become God's holy possessions! And his intent is that we bring the transforming power of the gospel into the life that we are now living in the flesh.
"For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." –Titus 2
Conclusion
Tying all of this together, we see that the gospel is the only remedy to the self-centered bent within us that compromises our pursuit of God-glorifying satisfaction. God is willing to take you through a process of refinement that you might become more sincere in this pursuit. Through consistent prayer invite him to begin this process in your life. Expect this process at times to take the form of both discomfort and confusion. These are often God's most effective tools of refinement; and our most important role in this is to trust him. The Master Goldsmith is transforming you and I into the image of his beloved Son. There is no higher calling or greater privilege—we have been invited to share in the joy of the glory of God!
Next week we will take a look at how these things lead to Christian maturity.
In Christ,
Andrew Fritz
Andrew Fritz is the President and Program Director of Thoughtful Life Ministries and an occasional writer for the Thoughtful Life Journal, which is published weekly from March through September. The purpose of this blog is to challenge and encourage those who have a desire to cultivate a more meaningful walk with Christ. Visit our Homepage to learn more about the ministry and our annual two-week summer Discipleship Program for teens and young adults.