Sincerity Doesn’t Count

by Jim Elliff

Suppose we have an altercation about the straightness of a wall. “It’s not straight,” I say. “It is straight,” you say. Our argument goes through stages: firmness, pleading, tears—but no resolve comes out of our attempts to convince. What should we do?

There is only one way to solve this difference of opinion—the plumb must be dropped. OK, I know that there are more sophisticated ways, but this is a proven one. And I don’t mean that we should drop a piece of fruit. The plumb-bob is a weight suspended by a string. It usually has a point on the end. As many of you already know, the plumb or plummet is a sure-fire way to settle an argument about straightness. When you suspend the plumb next to the wall, the alignment of the string tells the truth.

The Bible is such a plumb. Put it up against your life and you find out the truth about yourself.

“But I know I’m a Christian. I can just feel it.” Well, it really doesn’t matter what you feel or how sincere you are. It’s the Bible that reveals the truth about us. “But my pastor told me I was a Christian.” Doesn’t solve it. “But I’ve always gone to church. Surely I’m a Christian.” Nope, not enough.

At the end of the day, it’s not what you think you are that counts, but what God says a true Christian is.

In other words, you can be deceived... more