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Of all the words in the English language, sincere comes up top for me. I like the gentle sibilant two syllabic sounds that neatly roll from the lips.
The story goes that the word came from the Greek and literally means “without wax.” Seemingly, artists carefully working on sculptures and spending weeks, months even years on a project could accidently chip off a nose or ear when close to completion. What a disaster.
But what if they got a piece of wax and filled in the flawed piece before putting it up for sale. Devious indeed.
Now I don’t know how true that story is, but it illustrates the point I would like to make: When I think of the word sincere, I think of expressions such as genuine, heartfelt, unfeigned, bona fide, truthful, Nathanael. “What? Nathanael?” You may ask. Yes, Nathanael.
Back in the first century, when Jesus saw a fellow Israelite named Nathanael approach him, do you know what he said? Let’s read: It’s in John 1:47:
At that moment, when Jesus saw Nathanael approach, Jesus said to him “…for sure, an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
Oh, my goodness! Everybody lies. Everybody bends the truth. Everybody manipulates. Everybody hides who they are. Everybody is dishonest. But here is this small-town fisherman who has raised himself above all that.
I write with an overall paradigm of what it means to be human, and there is an important human standard that is being reflected in Jesus’ words that creates a feeling of discomfort in me. I think if we are all honest with ourselves; we are drawn to sincere people. They make us comfortable and secure. It’s good to be with them. Doesn’t that add some incentive for us to reciprocate that sincerity?
When I think of the word insincere, I think of deviousness, dramaturgical, dishonest, deceitful, underhanded, and Ananias and Sapphira:
https://bible.org/seriespage/12-be-honest-story-ananias-and-sapphira