In The Master's Service

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SINCERITY IN SERVICE

Elder Michael Green, Jr.

Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. - Joshua 24:14.

Are you sincere in your Christian service? Do you desire to please the Lord in all that you do or are you just going through the motions? These are a couple of questions that we should constantly ask ourselves as we proceed in life. Moses' successor Joshua admonished the children of Israel to sincerely serve the Lord. We should also desire to serve the Lord with Godly sincerity. What is sincerity? The secular world equates sincerity with a 'good-faith' effort. Some claim that the result of a deed does not matter as long as the participant meant well in their actions. I recently read about a school board that voted to end the practice of recognizing honor roll students because it offended those that had not obtained good grades. They claimed that the lower performing students should not be excluded because they made some effort, albeit less than the higher achieving youngsters. Sometimes the religious community will dismiss Biblical truths with this errant logic. I have heard people justify error by making the claim that we are all working towards getting to the same place (Heaven) and God does not mind if we stray from his truth as long as we are sincere in our actions. Does this depiction of sincerity dovetail with Biblical precept?

In our passage of scripture above, Joshua encourages Israel to serve God in sincerity and truth. The Bible repeatedly demonstrates the interconnectedness of these two concepts. The Hebrew word for sincerity is tamiym. This word literally means integrity and truth without blemish. Joshua wanted the children of Israel to wholeheartedly serve the Lord in truth. The children of Israel had a tendency to stray from God's law and follow after the gods of pagan nations. Joshua knew that his death was imminent, and his final address to the Jewish people emphasized honoring and glorifying the God of their forefathers. This was of paramount importance! We can safely conclude that Godly sincerity differs from secular sincerity in its emphasis on the truth and it is of utmost importance we adhere to the former.

The Bible emphasizes Godly sincerity when dealing with issues of morality. The Apostle Paul confronts the Corinthian church about tolerating fornication (sexual sin) amongst her members. In I Corinthians 5 he admonishes them not to keep company with fornicators. They were taught to Biblically discipline the errant member with a view towards repentance (v. 5). Sin is not to be covered up. Paul uses the illustration of leaven corrupting unleavened bread to illustrate the dangers of sin tolerance. If leaven (symbolizing sin) is allowed to come into contact with unleavened bread, then the whole loaf is corrupted. In verses 7-8 Paul instructs the church to purge out the old leaven (sin) and keep the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. The transgressor in the Corinthian church may have justified his errant behavior by thinking that God was not concerned with his actions. However, he was sincerely wrong in his thoughts. The Lord is concerned with our behavior and holds us accountable when we deviate from His word.

As Christian's we are not working towards getting to the same place. The Bible teaches that Heaven is not a reward for our behaviors, but a place purchased for God's children through through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Heaven is our home because Jesus died to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). This is an absolute truth from scripture. We must understand this concept if we are going to serve the Lord in sincerity and truth. However, the truth of eternal security does not excuse our behavior in this world. We are called to reject the politically correct view of sincerity and embrace Godly sincerity. This includes both doctrinal precepts and moral issues. May God bless us all to stand on this solid foundation!