Sincerity Is a MUST! (Practice what you Preach)

"But if you bear the name 'Jew' and rely upon the Law and boast in God, and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? For 'THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU,' just as it is written." Romans 2:17-24

Wow! What a wakeup call! I was sitting here reading this text, this morning, and I couldn't believe how clearly it woke me up...

Are we practicing what we preach? Because I can definitely talk a good talk! But can I walk the road to Calvary as well as Christ did? I'm not so sure about that one...

What does it really mean to take up our cross and follow Christ? I think Paul nailed it right there! It means that we're an example of everything that we claim as truth. We don't live double lives. There is no differentiation between our "Sunday-selves" and the "Weekly-Us." How on earth can we expect to be an example of Christ if we preach His Word and then live a completely opposite life???

Check out this portion of the verse again... it just slammed me this morning...

"For 'THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU,' just as it is written."

?!?!!! Yeah... that's not intimidating in the slightest, right? How many times have I said one thing and then done another? This is such a sobering thought.... that we who claim to be children of God would blaspheme His holy Name with our duplicity!!!

So... Who wants to be on this side of the line? Who wants it said of them, "You are a blasphemer of the God of the Universe, because you spoke His Words but lived like the world and thus destroyed all and any impact you might have had for the sake of the Gospel..."? Well? Any takers? Yeah, me neither.

So what do we do? What steps do we take to avoid such incriminating charges as "blasphemy"?

Well, I think step one is "Sincerity." There must be sincerity in our walk with Christ. If things aren't right between me and God then I am NEVER going to be an effective disciple. So, sincerity starts with the inward relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Secondly, sincerity must take place in our relationships with others. If we wear the "Sunday mask" to church and pretend to be who we're not... we'll never be free of the guilt which accompanies such games. There is a certain level of fakeness which plagues most churches today. The modern church has become a place where you cannot have problems... what's with that??? Isn't the church the place where broken people are supposed to find healing? Isn't the church supposed to be the place where we come because we know that we aren't good enough and that Christ is the only good in us?

So, we go to church with this understanding that we have to be "Super Christians" in order to be found acceptable. We say all the right "churchy" words and know all of the songs by heart... but our hearts are calloused by our adulterous relationship with the world!

This cannot be! Sincerity means that, when we talk with others, our life says, "I'm messed up! But thanks be to God, I am His! He's working on me and sanctifying a life that has been broken by sin!" After all... the world already has a surplus supply of people who live in duplicity. What people are looking for, when they come to a church or are looking into the lives of those who claim Christ as Lord, is for truth, real-ness... they want to see what "real" looks like. Anyone can pretend to be okay and deny all hurts and pains; but it takes a sincere Christ-follower, who lives humbly and according the Word, to admit that they are powerless in-and-of themselves and that Christ is the only good they have!

Perhaps I've gone a little too far out on a tangent, but I hope you understand the point I'm driving at... How true and effective is our witness if we are preaching repentance and truth to others and then living in the very sins we call others to repent of? There is no truth in that! Have you ever wondered at the ineffectiveness of your witness? Perhaps this is something to reflect on.

So, today let's make an internal inspection of ourselves. Let's check those deep corners of our hearts and minds for things which are a little out of whack. Then... let's take those things to the cross... let's confess them to the One who already knows all of our faults. He has already died for and covered those sins with His blood, but we are told to confess them to Him openly anyways. That's what sincerity is all about. We have to be sincere and honest with ourselves just as much as we do with anyone else. If you lie to yourself about the issues of your heart, then how can you ever expect to be honest with someone else?

My prayer is that we will be bold in this and ask God to bring to light anything and everything with is not honoring to Him. That He would show us those things which would be damaging to our relationship with Him and which would cause us to be called hypocrites and blasphemers. My hope is that we would take these things and lay them at the foot of the cross... that we would repent of these things and turn away from them.

Friends, I can say this from experience... there is so much freedom in sincerity! God's been shaking me, breaking me, and re-shaping me these past few weeks... I'm not going to lie, it's definitely painful, but it's also definitely WORTH IT!!! The freedom that comes with sincerity is incomparably greater than any life lived in hypocrisy and duplicity!

I'll leave you each to wrestle with these thoughts...

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .