Ever had the experience of mindlessly walking up to a door, grabbing the handle, and giving it a firm, confident pull, only for the door to refuse to open? For a split second, you might have stood there confused, wondering if the door was broken. Then you read the sign that said ‘PUSH,’ and you understood. However sincerely you might have pulled, the door just wouldn’t open. It only opened when you adjusted to its set mechanics at the hinges.
In the Kingdom of God, many are pulling with all their might on a door that only opens the other way. They are sincere. They are hardworking. They possess many admirable qualities. But sincerity is not the key that fits the lock of eternity.
The ‘Good Person’ Metric
Perhaps the most common deception is the belief in an inherent goodness, compared at least to others. Many today consider themselves good. For some, it might be on account of their ‘good works’. They are first in line when it comes to philanthropy: visiting the sick, giving to drought and famine relief efforts, visiting those in prison, and engaging in other well-meaning acts of kindness. Others compare themselves with outrightly evil men and women around them and are left feeling good about their standing. At least they are not as wretched as those whose lives revolve around money, sex, and drugs. They believe that if God does exist, he should surely be pleased with their efforts and reward them at the end of life’s road. So they continue ‘paying their taxes’, as it were, with their sincere efforts of good behavior and personal standards.
That is self-justification, seen best in the account of the Pharisee and the publican (Luke 18:9-14). As they were praying, the Pharisee was keen on what he had done in contrast to the publican. He considered himself good enough to earn God’s attention. The publican, on the other hand, was distraught, painfully aware that his goodness fell far beneath God’s standard. He, unlike the Pharisee, beat his chest and pleaded for mercy.
Although many do not realize it, we are all similarly impoverished; distant from God’s perfect standard. Even the best of men is just a man at best, susceptible to error and imperfection. In fact, our good deeds are filthy in the eyes of an infinitely holy God (Isaiah 64:6). We are pathetically lost, and our good deeds are insufficient to bridge the gap.
The Bible tells us that our only path to heaven is through the gift of grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). No one can earn their way to God through good works. However sincerely persuaded of your goodness, it’ll just never amount to the holiness without which no one will see God (Hebrews 12:14). The truth is that no one is good enough; not even one (Romans 3:10-12, Psalm 14:3, Mark 10:18, Luke 18:19).
The ‘All Roads Lead to the Same Peak’ Theory
Another path of sincerity is that, no matter what a person believes, we shall all eventually reach heaven. The assumption is that heaven’s path is like Google Maps, offering different routes to the same location. In fact, the modern mind does not dispute that God is one; it only insists that he can be approached in different ways. Enough people hold that for God to be good, he must allow for multiple paths to himself.
At the heart of spiritual pluralism is a desire to be unoffensive; to be both inclusive and accommodative, perfectly aligning with the modern idols of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Even though God cares for every human more than any one of us ever will, the Christian faith just never will be a mountain with different trails. “We are all brothers regardless of our faith,” some say. But nothing could be farther from biblical truth. We may be sincere in our care and concern for others, but do we suppose ourselves more sincere than God?
Jesus was exclusive in saying that no one can come to the Father except through him (John 14:6). There is no other way to eternal life. Even Nicodemus, a teacher of the Law and a respectable man, had to be born again to enter heaven (John 3:1-17). When the apostles preached, they did not mince their words but clearly declared that salvation was found in no one else but in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:12).
“What about the devotion of the Muslim and the piety of the Buddhist?” you may wonder. “What about all their fasting, self-denial, and philanthropy? What about the Scientology faithful? Will they also not get into heaven? They have done many good things in this world for many people. What shall happen to those who at least aren’t atheists, only they believe in a different religion?”
Well, God has not prescribed a religion, but “the way”. In all of his sincerity, man is still damned if he seeks salvation through any other way and in any other name but Jesus, the Son of God. The door to life won’t turn on any other name, however heartfelt one’s devotion to one’s alternative path.
The ‘Living Your Truth’ Compass
Lastly, we have those who are sincerely pursuing their truth. The maxim goes, “I will do me, you do you.” Personal feelings are generally accepted as the true compass of what is right and eternal. If it feels right, it does not matter what others say; get on with it. If, for example, I feel a deep, authentic peace about a decision or a lifestyle, then it must be right for me. God wants me to be happy, and my internal sincerity is proof enough that I am on the right track.
The results of such a belief have, to put it mildly, been catastrophic so far. Man now defies even his own natural composition, and reaps much pain and destruction as a result. Many are following their hearts, their feelings, their desires to their deaths. “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure,” warns the Bible (Jeremiah 17:9). If we have capacity for anything, it is to do sick, deceitful, and unthinkable things. We cannot even understand our own hearts – only God can. We can sincerely believe our hearts are leading us to peace when, in fact, they are leading us to destruction.
Who, if he felt like throwing a matchbox into the car while fueling, would do so? Who, out of curiosity, would jump headlong into a crocodile-infested river just to see what happens? Of course, those are extreme examples. No one could be so reckless, you think. Only the Bible paints our hearts as teeming with destruction worse than a river ever boasted of bloodthirsty crocodiles. “There is a way that seems right to man, but in the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 14:12). Something can feel completely right (sincerity) and still lead to destruction (error).
Crafting our own compass, apart from Scripture, leads to self-created truths that go beyond what is actually true. When we follow deceitful hearts and feelings, we start coming up with truths that suit our deceptions (2 Timothy 4:3). Sincerity often masks a desire to find a “truth” that fits what we already want to believe. So, we are not really seeking truth but trying to ratify and justify what we want.
Being sincere is not enough, especially if the object of our sincerity is not Jesus but ourselves and our ideas. God has given us the only way to his throne: salvation through Christ, the Lord. If there is a sincerity we ought to take up, it is sincerely turning to the Scriptures and finding out what it says about Jesus Christ. If, in all sincerity, you’d say you haven’t, I encourage you to pick up a Bible and perhaps start with the gospels and the Torah/Pentateuch (Genesis to Deuteronomy). Then you could turn to the Psalms and the Prophets. Not long into your reading, you will see that God has indeed revealed Christ Jesus as the only way.