How can we lose when we're so sincere?
Folks of my generation will, perhaps, recognize that question. Charles Schulz inimitable Peanuts cartoon is its source, specifically Linus bemoaning their baseball team's constant losses. Linus was the theologian of the group (as immortalized in the 1960s' Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown where Linus actually recites the Luke narrative of the nativity. Serious stuff, and they still show it today!
I remember how preachers would use that phrase, that lament, to say that one can be sincerely wrong and therefore, in some iterations, miss heaven and eternal life as well as a lot of other matters in life due to trusting in sincerity instead of something more sure. They were not wrong, although I've often felt they were grandstanding. But that's another matter.
Thus the quote in my Franklin Planner this morning (I write commentary on those quotations every day), "It's amazing how much you can learn when your intentions are sincere." The source: Chuck Berry (a bit odd, so I ponder the context).
But I agree with good old twisting Chuck. Learning does demand sincerity--otherwise one's mind and heart are not open. In this day of irony, parody, satire, sarcasm, and snarkiness, we could all use a lot more sincerity, tempered with wisdom and insight.
That said, I scratch my head at how evangelicals think they speak for God. We make all kinds of pronouncement that are supposedly representative of His views, and that's perplexing.
I remember how preachers would use that phrase, that lament, to say that one can be sincerely wrong and therefore, in some iterations, miss heaven and eternal life as well as a lot of other matters in life due to trusting in sincerity instead of something more sure. They were not wrong, although I've often felt they were grandstanding. But that's another matter.
Thus the quote in my Franklin Planner this morning (I write commentary on those quotations every day), "It's amazing how much you can learn when your intentions are sincere." The source: Chuck Berry (a bit odd, so I ponder the context).
But I agree with good old twisting Chuck. Learning does demand sincerity--otherwise one's mind and heart are not open. In this day of irony, parody, satire, sarcasm, and snarkiness, we could all use a lot more sincerity, tempered with wisdom and insight.
That said, I scratch my head at how evangelicals think they speak for God. We make all kinds of pronouncement that are supposedly representative of His views, and that's perplexing.
Comments