Sincerity
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power
through his spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts
through faith. And I pray that being rooted and established in love you may
have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high
and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge –
that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Eph 3:16-19
How important it is that our life is genuine and remains
genuine, and that we do no more –but also not the least bit less–than God
requires of us at any moment! There is a danger of coming to an intellectual
recognition of the truth and then living a life that conforms to it, when the
truth is not yet actually given by God into our hearts and souls.
Let us never use
religious words when we do not mean them. If we speak admiringly about
discipleship but resist its demands at the same time, it will harm our soul and
our inner life. Let us be reserved with religious terms and expressions of
faith. Using them without meaning them will destroy us –and our hypocrisy will
be especially disastrous for our children.
Jesus warns us sharply against trying to appear devout in
other people’s eyes. Let us be genuine and say what we truly think, even if we
are off the mark, rather than use the right words without meaning them. Mt. 6:5
According to old Jewish tradition, the high priest uses the
name Jehovah only once a year – on the Day of Atonement –and then only in the
Holy of Holies in the Temple. For us, such reverence in the use of religious words
is an important form of inner chastity. We are very cautious in using God’s
name.
It is important to be straightforward and honest about your
true feelings. Rather be too rude than too smooth, too blunt than too kind.
Rather say an unkind word that is true than one that is “nice” but untrue. You
can always be sorry for an unkind word, but hypocrisy causes permanent harm
unless special grace is given.
The Youth Movement, of Bruderhof has its roots, marked by a
search for what was genuine, and there was something of Jesus alive in it.* The
first question people asked was not whether a thing was right, good, or true,
but whether it was genuine. They preferred to have someone innocently say
something incorrect or awkward than to have to listen to insincere religious
speeches. They rejected parrotlike religion; they struggled to find the truth.
From deep within people’s hearts there arose a new approach
to life, a new feeling for life that expressed itself in many ways. This inward
urge led to fellowship in hiking, singing, and folk dancing, and even in
communal settlements.
A gathering around a blazing fire became a deeply-felt inner
experience, and the rhythmic movement of a circle dance brought to expression
something from the depths of the heart. There was an effort to give shape only
to what was truly genuine, and it meant rejecting all human pretense, including
fashion. The inner experience was all-important, and it found vivid expression
in every area of life.
It is not the obvious sinner who stands in the way of God.
God’s greatest enemies are those who receive and accept Christ’s call to
discipleship but then–despite their use of religious language – continue to
serve Satan at the same time.
Most of Jesus’ parables deal with such people, not with
people of the world. The ten virgins in Matthew 25 all go out to seek the
Bridegroom, but five of them fall asleep; and in Matthew 24:48–49 the servant
is appointed by his master but becomes unfaithful, and so on. That is what
hinders God’s kingdom the most: when those who have heard his call and answered
it go on to serve Satan while still using Christian words.
If we stay close to
Jesus, we will find genuineness in its clearest form. How sharply he speaks
against the piety that tries to cleanse from the outside! How clearly he tells
us that the inside must first be cleansed! Mt.
23:26-28
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