A wiseacre once observed that in politics, sincerity is the most important thing; once you can fake that, you have it made! But the truth is, people can usually tell the difference. It is striking to read in Acts 2:46 that as a result of the Holy Spirit’s work in the newborn church at Jerusalem, “they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart.” So attractive was this heart-felt fellowship to those who saw it, that the next verse describes that people were being added to the church every day. “Gladness & sincerity” in a church’s fellowship are attractive — which is just where many of our churches are missing it.
It is notable that the verse says that the church at Jerusalem was sharing their food in “gladness and sincerity of heart.” This is important; for there is a kind of sharing, a type of “fellowship”, which is NOT from gladness & sincerity, but rather is “forced”; “expected”; hypocritical; grudging. People are not stupid. They can tell the difference. Read more
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