Sincerity - Fri 30 March 07

The English language is fascinating! As a people, we have borrowed and absorbed words from all over the world. For example “rendezvous” is French; “pyjamas” is Persian; “juggernaut” is Hindi; “craic” is Irish. Yet even a passing look at an English dictionary will show how much our language has been influenced by the Greeks and the Romans. I want to finish this week by looking at the origin of the word “sincere”.

In Roman times there was a great demand for decorative stoneware. Egotistical generals, returning from battle with the spoils of war, were eager to commemorate their achievements and so commissioned the local sculptor to knock out an impressive piece. No nipping down to the local B and Q! The Roman Order of Sculptors set high quality standards, yet every generation has its wide-boys, its Del-boy Trotters, who operate right on the edge of what is legal. A trade began to develop in what we must call “seconds” – pieces of sculpture with flaws caused by poor workmanship or imperfect stone. Such trade was of course perfectly legal as long as the item was clearly marketed as imperfect with a corresponding price reduction.

However, some seconds fell into the hands of dubious characters who smelt a business opportunity… They found that by disguising flaws with wax they could pass on as perfect pieces that were far from that. Easy money! Just a nice bit of sales patter… It wasn’t long before the Roman Trading Standards started to get complaints from disgruntled punters. They came up with a simple method of testing quality: fire. Wax melts, stone doesn’t!! Those pieces of sculpture that stood the test were known as “sine cera”, literally “without wax”. From this comes our English word “sincere”.

We are called to be sincere: authentic, real, genuine, not pretending, the real deal.
The Holy Spirit is at work in us to produce sincerity. We must not be afraid of his testing since only what is sincere will last.

Acts 3:46 …they ate together with glad and sincere hearts.
Heb 10:22…let us draw near to god with a sincere heart…