Sincerity… and Conduct…

Sincerity is easy to profess; it is easy to say what we will do, what we believe, what our interest is in others. Words are easy; talk is cheap; but, to recall a quotation from Emerson: “Conviction is worthless unless it is converted into conduct.” Sincerity is also worthless unless it is converted into conduct.

Often we wish people well; in pleasant conversation we ask how they are; we ask about their health and happiness, but often such inquiry is pleasant but perfunctory. Sincerity, in one sense, is something we do something about, and not merely something that is said.

“‘There is nothing so delightful,’ said Plato, ‘as the hearing or the speaking of truth’⎯for this reason there is no conversation so agreeable as that of the man of integrity [of sincerity], who hears without any intention to betray, and speaks without any intention to deceive.”

We read sometimes about those who belong to various organizations, and the word “belong” is itself subject to some scrutiny. If it means merely to have a name on a record or a roll, if it means merely to be listed, it may not in a sense be sincere. Sincerity would suggest a working, participating part. The same is true of citizenship. It isn’t something from which we merely realize privileges, without responsibility, and participation. A person is not loyal to a country which he is not willing to defend. He is not loyal to a law which he is not willing to live. He is not loyal to an organization which he is not willing to serve. He is not loyal to a family in which he is not willing to love and honor and help. He is not loyal even to himself if he is not willing to be what he should be. He is not likely loyal to God if he is not willing to serve, not willing to give.

These several considerations suggest the essence of sincerity, a sincerity that is beyond the surface, that is not a mere face or form, but doing, being⎯commitment, action, substance, sacrifice, service. As Thomas Fuller put it: “He does not believe that does not live according to his belief.”