Without Wax

I find the origin of words fascinating, and often so helpful in understanding the full depth of meaning within the word. And, sometimes, the story of how the word came about is just fun to learn. Like, the word, “sincere.”

“Sincere” comes from two Latin words, “sin” which means “without,” and “cere” which means “wax.” The story behind the word is that the Romans used to love ancient Greek sculptures, and there was a high market demand for them. Of course, the better condition they were in, the more money they would draw. The problem was that many marble sculptures had been chipped and cracked through the years, so, some less-than-honest sellers would melt wax and pour it into the chips and cracks to make the sculpture look better than it was. Not until the buyer got it home did the wax become apparent and the customer realized they had been had. But if there was no attempt to hide the imperfections in the stone, they would label it sin cere, without wax. No surprises. What you see is what you get.

Great story. But it really came home to me when I then opened my Bible software to do a search of the word “sincere” in the Bible. The very first verse on the list was in Matthew 22:16 when some disciples of the Pharisees come to Jesus, trying to trick him. They say, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality.”

My first reaction was, “Wow! Does that hit the nail on the head! They are saying to Jesus, ‘We know that you are “without wax,” there is nothing fake or false about you. You are who you are, and you never try to impress people.’ That is exactly what Jesus was – without wax, what you see is what you get.” But then I realized the irony of these people who had come to Jesus to trick him, and they’re saying this to try to soften him up. They’re the fake ones, the ones with wax all over them, trying to impress, trying to manipulate Jesus.

How I want to see myself as those guys described Jesus, sincere, without wax, true and authentic and not trying to impress special people, but being the same with everyone. But how often I catch myself being like those guys themselves, covering the imperfections, hiding the blemishes, afraid to just be me, and trying way too hard to impress those who have wealth, popularity, or power…the cool people.

The good news is that God sees me exactly for who I am, chips, cracks, blemishes and imperfections. And God accepts me with all those faults. I need no “wax” with God. I pray for God’s strength to be who I am, chips and cracks and all, and try to impress no one by being someone I’m not. If I’m good enough for God the way I am, I guess I’m probably good enough for everyone else, too.

And, of course, so are you.

Ruthlessly Eliminate Hurry

They did a research project several years ago at Princeton, entitled The Good Samaritan Study. Students were asked to deliver a package to another building on campus. Some of the students were told that the package needed to be delivered ASAP, the people needed it yesterday, and they were waiting for it. Other students were told that they had plenty of time to deliver the package, the recipients were not expecting it until later in the day.

Along the route each student took, a participant in the study pretended to have something happen to them in which they needed someone else’s help. The question the researchers wanted to answer was, would the level of hurry the different students felt affect their tendency to stop and offer assistance to the person in need? The results were clear – those who were in a “high hurry” state almost always passed by the person in distress, while those in a “low hurry” state were much more likely to stop and offer help.

I thought of that experiment last week as I watched a video with John Ortberg, in which he told the story of asking Dallas Willard, a well-known writer on spirituality, what was the one thing Willard could recommend that would bring new energy to Ortberg’s spiritual life. Ortberg says that Willard’s reply was “shocking in its simplicity.” Dallas Willard looked him in the eye and said, “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life, for hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our world today.”

I think Dallas Willard is right on target. In fact, hurry not only keeps me from being as spiritually alive as I could be, it is often a god for me, and most of us. We constantly talk about how busy we are, even brag (though we would never admit that that’s what it is!) about how hectic our lives are. It seems sometimes that the busier we are, the more important that makes us.

At no time of the year does hurry affect us like during the month of December. At just the time of the Christian calendar when we celebrate the gift of life, we do everything we can to squelch the life of the spirit by filling the calendar so full there’s no time for prayer, no time for listening to God, no time for reading the Bible, and certainly no time to help someone else we might meet along the way.

This Christmas, and this coming year, one of my goals is to “ruthlessly eliminate hurry” from my life, and, in the process, make myself more available to God and others. And, perhaps, find greater spiritual life and growth in the process.

Care to join me?